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Thread: Humberto Delgado, Jr. - Florida

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    Humberto Delgado, Jr. - Florida


    Cpl. Mike Roberts





    Judge refuses to drop death penalty for accused cop killer

    Tampa, Florida - A Hillsborough judge says an accused cop killer will continue to face the death penalty and the public will have to wait to hear about the details.

    At 8:38 a.m., Circuit Judge Denise Pomponio takes the bench. Defendant Humberto Delgado arrived in her courtroom 10 minutes prior, shackled and surrounded by bailiffs.

    Delgado is charged with first degree murder in the death of Tampa police Corporal Mike Roberts. Police say Cpl. Roberts was shot to death on August 20, 2009, as he was investigating a report of a suspicious person on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa.

    A morning of motions and emotions lie ahead.

    Cindy Roberts, wife of Cpl. Mike Roberts, sits in the front row of the gallery. She too is surrounded by officers, in support of her.

    Delgado's attorney, Christopher Watson, argues that the 34-year-old should not face the death penalty; at most he should face life in prison, saying the aggravating circumstances do not outweigh the mitigating circumstances. Jay Pruner, Assistant State's Attorney disagreed, referring to past cases that were similar in nature to this one. The judge agreed, and kept the death penalty specification in place.

    Judge Pomponio then heard motions from public defender Watson, that the public's right to know does not outweigh Humberto Delgado's right to a fair trial.

    Watson argued for the release of evidence in this case to be similar to that of the David Lee Onstott case, allowing the judge and attorneys from both sides a 30 day review period, citing that "some things that are placed into discovery never make it to trial." Watson went on to say that doing so would ensure a fair trial for Delgado.

    Prosecutor Jay Pruner sided with the defense in the motion offering no argument as to the contrary.

    Media attorney Greg Thomas told the judge that newspapers and electronic media oppose any attempts to delay release of discovery. Thomas then referred to this case as only a single murder case, inferring that it wasn't as high profile as others, causing Cindy Roberts to bury her face in her hands and cry.

    Thomas argued that past court rulings have sided with the public and that none of these have resulted in a defendant not receiving a fair trial.

    The judge, siding with the defense, offered that, "Thirty days is not a lot of time, and is a reasonable compromise." She told the court that with the caseload of these attorneys (Pruner and Watson) 30 days is not a lot of time and does not affect the public's right to know.

    The next scheduled hearing for Delgado is set for November 18

    http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=115592&provider=rss

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    A year later, fallen officer Roberts remembered

    They were known as "The Three Amigos" and, sometimes, as "The Three Stooges."

    Chris Hendrix, Troy Neal and Mike Roberts were tight – practical jokers, colleagues at the Tampa Police Department and friends with common interests like fishing and dogs.

    Today, Neal and Hendrix will join other members of Roberts' former squad at a private event marking the first anniversary of Roberts' shooting death.

    "There isn't a day – even when we are off – that we don't talk about Mike," Neal said. "There's always something, and it ends up in laughter. We miss him."

    "As soon as you saw him, you just had to start smiling," Hendrix said. "He didn't mind laughing at himself. Everywhere we go in the city, we have a memory of him."

    Roberts, 38, was a decorated 11-year veteran and former K-9 officer. He had just been promoted to corporal and wanted to make detective. He was married with a young son.

    Police said Roberts was trying to question Humberto Delgado Jr. on Aug. 19, 2009, after seeing him pushing a shopping cart near Nebraska Avenue and Arctic Street, an area with a rash of burglaries. Roberts was shot after a brief struggle.

    Delgado is awaiting trial and could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.

    Roberts was one of three Tampa police officers killed in the past year. Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab were gunned down June 29 during a traffic stop. The suspect, Dontae Rashawn Morris, is awaiting trial.

    "For us in law enforcement, there are very few things that are as devastating as the loss of a fellow officer," Police Chief Jane Castor said. "August 19th will bring a renewed sorrow to the TPD family and our community. The loss of Mike Roberts is something that we will never fully recover from."

    Roberts, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Army, won a lifesaving award with the department in 2005 for his handling of a man threatening suicide. When Roberts arrived at the Howard Frankland Bridge, the man had a rope around his neck and one leg over the railing. Roberts talked the man out of jumping and pulled him back to safety.

    Maj. Sophia Teague said Roberts enjoyed his job and, regardless of the situation, always tried putting a positive light on things.

    Hendrix said his friend loved a practical joke and didn't mind being on the receiving end of one.

    Roberts also wasn't afraid to embarrass himself. Once, he spent about 90 minutes Wii boxing with Neal's son. Roberts played just like a kid.

    "He was truly, truly a fun guy to be around," Neal said. "That first day I met him, I knew – I knew we'd be friends for life."

    http://centraltampa2.tbo.com/content/2010/aug/19/year-later-colleagues-cherish-memories-slain-tampa/news/

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    October trial set in slaying of Tampa police corporal

    The man accused of fatally shooting a Tampa police corporal in August 2009 will stand trial in October.

    Humberto Delgado Jr., 36, could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of Cpl. Mike Roberts.

    A Hillsborough County circuit judge today scheduled Delgado's trial for Oct. 31, court records show.

    Police said Roberts was trying to question Delgado on Aug. 19, 2009, after seeing him pushing a shopping cart near Nebraska Avenue and Arctic Street, an area with a rash of burglaries.

    Roberts, 38, was shot after a brief struggle.

    A decorated 11-year veteran and former K-9 officer, he had just been promoted to corporal. Roberts was married with a young son.

    http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2011/a...rpo-ar-203520/

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    Accused killer of Tampa officer will cite mental illness as defense

    TAMPA -- The man accused of killing Tampa police Cpl. Mike Roberts nearly two years ago plans to use a mental health defense, his attorneys said in court today.

    Humberto Delgado Jr. could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in Roberts' slaying.

    Police said Roberts was trying to question Delgado on Aug. 19, 2009, after seeing him pushing a shopping cart near Nebraska Avenue and Arctic Street, an area where there had been a rash of burglaries. The officer was shot after a brief struggle.

    Roberts, 38, was a decorated 11-year veteran and former K-9 officer. He just had been promoted to corporal and wanted to make detective. He was married with a young son.

    Delgado's family has said the 36-year-old former police officer in the U.S. Virgin Islands was medically discharged from the U.S. Army due to bipolar disorder and physical issues.

    Delgado's trial is slated for Oct. 31.

    Roberts was one of three Tampa police officers killed in the past two years. Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab were gunned down June 29, 2010, during a traffic stop. The suspect, Dontae Rashawn Morris, is awaiting trial.

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    Man accused of slaying Tampa police officer in court

    TAMPA -- Humberto Delgado Jr., charged in the slaying of a Tampa police officer, is in a Hillsborough County courtroom this morning as state and defense lawyers discuss the propriety of prosecutors examining the defense team's evidence of Delgado's mental health.

    Delgado could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the 2009 slaying of Tampa police Cpl. Mike Roberts. Delgado's attorneys are expected to present an insanity defense.

    Police said Roberts was trying to question Delgado on Aug. 19, 2009, after seeing him push a shopping cart near Nebraska Avenue and Arctic Street, an area where there had been a rash of burglaries. The officer was shot after a brief struggle.

    Roberts, 38, was a decorated 11-year veteran of the force and a former K-9 officer. He just had been promoted to corporal and wanted to make detective. He was married with a young son.

    Delgado's family has said the 36-year-old former police officer in the U.S. Virgin Islands was medically discharged from the U.S. Army due to bipolar disorder and physical issues. His trial is slated for Oct. 31.

    Roberts was one of three Tampa police officers killed in the past two years. Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab were gunned down June 29, 2010, during a traffic stop. The suspect, Dontae Rashawn Morris, is awaiting trial.

    http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-ne...pea-ar-253139/

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    Expert: Man charged with killing Tampa officer is legally insane

    TAMPA -- The man charged with gunning down a Tampa police officer in August 2009 has such massive brain damage that he qualifies as being legally insane, a psychologist testified today.

    William Lambos said a brain-mapping test he conducted on Humberto Delgado Jr. left no doubts about his diagnosis.

    Delgado, a former U.S. Virgin Island policeman and U.S. Army private, is facing the death penalty, accused of shooting Cpl. Mike Roberts after a brief struggle Aug. 19, 2009, near Nebraska Avenue and Artic Street.

    But Barbara Stein, a forensic psychiatrist called on by prosecutors, rejected Lambos' conclusion and questioned the validity of the test Lambos used to reach it.

    The two's testimony had nothing to do with Delgado's guilt or innocence, but could prove a glimpse of the lurking key issue at Delgado's trial: his sanity. The trial is set to start Oct. 31.

    Lambos and Stein were witnesses Friday at a hearing as Delgado's attorneys tried to get the test – Qualitative EEG (QEEG) – admitted during the sentencing phase of Delgado's trial should he be convicted.

    The test measures the electric current through sensors placed on a person's scalp. The results, shown as waves on paper, are then fed through a computer that creates images of the brain.

    Proponents, such as Lambos, claim those brain maps can indicate traumatic brain damage and psychological disorders.

    Stein and others dispute the test, saying it is fringe science and unreliable.

    Stein said she found no indications of brain damage.

    Stein acknowledged Delgado has a long history of mental problems. She said records of two involuntary commitment proceedings in his native country show he was bipolar with psychotic tendencies, and that he likely suffers from hallucinations and paranoia. She said he was most likely born with the mental illness.

    Circuit Judge Emmett Lamar Battles will continue to hear testimony Monday about QEEG's admissibility.

    Lambos said it is more likely Delgado was injured when he fell from a horse and kicked in the head while a child or in an automobile accident that led to him being discharged from the Army.

    Police said Roberts was trying to question Delgado at the time of the shooting after seeing him pushing a shopping cart in an area that had seen a rash of burglaries.

    http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-n...s-l-ar-273792/

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    Tampa jury won't hear all that psychologists heard from Delgado

    TAMPA — The accused killer of Tampa police Cpl. Mike Roberts told psychologists in detail what he was thinking before and during the 2009 shooting, but a judge said Tuesday he'll limit how much of his story a jury can hear.

    Humberto Delgado's first-degree murder trial begins Monday. The prosecution wants the death penalty, while the defense claims that Delgado was delusional and the shooting wasn't premeditated.

    In a pretrial hearing Monday, two psychologists and a psychiatrist diagnosed Delgado as suffering a bipolar disorder with psychotic features partly based on interviews they conducted with him in jail. One of the experts said he considered Delgado legally insane, while two diagnosed him as sane.

    In the interviews, Delgado described a years-long fear of the fraternal society of Masons. He said he believed Cpl. Roberts was a Mason and meant to harm him when Roberts found him with an assault rifle and three handguns on Nebraska Avenue in August 2009.

    The experts said Delgado was exhausted and delusional after a 20-mile trek on foot from Oldsmar to Tampa.

    The prosecution argued it would be unable to challenge Delgado's statements to the experts unless Delgado testified himself.

    The defense said the experts needed to be able to explain the basis for their diagnoses.

    Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett Battles partly agreed with both sides.

    Before the experts testify, the judge ruled, they will have to explain, outside the presence of the jury, which parts of Delgado's statements were important to their diagnoses.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...elgado/1198456

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    I was worried about this.

    Judge says no to controversial brain test for accused cop-killer

    A controversial brain test that public defenders hoped would bolster an insanity defense for the accused killer of a Tampa police officer was rejected Wednesday by the trial judge.

    The technology behind the test had been touted as the Hubble Telescope of brain science. Called quantitative electroencephalography, or QEEG, it involves taking a standard EEG test of electrical activity in the brain and running it through a computer that compares it with hundreds of "normal" EEGs.

    Its advocates say it can detect damage to many areas of the brain and help diagnose mental disorders.

    Lawyers for Humberto Delgado, who is charged with the August 2009 murder of police Cpl. Mike Roberts, hoped to use it when Delgado's first-degree murder trial begins Monday. Prosecutors want the death penalty.

    It was developed in large part by St. Petersburg psychologist Robert Thatcher and was administered to Delgado by a QEEG proponent, Tampa psychologist Dr. William Lambos. According to Lambos, it showed Delgado had past head injuries that likely made him insane.

    But Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett Battles agreed with prosecutors that the QEEG is not a tool accepted by neurologists and psychiatrists to diagnose brain injuries.

    The test was only one part of Delgado's insanity defense. A psychiatrist who examined Delgado also has diagnosed him as insane.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...killer/1198688

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    Jury selection begins in Humberto Delgado trial

    TAMPA - Jury selection begins Monday in the Humberto Delgado trial, who is accused of killing Tampa police Cpl. Mike Roberts.

    Prosecutors want the death penalty for Delgado, who prosecutors say killed Roberts in 2009.

    According to police, Delgado is accused of shooting Roberts after he confronted him on Nebraska Avenue. Police say Delgado, an Army veteran, was carrying three handguns and an assault rifle.

    Delgado’s defense attorneys will argue that he suffers from mental illness and was delusional.

    Roberts’ wife, Cindy, is expected to attend the trial.

    LINK: New Journey For Officer’s Widow

    FOX 13’s Alcides Segui will have more coverage live Monday morning on Good Day

    Coincidentally, two other murder trials will begin in the Bay Area.

    The court will seek jurors in the trials of Vincent Brown and Patrick A. Evans.

    Brown, 41, is accused of killing his child’s mother, Jennifer Johnson. She was found dead in an abandoned Lakeland home in 2008. Authorities said she managed to make a 911 call from inside a car trunk, but the call was dropped.

    http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...o-trial-103111

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    Jury selected in officer's death

    TAMPA -- After working overtime to go through potential jurors, prosecutors and defense lawyers will make their opening jury statements today in the trial of a homeless man accused of killing a Tampa police officer in 2009.

    Humberto Delgado Jr. faces the death penalty if convicted of gunning down Cpl. Mike Roberts after a scuffle Aug. 19, 2009.

    Lawyers selected a jury Thursday, after taking four days of questioning to reduce the pool of 150 potential jurors to the nine men and three women who will decide the case. Four alternate jurors also were selected. They went through everyone called.

    The bulk of the final day of selection dealt with the defense's plans to present an insanity defense. Delgado's lawyers probed candidates about how they felt about it.

    Testimony in pretrial motions showed Delgado was twice involuntarily hospitalized for mental problems and has been diagnosed as bipolar with psychotic tendencies, but examiners also found he knew right from wrong.

    They also warned prospects that it would be a gruesome trial to sit through. They said jurors will hear Roberts' dying words and watch dashboard cameras record the efforts made to save him.

    "There are haunting images you will experience if you sit as a juror," said Christopher Watson, one of Delgado's public defenders.

    Circuit Judge Emmett Lamar Battles and the attorneys were hours past their usual 5 p.m. quitting time to finalize the panel.

    Prosecutors have listed 66 potential witnesses, heavily loaded with law enforcement.

    The defense listed 26 possible witnesses including his family and people who knew him in the Virgin Islands where he grew up and was a police officer. Also listed were people from Fayetteville, N.C., where Delgado briefly served in the U.S. Army.

    Delgado is accused of shooting Roberts on Aug. 19, 2009, after the officer stopped Delgado, who was pushing a shopping cart at Nebraska Avenue and East Arctic Street, an area then experiencing a rash of home break-ins.

    http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2011/n...ath-ar-300565/

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