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New rulings in Seath Jackson murder case could change fate of convicted killers
Several new rulings in the Seath Jackson murder case mean two of the five people convicted may not spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Seath Jackson was 15 years old when he was ambushed, beaten and shot to death in April 2011.
Five people, some of them his friends, were tried and convicted of killing Jackson and then burning his body. On Friday, the Florida Appeals Court ruled that one of the defendants, Amber Wright, is entitled to a new trial.
"At first I couldn't speak. I started crying. I was so excited for Amber," said Tracey Wright, the mother of Amber Wright and Kyle Hooper.
The three-judge panel says there was a problem with the way she was informed about her rights against self-incrimination.
In a separate ruling, the court said Hooper must be re-sentenced in the wake of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Hooper was just 16 years old at the time of the murder.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that judges must consider a juvenile's age and age-related characteristics before sentencing him to life in prison without the chance of parole.
"I just don't want it to be the rest of their life. They're young, they were in bad situation, bad choices of friends and these are what parents need to watch out for 'cause it can happen to anybody," Tracey Wright said.
Jackson was lured into a Summerfield home where law enforcement officials said he was beaten, shot, tied up in a sleeping bag and burned in a fire pit outside the home.
"I remember a large fire that we saw from our window," said Jullie Cunningham, who testified during the teens' trials. "I certainly don't want to have to go through it again, but I understand it's a child and a child has rights just like any adult."
The appeals court has asked the Florida Supreme Court to decide how Hooper's sentence should be determined.
The triggerman in Jackson's killing, Michael Bargo, is currently the youngest man on Florida's death row.
Tracey Wright said getting a new trial is not a victory.
"I look at it, as I said before, no one has won in this," Tracey Wright said. "Families have been destroyed, it has taken a toll on everyone else too."
http://www.wesh.com/news/new-rulings...#ixzz33Hjc4epQ
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