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Thread: Judge Rules Against Jury Sentences Ricky Silva to LWOP in 2009 FL Slaying of Cellmate Terry Bell

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Judge Rules Against Jury Sentences Ricky Silva to LWOP in 2009 FL Slaying of Cellmate Terry Bell

    Martin inmate: Cellmate 'needed to be killed

    STUART — Not only does prison inmate Ricky Silva think the death penalty is too severe for his October confession to strangling his cellmate Terry Bell with a shoestring, but he’s proud of what he did.

    And he wants you to be proud of him, too.

    “It’s not like I killed an innocent citizen or somebody who was undeserving,” said Silva, 29, of Bell’s Oct. 14 homicide at the Martin Correctional Institution, where both men were serving life prison terms.

    “Under my belief system, there’s still some people in the world that need killing and he was one of them,” he said. “I don’t believe I should pay for killing somebody that needed to be killed.”

    Bell, 45, was convicted for raping a young Marion County girl after entering her bedroom through a window as her parents slept down the hall, according to Jerry Burford, a former state prosecutor who tried the 1999 crime. Bell left behind a palm print on a windowsill, he said, and Bell’s DNA was found on the victim.

    Silva told several investigators he caught Bell masturbating while holding a photo of Silva’s young niece, which prompted the attack.

    Convicted of armed-robbery, armed-carjacking kidnapping and other crimes, the former Fort Lauderdale laborer and landscaper serving life in prison was no stranger to violence after twice using a knife during a 2007 crime spree in Broward County.

    During an interview at the Martin County jail, Silva recited details of Bell’s death.

    “I stepped off the bed, I hit him, when he hit the door he fell to the ground,” he recalled, his voice flat. “I continued to hit him a couple of more times and then I wrapped a noose around his neck and I strangled him.”

    Reported dead at 2:40 a.m., a guard found Bell on a bottom bunk lying on his stomach with a black shoestring wrapped around his neck — the other end attached to a metal bed frame.

    “If you had kids, you would understand,” Silva later told a prison nurse treating wounds to his right hand. “You should thank me for it.”

    Despite confessing to the grisly crime, Silva has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He said it’s wrong for state prosecutors to seek the death penalty against him.

    “I don’t believe I should be punished,” he insisted. “I believe people should be celebrating and clapping their hands.”

    Assistant State Attorney Nita Denton couldn’t disagree more.

    “He has no respect for human life,” she said.

    Denton said based on a stack of confession letters he’s written to her office, sending Silva to death row may be the only way to stop him from killing again.

    “He was asking for the death penalty,” Denton said, “and he would continue to kill not only inmates, but the people he came around if he in fact did not get the death penalty.”

    Silva in his letters, she said, railed on the prison system and claimed he killed Bell as a message to prison officials.

    “I’m tired of the system,” Silva wrote. “They feed us like little kids, they won’t pay us for work ... there is no reason for me not to kill again.”

    He’d keep killing, he wrote, until correction officials “give back everything they took from us: packages, weights, hobby crafts, paying jobs and three decent meals a day, or until I am dead.”

    “I suggest (Bell) be taken as a warning,” Silva threatened, “because next time it will not be a black inmate who is killed.”

    Silva, too, was accused by another inmate of killing Bell, an African-American, because of ties to a white supremacist group.

    “He stated he’s made it his mission ... to murder any blacks he gets access to inside the prison system,” George Warner wrote to prosecutors. “That was his chief motive for strangling his black roommate.”

    But in a letter Silva wrote to Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, the New York native presented himself as a struggling drug addict who was abused by an alcoholic mother until at age 3, he and his sister were separated and bounced from one foster family to another. By age 16, he was alone and often in trouble.

    “I had no family,” he wrote, “I started using drugs and by 19 I was an addict.”

    By age 27, he was sentenced to life in prison for a series of crimes including breaking into a Fort Lauderdale man’s apartment, forcing him at knifepoint to drive to an ATM to withdraw cash before returning $20 to the victim and stealing his SUV. He was arrested shortly after committing an armed carjacking at a 7-Eleven.

    Then, while in prison and suicidal, Silva reconnected with his long-lost sister.

    “She sent me a picture of my niece and two nephews,” Silva said. “Here is the family I craved, but never had.”

    He kept the photo at the edge of his bed. On Oct. 14, he woke up, saw Bell holding it and went into a rage.

    “Here was someone violating the only people I have in my life,” Silva said. “I am not trying to justify murder but if people could see it through my eyes they might understand and hopefully agree I don’t deserve the death penalty.”

    Meanwhile, Denton’s not buying it.

    “If he had such a hatred of Bell because of the crime he committed, he could have asked to be moved,” she said. “He could have asked to be transferred to another prison.”

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jan/29/martin-inmate-cellmate-needed-be-killed-videos/?partner=yahoo_feeds

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Judge to rule if inmate can stand trial for strangling Martin Correctional Institution cellmate



    STUART — Defense attorneys for prison inmate Ricky Silva told a judge Wednesday a mental health expert hired by the Public Defender's Office has found the 30-year-old is not competent to proceed to trial for the 2009 strangulation death of his cellmate at Martin Correctional Institution.

    Silva, who was serving a life sentence at MCI for burglary, armed robbery and carjacking with a deadly weapon, is accused of killing Terry Bell, 45, who was also serving a life sentence after being convicted of raping a Marion County girl.

    Bell's body was found in his cell before dawn Oct. 14, 2009, with a shoestring wrapped around his neck.

    "We had appointed, confidentially, Dr. Robert Berland, Ph.D and he has issued a report ... finding Mr. Silva incompetent to proceed," Chief Assistant Public Defender Mark Harllee told Circuit Judge Steve Levin.

    But Assistant State Attorney Nita Denton noted that two additional mental health experts court-ordered to examine Silva concluded he is competent.

    The confidential findings were submitted to Levin Wednesday, who was covering the hearing for Circuit Judge William Roby. Because experts for the state and the defense don't agree whether Silva is mentally competent, it will be up to Roby to rule on the matter.

    And despite confessing to the grisly crime to investigators, Silva has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has said he believes it's wrong for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against him.

    Harllee urged Levin to allow Silva to remain at the county jail overnight so they could meet and so Silva could rest after a long trip from Florida State Prison in Starke, where he's being held while awaiting his trial.

    Denton strongly objected.

    "Mr. Silva has been a security risk since he's been here," she said.

    According to county jail records, Silva has threatened to hurt correctional and medical staff, often covered the camera in his cell, and on Oct. 30 threatened "to throw AIDS-infected human waste on whoever comes in his cell."

    Corrections staff in April put Silva in a restraint chair after he was seen "biting his left wrist and spitting blood out his food hatch," records stated.

    Levin asked the heavily shackled Silva if he would cooperate with jail authorities.

    "I'll be fine," Silva said.

    "You'll be fine," Levin pressed, "but will you not cause heartache for others?"

    "There will be no problems," Silva replied.

    After court, Denton said she believed Silva should be tried for murder.

    "I was there present for the (mental health) evaluations, as I am allowed to be by law, as was Mr. Harllee," said Denton, "and he's competent."

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/jan/...and-trial-for/

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Though Ricky Silva never will get out of prison for a host of past violent crimes, his situation grows far more serious Monday when he goes on trial for his life in Martin County.

    The 32-year-old Silva is accused of killing his Martin Correctional Institute cellmate, Terry Bell, in 2009.

    Authorities allege Silva, who was serving a life sentence at MCI for burglary, armed robbery and carjacking with a deadly weapon, strangled Bell, 45, who also was serving a life sentence at the facility on a conviction of raping a Marion County girl.

    Bell's body was found in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 14, 2009, with a shoestring wrapped around his neck.

    Silva told investigators he caught Bell masturbating to a picture of Silva's niece. So he killed him.

    "Under my belief system, there's still some people in the world that need killing and he was one of them," he told a reporter during a January 2010 interview. "I don't believe I should pay for killing somebody that needed to be killed."

    Despite confessing to the crime, Silva pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge and has stated it is wrong for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

    "I don't believe I should be punished," Silva has said. "I believe people should be celebrating and clapping their hands."

    According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Silva is serving five life sentences for a multi-count Broward County crime run in 2007. His conviction record spans three counties and goes back to 2000, records show.

    Assistant State Attorney Nita Denton said juror selection will begin Monday morning before Martin Circuit Judge William Roby, and the trial of Silva's case is expected to last approximately 10 days because of the extra time sometimes needed to seat a jury in a capital case.

    Under Florida rules of attorney conduct, neither Denton, nor Silva's attorney, Chief Assistant Public Defender Mark Harllee could comment on the specifics of the case with the trial pending.

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/...rrectional-of/

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    Though Ricky Silva never will get out of prison for a host of past violent crimes, his situation grows far more serious Monday when he goes on trial for his life in Martin County.

    The 32-year-old Silva is accused of killing his Martin Correctional Institute cellmate, Terry Bell, in 2009.

    Authorities allege Silva, who was serving a life sentence at MCI for burglary, armed robbery and carjacking with a deadly weapon, strangled Bell, 45, who also was serving a life sentence at the facility on a conviction of raping a Marion County girl.

    Bell's body was found in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 14, 2009, with a shoestring wrapped around his neck.

    Silva told investigators he caught Bell masturbating to a picture of Silva's niece. So he killed him.

    "Under my belief system, there's still some people in the world that need killing and he was one of them," he told a reporter during a January 2010 interview. "I don't believe I should pay for killing somebody that needed to be killed."

    Despite confessing to the crime, Silva pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge and has stated it is wrong for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

    "I don't believe I should be punished," Silva has said. "I believe people should be celebrating and clapping their hands."

    According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Silva is serving five life sentences for a multi-count Broward County crime run in 2007. His conviction record spans three counties and goes back to 2000, records show.

    Assistant State Attorney Nita Denton said juror selection will begin Monday morning before Martin Circuit Judge William Roby, and the trial of Silva's case is expected to last approximately 10 days because of the extra time sometimes needed to seat a jury in a capital case.

    Under Florida rules of attorney conduct, neither Denton, nor Silva's attorney, Chief Assistant Public Defender Mark Harllee could comment on the specifics of the case with the trial pending.

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/...rrectional-of/
    For once in an extremely rare turn of events, I'm gonna side with the accused in this case. Can't say I feel bad whatsoever for Terry Bell. The man was a sexual predator who preyed upon women for his own sick sexual desires. Already in prison accused of raping a young girl, then masturbating to his cellmates niece? Pretty sure Silva had every right to be as angry as he was. The prosecution shouldn't even be wasting the states money trying to seek the death penalty in this case.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
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    I am all for putting down sexual predators, but in this case Silva had a right to kick his butt, but he did not have the right to take Bell's life. Big difference between wacking off to a pic, and doing the actual deed. And Bell was sentenced to a life sentence and behind bars where he should have been.....They should never have paired a violent criminal serving a life sentence with a sexual predator, that was just asking for trouble....JMO......

  6. #6
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    Prosecutors present case for death penalty in 2009 killing at Martin Correctional Institution

    Ricky Silva decided against killing his cellmate when he thought about it before Oct. 14, 2009, but on that morning he made good on his previous threats and then calmly told prison guards what he had done.

    "I'm not going to give you guys any problem," Silva told guards after they discovered Terry Bell's strangled body tied by the neck to a bunk frame with a shoestring. "I did what I did."

    After three days of jury selection, prosecutors Thursday began the first-degree capital murder case against the 32-year-old Silva, who they argue should receive Florida's death penalty for killing Terry Bell at Martin Correctional Institution.

    Both men were serving life sentences at MCI at the time of the killing.

    Daniel Clauss, another MCI inmate who befriended Silva during his time at MCI, described Silva as "manic" and like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

    "Little things would set him off," Clauss told jurors.

    Clauss said Silva complained about Bell taking family pictures from Silva's locker, and on several occasions, Silva told Clauss he was going to strangle his cellmate with a boot string.

    Silva maintains he killed Bell because the 45-year-old inmate was performing a lewd act to a picture of Silva's niece.

    "I caught him looking at my pictures and (performing the lewd act) so I killed (him)," Silva told one prison official.

    Prosecutors showed jurors pictures of a fully clothed Bell lying face down on the bottom bunk of the men's cell and presented evidence to rebut Silva's claim that Bell was inappropriately using the picture of his niece.

    However, while acknowledging their client killed Bell, Silva's attorneys attacked the state's claim that the murder was premeditated, setting up a conviction for anything less than capital murder, which would spare Silva's life.

    "We have no idea what ignited or precipitated the actual killing, do we?" Head Public Defender attorney John Hetherington asked while cross-examining investigators, suggesting that Bell's behavior "could have thrown Silva over the edge."

    The state is expected to conclude its case Friday morning. Silva's attorneys have not decided whether their client will testify when they begin the defense.

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/...penalty-in-at/

  7. #7
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Martin County jury finds Silva guilty of murdering cellmate

    The only real issue in Ricky Silva's murder trial was whether he planned his cellmate's murder, and a Martin County jury Friday afternoon decided he did.

    After deliberating about 4 1/2 hours, the 12-member panel declared Silva guilty of first-degree murder, rejecting the defense's contention that Silva snapped during the early morning hours of Oct. 14, 2009, and killed Terry Bell.

    "We're not saying he's a great guy and that he didn't commit murder," Assistant Public Defender John Hetherington told jurors during closing arguments Friday. "But we do say the state failed to prove premeditated first-degree murder."

    Silva and Bell both were serving life sentences at Martin Correctional Institute for unrelated crimes. Silva said Bell, convicted of raping a Marion County girl, was masturbating to pictures of Silva's niece that he took from Silva's locker.

    During the trial, Florida inmate Daniel Clauss, who became Silva's friend while the two were at MCI, testified Silva discussed killing Bell on several occasions before Oct. 14, but that Silva never carried out his plans.

    "Something triggered or ignited (Silva) to kill this man after he had not done it all those times before," Hetherington argued. "The pot began to boil in the heat of passion."

    However, Assistant State Attorney Nita Denton told jurors the murder had nothing to do with passion but with calculated planning.

    "Think about every single thing this defendant had to do," Denton argued.

    According to letters written by Silva and introduced at trial, he struggled with Bell and strangled him with a boot lace after tying a complicated "hangman's noose" slipknot, lashed his body to a bunk frame and then checked every 20 minutes to ensure Bell was dead.

    "At any point, he could have stopped," Denton told jurors. "But he had had enough. He was going to kill Terry Bell no matter what.

    "Terry Bell did not have to die," Denton said. "He was serving his time for what he did. But that night, Ricky Silva became the judge, jury and executioner."

    Monday, Silva's jury returns to the Martin County Courthouse to begin the sentencing phase of the trial. Jurors will hear evidence to determine whether Silva lives or dies.

    Though a unanimous decision is necessary to render a guilty verdict, a simple majority vote of jurors is all that is required to hand down a death sentence.

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/...lva-guilty-of/

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    Silva acted like 'absolute monster,' witness says in Martin County sentencing hearing

    Ricky Silva, convicted by a Martin County jury last week of first-degree murder, sat Monday with his back to two men he robbed at knifepoint in 2007, and when one called him a monster, the 32-year-old never flinched.

    Jurors reconvened Monday to hear evidence and argument before rendering an advisory opinion as to whether Silva will serve a life sentence without parole or die for the October 2009 murder of his Martin Correctional Institution cellmate Terry Bell.

    Walter Dodson told jurors Silva approached him outside a South Florida convenience store in May 2007 and asked for a cigarette.

    "I was going to give him a half pack because he looked like he was homeless and down and out," Dodson told jurors.

    The next thing he knew, Silva had a large knife against his ribs demanding his wallet and car and acting "like an absolute monster," Dodson said.

    In the early hours of May 4, 2007, Silva bound Fort Lauderdale resident Steven Casalegno with computer cord and held him at knife point while ransacking Casalegno's apartment and later forced Casalegno to drive to an ATM where Silva emptied the bank accont.

    "If I didn't cooperate, he said he would kill," Casalegno told jurors.

    Silva turned his chair away from the witness stand and made no eye contact with either of the state's witnesses Monday.

    While prosecutors portrayed Silva as a cold, violent sociopath, defense lawyers told jurors their client deserved mercy because of a stark and unstable childhood filled with abuse and abandonment.

    Silva's sister, Tracy Veinlith, who said she has not seen her brother since he was 18, told jurors Silva's childhood was nothing more than a string of foster placements and institutions after the two were abused by and taken from their mother's custody.

    "Mom beat the boys unmercifully, in my opinion," Veinlith said.

    As an infant, Silva's mother would mix beer in his baby formula to quiet him and stop him from screaming.

    A defense psychiatric expert said scans of Silva's brain were abnormal and consistent with someone who suffered from brain injury or psychotic disorder.

    "My brother will always be my brother," Veinlith said. "And though his life gives him no excuse to harm another being, as his sister I must give him unconditional love, something he's not gotten his entire life."

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/...-witness-says/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  9. #9
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    Jury recommends death sentence for Ricky Silva for 2009 murder of cellmate

    STUART — At 3 p.m. today the jury recommended the death sentence for Ricky Silva.

    Silva, convicted by a Martin County jury last week of first-degree murder, sat Monday with his back to two men he robbed at knifepoint in 2007, and when one called him a monster, the 32-year-old never flinched.

    Jurors reconvened Monday to hear evidence and argument before rendering an advisory opinion as to whether Silva will serve a life sentence without parole or die for the October 2009 murder of his Martin Correctional Institution cellmate Terry Bell.

    Walter Dodson told jurors Silva approached him outside a South Florida convenience store in May 2007 and asked for a cigarette.

    “I was going to give him a half pack because he looked like he was homeless and down and out,” Dodson told jurors.

    The next thing he knew, Silva had a large knife against his ribs demanding his wallet and car and acting “like an absolute monster,” Dodson said.

    In the early hours of May 4, 2007, Silva bound Fort Lauderdale resident Steven Casalegno with computer cord and held him at knife point while ransacking Casalegno’s apartment and later forced Casalegno to drive to an ATM where Silva emptied the bank accont.

    “If I didn’t cooperate, he said he would kill,” Casalegno told jurors.

    Silva turned his chair away from the witness stand and made no eye contact with either of the state’s witnesses Monday.

    While prosecutors portrayed Silva as a cold, violent sociopath, defense lawyers told jurors their client deserved mercy because of a stark and unstable childhood filled with abuse and abandonment.

    Silva’s sister, Tracy Veinlith, who said she has not seen her brother since he was 18, told jurors Silva’s childhood was nothing more than a string of foster placements and institutions after the two were abused by and taken from their mother’s custody.

    “Mom beat the boys unmercifully, in my opinion,” Veinlith said.

    As an infant, Silva’s mother would mix beer in his baby formula to quiet him and stop him from screaming.

    A defense psychiatric expert said scans of Silva’s brain were abnormal and consistent with someone who suffered from brain injury or psychotic disorder.

    “My brother will always be my brother,” Veinlith said. “And though his life gives him no excuse to harm another being, as his sister I must give him unconditional love, something he’s not gotten his entire life.”

    http://www.tcoasttalk.com/2012/03/14...r-of-cellmate/

  10. #10
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    If the judge sentences Silva to death, he will replace my current favorite death row inmate, Michael Ryan who replaced Andre Thomas.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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