Well at least this case is finally moving.
“Baby Lollipops” mother faces death penalty Friday for killing toddler son
Ana Maria Cardona, the Miami woman convicted of torturing and beating her toddler son in 1990, will learn her punishment Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Last July, a jury convicted Cardona, 50, of first-degree murder and aggravated abuse for the slaying of her son, Lazaro “Baby Lollipops” Figueroa. In November 1990, the boy’s emaciated and bloodied body — draped in a shirt adorned with drawings of lollipops — was discovered in the bushes of a bay-front Miami Beach house.
In October, jurors recommended the death penalty. If Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Reemberto Diaz follows their recommendation, it will be Cardona’s second trip to Death Row.
Back in 1992, jurors convicted Cardona, and she was sentenced to die – becoming the first woman in Florida to be sent to Death Row for murdering her own child.
The Florida Supreme Court later overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/1...ces-death.html
Mom Sentenced to Die in Baby Lollipops Murder
The Miami mother convicted in the infamous 1990 murder of her young son was sentenced to death Friday by a Miami-Dade judge.
Judge Reemberto Diaz put Ana Maria Cardona, 50, back on death row for the murder of 3-year-old Lazaro "Baby Lollipops" Figueroa.
"Ana Maria Cardona, you have forfeited your right to live," Judge Diaz said as he handed down the sentence. "The weight of the aggravating factors is overwhelming. She knew what she was doing. Lazaro was tortured to death, he was mistreated his entire short life."
Cardona wept after the sentence was handed down.
The case against Cardona began in November 1990, when a child's lifeless body was found in the bushes in front of a Miami Beach mansion. The unidentified boy had been starved, beaten, bitten, his bones broken and his body dumped.
Police called him "Baby Lollipops" for the design on his shirt. He was later identified as Figueroa.
Cardona, was already convicted and sentenced to die in 1992 for the gruesome murder, but the conviction was later overturned.
Last year, Cardona was found guilty for the second time, and a jury recommended the death sentence. Judge Diaz agreed with the jury Friday, saying the mitigating factors presented by her defense were either unfounded or carried little or no weight.
"Cardona has never felt remorse. The entire trial was all about her, all about how much she suffered," said prosecutor Susan Danelly. "Thankfully, the judge listened carefully to everything and saw the truth."
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/M...123627844.html
Ana Maria Cardona appeals conviction to Florida Supreme Court
The Miami mother sentenced to death for the infamous 1990 murder of her young son is appealing her conviction.
Ana Maria Cardona, 50, is appealing her murder conviction to the Florida Supreme Court, a month and a half after she was was put on death row for the murder of 3-year-old Lazaro "Baby Lollipops" Figueroa.
The justices issued a scheduling order and designated the case as high profile Thursday.
The case against Cardona began in November 1990, when a child's lifeless body was found in the bushes in front of a Miami Beach mansion. The unidentified boy had been starved, beaten, bitten, his bones broken and his body dumped.
Police called him "Baby Lollipops" for the design on his shirt. He was later identified as Figueroa.
Cardona was already convicted and sentenced to die in 1992 for the gruesome murder, but the conviction was later overturned.
Last year, Cardona was found guilty for the second time, and a jury recommended the death sentence. A Miami-Dade judge agreed with the jury.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/B...126334633.html
any news on her execution date?
She was sentenced in 2011 in Florida, that means that she will probably live for another 15-20 years or more.
Do you know her?
Oral Arguments in "Baby Lollipops" Case Scheduled
Oral arguments are scheduled in the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday in the case of a Miami mom convicted in the infamous 1990 murder of her young son.
Ana Maria Cardona was put on death row in 2011 for the murder of 3-year-old Lazaro "Baby Lollipops" Figueroa.
The case against Cardona began in November 1990, when a child's lifeless body was found in the bushes in front of a Miami Beach mansion. The unidentified boy had been starved, beaten, bitten, his bones broken and his body dumped.
Police called him "Baby Lollipops" for the design on his shirt. He was later identified as Figueroa.
Cardona was already convicted and sentenced to die in 1992 for the gruesome murder, but the conviction was later overturned.
Oral arguments in the Supreme Court hearing can be viewed at thefloridachannel.org.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/O...305967311.html
ANA MARIA CARDONA v THE STATE OF FLORIDA
In today's Florida Supreme Court opinions, the court VACATED Cardona's conviction and death sentence and REMANDED for new trial.
An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.
"Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd
Death Sentence Tossed for Florida Mom of 'Baby Lollipops'
A Florida mother condemned to die for the beating death of her young son known as "Baby Lollipops" deserves a new trial because of inflammatory and improper statements made by prosecutors during closing arguments, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The justices tossed out the 2011 murder conviction and death sentence for Ana Maria Cardona, 54, marking the second time the court has reversed her case. Cardona's original 1992 conviction and death sentence was overturned because prosecutors failed to disclose key evidence to the defense.
This time, the court found that Miami-Dade prosecutors crossed the line in closing arguments during the second trial, repeatedly attempting to stir up juror emotions and sympathy for the 3-year-old victim, Lazaro Figueroa. Testimony showed the boy had been severely beaten and suffered from chronic neglect, weighing only 18 pounds when his body was found in some bushes in Miami Beach in 1990.
Police dubbed the boy "Baby Lollipops" because he was wearing a T-shirt with a lollipop image when he was found.
The Supreme Court, in a 28-page decision, said the trial judge erred in allowing prosecutors to repeatedly use the phrase "justice for Lazaro" in closing arguments to the jury. Prosecutors were also wrong, the justices added, in describing the defense case as "diversionary" and calling Cardona herself a "drama expert" who belonged on Spanish-language telenovela program.
Cardona's lawyers objected 58 times but Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Reemberto Diaz overruled nearly all of them.
"As we have stated for decades, we expect and require prosecutors, as representatives of the state, to refrain from engaging in inflammatory and abusive arguments, to maintain their objectivity, and to behave in a professional manner," the justices wrote in a 6-1 opinion. "All of these arguments used by the prosecutor in this case were clearly improper."
Justice Ricky Polston dissented but did not issue an opinion.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said prosecutors will try Cardona on murder and other charges a third time in a case that his riveted South Florida for decades.
"The cruelty involved in young Lazaro Figueroa's murder deserves our fundamental commitment," Rundle said in a statement.
According to testimony at both previous trials, Lazaro's badly beaten and scarred body was found by utility workers in Miami Beach on Nov. 2, 1990. Police did not immediately know the boy's identity and decided to call him "Baby Lollipops" as they distributed fliers door-to-door and held frequent news conferences.
Eventually, the investigation led Miami Beach detectives in December to Cardona, who had moved with her other two children and her companion to a motel in Osceola County. She initially claimed, police said, that the boy had fallen and hit his head on a tile floor while jumping on a bed. She also claimed her companion, Olivia Gonzalez, had left the boy in front of the Miami Beach home.
Two juries rejected the defense case, finding Cardona guilty of killing her son and of regularly abusing the child. The jury in the second trial recommended the death penalty by a minimal 7-5 vote, which the judge then imposed.
Under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Florida judges will no longer have final say in imposing capital punishment. A bill currently proposed in the state Legislature would switch that authority solely to juries and would require a minimum 10-2 vote to impose death.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/d...-case-37027861
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