Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Carlos Bello - Florida

  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    Carlos Bello - Florida






    Summary of Offense:

    Convicted and sentenced to death in the murder of Tampa police detective Gerald Rauft to death in 1981.

  2. #2
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534
    September 26, 2008

    Loophole could keep cop killer from death row----Cop killer back for re-sentence in 30-year-old murder

    Prosecutors want to send Carlos Bello to death row, but they've got a problem. They says Bello – who was convicted of shooting Tampa police detective Gerald Rauft to death in 1981- has figured out how to work the system.

    Bello was transferred from a state mental hospital to the Hillsborough County Jail for sentencing. As soon as he arrived, he stopped taking his medication.

    When he was at the state facility and taking his drugs, he was considered competent to aid in his defense. When he's not on his medication, he's not considered competent, and is sent back to the state hospital.

    Prosecutors trying to get justice for Rauft call it a frustrating Catch-22.

    "His death was not in vain. He was protecting us and the system still demands justice," offered State Attorney Mark Ober.

    Bello has been in and out of mental hospitals since his conviction, and prosecutors say the latest developments are nothing new.

    "He can remember things very well up until the time that he has to start talking about events that relate to his legal issues," stated prosecutor Darrell Dirks.

    Police officers say they're astounded that someone can use the system to avoid justice this way.

    "This person has stepped right out of death row by merely refusing to take medication. It's unbelievable to me," said Detective Greg Stout with the Tampa Police Union.

    Bello is now set to be reevaluated next year. Police and prosecutors say they won't give up trying to get him sentenced to death, but in the meantime, they hope the law is changed.

    (source: MyFoxTampaBay)

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Judge rules cop killer faked mental illness for more than two decades

    The curtain fell Friday on what one Tampa detective called an "Oscar-worthy performance" by cop-killer Carlos Bello, whose persuasive displays of mental illness have helped him avoid a death sentence for more than two decades.

    For the first time in 15 competency hearings since the 1980s, a judge ruled that Bello was a malingerer who faked mental illness.

    Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Ron Ficarrotta, who had presided over many of the previous hearings, based his ruling on the opinions of a psychologist who observed Bello almost daily for eight months last year at the South Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center near Miami.

    When doctors weren't close by, psychologist Marla Rodriguez said, Bello would remind his visiting kids about Father's Day, keep himself groomed and his living space tidy, watch TV, eat heartily and even filch food from fellow patients — all evidence, she said, of normal behavior.

    Only when being evaluated by doctors, she said, did he turn incoherent.

    "He has played the system like no one has played the system before," said Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks. "I'll give him kudos."

    Bello was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of Tampa police Det. Gerald A. Rauft, 38, during a drug sting gone awry. Bello, a Cuban refugee who had arrived in the United States a year earlier, was selling 50 pounds of marijuana to an undercover detective for $13,500 when police broke in to make an arrest. Bello first shot Det. Robert Ulriksen in the elbow, arm and stomach, before turning his gun on Rauft.

    In custody, Bello tried to commit suicide. He became catatonic. Doctors diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia and medicated him at a hospital, only to find he would stop taking his medications in jail and deteriorate.

    In the 1980s, he was examined at least three times and found incompetent to stand trial. Doctors didn't deny he was mentally ill, but said he took advantage of his illness by exaggerating symptoms.

    Six years after his arrest, a jury convicted him of murdering one detective and attempting to murder another. A judge sentenced him to die in the electric chair.

    But in 1989, the Florida Supreme Court threw out the sentence, partly because Bello was made to wear leg shackles in court, which could have prejudiced the jury. The court ordered that Bello be resentenced.

    Each time prosecutors tried, Bello had to be re-evaluated by mental health experts. The evaluations typically involved an interview with Bello and the administering of a battery of mental health tests. Every time, he was declared incompetent.

    On Friday, the defense offered more evidence. A psychologist and a psychiatrist each testified that Bello remained incompetent.

    Psychiatrist Dr. Ryan Estevez said Bello was "clearly psychotic" when they met for 15 minutes in jail last year. "He was mumbling, lying on a mat. He was speaking a 'word salad' — Spanish words strung together with no meaning."

    Estevez said he has evaluated thousands of patients and knows when someone is faking.

    "When you see thousands of horses, you're able to pick out a zebra."

    The prosecutor said Bello had 30 years to perfect his act.

    Ultimately, Judge Ficarrotta ruled that Rodriguez's observations over eight months were more reliable. She testified that Bello had done well day to day, even without psychotropic medications.

    "My common sense tells me that eight months gives a better picture," Ficarrotta said. The judge also noted that Bello sat calmly through the two-hour court hearing. "I believe he has malingered."

    Assistant Public Defender Charles Traina said he hasn't decided yet whether to appeal the decision. Prosecutors haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty again.

    The judge did not set a date for re-sentencing.

    Kimberly Rauft, who was just 12 when her detective father was killed, said the family has never given up hope of a final sentence. "We're very relieved."

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...ecades/1215925

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    ::ROLLS EYES::

    Bello can't accept death sentence deal in 1981 police slaying

    Trying to end decades of legal battles, a prosecutor offered Friday to drop the death sentence for a man convicted of killing a police officer if he ended his appeals and agreed to not seek parole.

    But a defense lawyer said 58-year-old Carlos Bello can't knowingly and intelligently waive his rights, and therefore, isn't able to accept the deal.

    So the parties moved forward to prepare for another death sentence hearing in front of a jury.

    Bello was convicted and sentenced to death in 1987 for killing Detective Gerald Rauft and shooting Detective Robert Ulriksen during a 1981 drug raid at a Ybor City home. But his sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court, and Bello began years of evaluations for mental competency. Every time he faced a resentencing hearing, he would stop taking his medication.

    Last month, Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarotta ruled that Bello was faking his mental illness and competent to be sentenced again.

    In that hearing, Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks said Bello "has played the system like no one has ever played the system before."

    On Friday, a clearly frustrated Dirks told Ficarotta: "We have proposed a resolution to the defendant which does not involve the death penalty but does require some agreements upon the defendant that we finally, finally resolve this case from a legal standpoint."

    Rauft's daughter, Patricia, has said she wants Bello to spend the rest of his life in jail instead of a hospital.

    "I can't imagine putting him to death," she said in 2010, "because I've forgiven him."

    Dirks said Friday he doubts Bello will ever agree to drop his appeals.

    "From the state's standpoint, I think we should just begin making preparations for whatever has to be done for a sentencing proceeding," Dirks said.

    Defense attorney Charles Traina said he has tried to communicate with Bello but doesn't feel the interactions have been effective.

    "I still feel that he's unable to engage in meaningful conversation with me that would allow for him to make a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of the right to parole," Traina said.

    Traina said he doubts Bello would ever receive parole, even if he didn't waive the right to seek it.

    "The problem is that in my communications with Mr. Bello we haven't reached a point where I have received any input where I can advise the court that he can knowingly, intelligently make a waiver," he said.

    Traina said Bello wants to "fire" Traina, who is a public defender, and wanted to address the court.

    Bello spoke during the hearing, but most of what he said was unintelligible. He referred to his original lawyer and said he had differences with Traina over strategy.

    Ficarotta said Traina has done "an outstanding job" and will remain on the case. The judge told Bello he was free to hire any lawyer he wants with his own money or to represent himself, but for now Traina was his lawyer.

    Dirks told the judge he can be ready for a sentencing hearing in 60 to 90 days, but Traina said he needed time to prepare, including time to perform an investigation of Bello's mental health history in Cuba and South Florida.

    Traina said he doesn't think a sentencing hearing could take place before the end of the year.

    Ficarotta scheduled another status conference for May 2.

    http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/20...lic-ar-367362/

  5. #5
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    1,515
    Cop killer sentenced to life

    TAMPA, Fla. - Today was a day more than 30 years in the making, a day the family of a murdered Tampa police officer yearned for.

    "My God, that felt so good," Patricia Rauft, a daughter of the fallen officer, said, raising her hands in the air after giving a statement to the court.

    It was July 1981 when Detective Gerald Rauft was shot to death during a drug raid at a Ybor City home. Carlos Bello, a native of Cuba, was arrested and convicted of the murder in 1987. However, his death sentence was eventually thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court.

    Since then, questions about Bello's sanity have kept him alive. Was his mental illness real or fake? That's been the subject of hearing after hearing, year after year. Until today.

    "Mr. Bello is competent to proceed this afternoon," defense attorney Charles Traina told the judge.

    In a deal, a possible death sentence was taken off the table and Bello agreed to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. "You'll be going to state prison for the rest of your life. You understand that?" questioned Judge Ronald Ficarrotta. Bello was difficult to hear, but he nodded his head in the affirmative.

    But before being sent away for life, Bello had to listen to Rauft's daughters, Patricia and Kimberly, talk about growing up without a dad. At times, both women addressed Bello and looked right at him. "We did not spare you the death penalty because we value your life," said Kimberly. "Your life is nothing! We never want to see you again."

    Patricia told Bello, "If I were you, I'd rethink the whole going to heaven thing, because I promise you, when you arrive at the pearly gates, Detective Gerald Rauft, my father, will be waiting for you to beat the sh## out of your sorry a##."

    Source

    120502064245_Bello.jpg
    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    4,795
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •