Page 6 of 9 FirstFirst ... 45678 ... LastLast
Results 51 to 60 of 84

Thread: Luis Toledo Sentenced to 3 Consecutive Life Terms Without Parole in 2013 FL Slayings of Yessenia Suarez and her Children

  1. #51
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Luis Toledo’s attorneys ask to sequester jury in death penalty trial

    By Frank Fernandez
    Daytona Beach News-Journal

    Attorneys for Luis Toledo, who is accused of killing his wife and her two children, are asking that the jury be sequestered for Toledo’s upcoming death penalty trial.

    Toledo, 33, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife, 28-year-old Yessenia Suarez, and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Thalia, 9, and Michael, 8. If convicted of killing either of the children, Toledo could face the death penalty.

    The mother and children were reported missing Oct. 23, 2013, from their home at 317 Covent Gardens Place. Their bodies have not been found.

    The hearing on the defense motion to sequester the jury, which means removing them from public contact during the trial, is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday before Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.

    Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2 in St. Augustine for the long-delayed trial which is expected to last several weeks.

    The trial was originally planned for DeLand. But Toledo’s attorneys argued at a prior hearing that he could not receive a fair trial in Volusia County because of the extensive media coverage the case has received. Prosecutors opposed the move but Zambrano granted the defense request.

    http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...-penalty-trial
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #52
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Judge will consider sequestering jury in Luis Toledo murder trial

    By Frank Fernandez
    Daytona Beach News-Journal

    DELAND — Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano said forecasting media coverage is like predicting a hurricane and he wants to wait until closer to the Oct. 2 trial date before deciding whether to sequester the jury for the death penalty trial of a Deltona man accused of killing his wife and her two children.

    Luis Toledo, 33, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife, 28-year-old Yessenia Suarez, and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Thalia, 9, and Michael, 8. If convicted of killing either of the children, Toledo could face the death penalty.

    The hearing on the defense motion to sequester the jury, which means removing them from public contact and putting them up in a hotel during the trial, was held Friday before Zambrano at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand. Toledo was present flanked by his three attorneys.

    Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2 in St. Augustine for the long-delayed trial which is expected to last four to six weeks.

    One of Toledo’s defense attorneys, Jeff Deen, requested that the jury be sequestered because of the intense media coverage. Deen suggested picking the jury in St. Augustine, as is already planned, and then moving them to DeLand to hold the trial. Deen said given that the state has 70 witnesses in the case it would be easier to hold the trial in Volusia County.

    He also said the case is already receiving coverage in Jacksonville and St. Augustine media and it would be very expensive if three weeks into the proceedings there is a mistrial because a juror was exposed to news about the case.

    “We don’t believe the jury instructions, no matter how earnest you are about them, are going to be able to be followed — not in this day and age of social media,” Deen said.

    Prosecutor Mark Johnson said that sequestering the jury would make it tougher to find jurors and cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    Zambrano said he would take Deen’s motion under consideration but said it was too early to forecast media coverage of the trial.

    “That’s like hurricane prediction, there’s some science to it and there’s a lot of art behind it in trying to determine what kind of coverage, the impact coverage will have. We have to get a little bit closer to the trial date to really get a good idea.” Zambrano said.

    The judge also said that sequestering the jury would greatly impact jurors’ lives. He added that most jurors follow the law and do not violate instructions.

    http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...o-murder-trial
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #53
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Judge limits evidence heard in Luis Toledo murder trial

    By Mike Springer
    WFTV Orlando

    DeLAND, Fla. - A man accused of killing his wife and her two children was in a Volusia County courtroom Tuesday.

    A judge decided what evidence will be heard by the jury when the Luis Toledo murder trial is set to begin Oct. 2.

    Toledo is accused of killing Yessenia Suarez, 28, and her children, Thalia Otto, 9, and Michael Otto, 8, who disappeared from their Deltona home in October 2013. Their bodies haven't been found.

    Volusia County Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano ruled to limit what the medical examiner can say on the stand. The medical examiner can talk about neck injuries and the type of force needed to cause them. The medical examiner cannot say how the children may have died or who may have killed them, because the judge feels it would be too speculative.

    The medical examiner based his opinions off what prosecutors at the State Attorney's Office told him happened, as well as what he heard in an eight-minute confession video by Toledo. However, a judge ruled the jailhouse confession will not be brought up at trial.

    Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys considered Toledo's reported confession to be credible.

    The judge granted on Aug. 25 several motions, including the release of jail visitation and cellphone records and allowing blood evidence to be introduced at trial.

    Zambrano said he needs more time to decide on Toledo's attorneys' request to move the trial from Saint Johns County and to have a sequestered jury in Volusia County.

    The defense argued that isolating the jury would lessen the chances of a mistrial and that trying the case in Volusia County would shorten the distance of travel for witnesses.

    Toledo could face the death penalty in the case, if convicted.

    http://www.wftv.com/news/local/judge...rial/603426830
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #54
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Accused murderer Luis Toledo asks that death penalty be thrown out

    Jury selection in trial begins Monday in St. Augustine

    By Adrienne Cutway
    clickorlando.com

    VOLUSIA COUNTY Fla. - Accused triple murderer Luis Toledo is asking that the death penalty not be sought during his upcoming first-degree murder trial, according to court documents.

    Toledo's attorney filed a motion claiming that the notice of intent to seek the death penalty that the state of Florida filed on March 28, 2014, approximately 39 days after Toledo's arraignment, is no longer valid because the state's death penalty requirements have changed since then.

    The motion goes on to say that the state should have filed a second notice that met the state's updated requirements after Florida changed its death penalty-law on March 13 of this year.

    Under Florida law, the notice of intent to seek the death penalty must be filed within 45 days of the defendant's arraignment, but because Toledo was arraigned in 2014, it's too late to file a new notice that meets the new standards, according to Toledo's attorney.

    "Further, even if the court didn't require a new arraignment by illegally expanding the stated legislative intent clearly expressed in the statute, and instead permitted the 45 days to run from the date of enactment, March 13th, 2017, that time would have expired April 27th, 2017," the motion reads.

    The suspect's attorney has unsuccessfully asked for the court to throw out the death penalty in the past.

    Toledo is accused of killing his wife, Yessenia Suarez, and her two children Thalia Otto, 9, and Michael Otto, 8, in Volusia County in October 2013. Their bodies have not been found.

    A hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. to discuss the motion to strike the death penalty and motions Toledo's attorney has filed requesting that Toledo be permitted to question potential jurors and that certain statements made during an interview on Oct. 24, 2013 be struck because they could be considered prejudicial.

    Jury selection in the long-delayed trial will begin Monday in St. Augustine.

    A judge has ordered that Toledo have no contact with any other inmates while he is transported from the Volusia County Jail to St. John's County. He will remain there through the duration of the trial, which is expected to last several weeks.

    https://www.clickorlando.com/news/ac...-be-thrown-out
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #55
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Luis Toledo: Death penalty remains on table for man accused of killing wife, children

    By Jason Kelly
    WFTV Orlando

    DeLAND, Fla. - The death penalty will remain on the table for a 35-year-old Volusia County man who is accused of killing his wife and her two children when his case goes to trial Monday, a judge ruled Friday.

    Attorneys for Luis Toledo tried to convince Volusia County Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano to strike the death penalty, saying prosecutors failed to follow some procedures. But their motion was denied.

    Toledo's wife, Yessenia Suarez, 28, and her children, Thalia Otto, 9, and Michael Otto, 8, disappeared from their Deltona home in October 2013. They have not been found.

    Investigators said Toledo confessed to killing Suarez but denied killing her children.

    Attorneys filed a motion to not allow jurors to hear police officers refer to Toledo by his nickname "Semi" -- an allusion to Toledo's mixed-martial arts training, which incinuates that he hits as hard as a tractor-trailer. But Zambrano also denied that motion.

    Attorneys filed a motion to have the jury sequestered, but Zambrano denied that request.

    "When (potential jurors) come in, they don't know why they are there, so they don't know what case they're getting," defense attorney Jeff Deen told Channel 9. "They start hearing (about) it and look in the back of the room and see your cameras there."

    Toledo's case will be tried in St. Augustine because of the publicity it has received.

    http://www.wftv.com/news/local/luis-...dren/616678609
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #56
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Jury selection starts in trial of former gang member from Deltona accused of killing wife, 2 kids

    Luis Toledo, the Deltona man accused of killing his wife and her two children, is about to find out if his jailhouse Santeria-style shrine had any effect.

    Nearly four years after Toledo was cuffed and charged in the murders, the former Latin Kings gang-member will go on trial in St. Augustine. If convicted of killing either of the children, he could face the death penalty.

    Jury selection begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center before Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano. The trial was moved to St. Augustine because of the extensive publicity it has received in Volusia County.

    Toledo, 35, is charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Yessenia Suarez, 28, and two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of her children, Michael Otto, 8, and Thalia Otto, 9. The first-degree murder counts are punishable by death.

    Their bodies have never been found.

    A key witness in the case against Toledo will be his neighbor, Tyshawn Jackson. Toledo asked Jackson to follow him when Toledo drove his wife's car to a shopping center in Lake Mary after investigators said Toledo killed the woman and children.

    Toledo has admitted to killing his wife by striking her in the throat during a confrontation in the house. But Toledo has blamed Jackson for the murders of the children.

    Assistant State Attorney Ryan Will, during a hearing Friday, opposed a defense motion to exclude from the trial a statement by Toledo that he could have killed Jackson with one hand. Will said the statement contrasts with Toledo's claims that Jackson was in control of killing the children and disposing of their bodies.

    “He has these two contrasting statements, one where Ty is in complete control of everything, where he is scared of Ty,” Will said.

    But Toledo told investigators that he could have killed Jackson and warned them not to bring Jackson into the interview room.

    “But this is the guy that Toledo was apparently under the direction of,” Will said.

    Jackson has not been charged with anything in the case.

    Zambrano said Toledo's statement would be allowed.

    Zambrano also rejected a defense request to exclude Toledo's nickname “Semi.” Toledo was known as King Semi when he was third-highest ranking member of the Latin Kings gang in Florida.

    But everyone called Toledo “Semi” and the judge ruled that the nickname alone was not prejudicial, although there would be no discussion of how Toledo got the name, which is related to Toledo's boxing and martial arts training.

    The trial had been delayed as Florida's death penalty underwent changes because of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court. The most significant being that, when Toledo was arrested in 2013, only seven of the 12 jurors had to recommend death for a judge to be able to impose the death penalty. Now, all 12 jurors must recommend death.

    Toledo's will be the second death-penalty case since the law was changed earlier this year for the 7th Circuit, which covers Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam counties. The first case was in St. Augustine, in which jurors in August unanimously recommended death for a man convicted of killing his wife.

    Toledo appears to have appealed for help to someone other than his defense attorneys during his long stay at the Volusia County Branch Jail. His jailers discovered in March 2016 a shrine in his cell which included a newspaper clipping of Suarez and her two children. On each was a red dot, apparently made with blood, a correction's officer said in a deposition. The items were arranged in a ritualistic way, “possibly ‘Santeria,' ” according to a jail report. Another picture showed Toledo with a red dot on him. Still another had a red slash through Judge Zambrano's name.

    Jailers carted the shrine away and there have been no reports of another. Toledo's defense will rest on his three attorneys, Jeff Deen, Michael Nielsen and Michael Nappi.

    Toledo appears to have changed little in the nearly four years he has spent in the jail. He appears in court in the jail-issue orange jumpsuit, his dark hair a little longer at times than others and his beard narrows and widens. Toledo was studying to be a barber sometime before his arrest and his attorneys Friday said he wanted a haircut and grooming before the trial. The judge agreed to the request.

    No bodies

    Prosecutors Mark Johnson and Will are facing one significant disadvantage in the case. The bodies of the mother and children have never been found.

    The 7th Circuit has had only one other case in Volusia County or Flagler County in which the victim's body was not found. That was the case of Michael Joseph Annicchiarico, who was charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 slaying of his ex-girlfriend Mandy Ciehanoski.

    Annicchiarico pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree murder 2014 and was sentenced to life in prison. He pleaded to the lesser charge as part of a deal in which he agreed to show investigators where he had disposed of his girlfriend's body.

    Annicchiarico led investigators into the woods along the Volusia-Flagler line on a search which did not turn up the body. While investigators never found her body, they did find her blood and DNA on items in Annicchiarico's trash.

    Thomas A. DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor who keeps track of no-body cases, said in an interview with The News-Journal that the lack of a body gives a defendant an edge in the case. The body gives investigators information about the how, when and where of the murder, he said.

    “When you don't have the body, you are missing out on all those critical facts, therefore the case becomes much more difficult to prove,” DiBiase said.

    DiBiase said in an email Saturday that since the early 1800s, there have been just under 500 no-body trials in the United States.

    Blood spots

    In the time leading up to the family's disappearance, Toledo had discovered that Suarez was having an affair with Kevin Dredden, a co-worker at American K-9 Detection Services in Lake Mary. On Oct. 22, 2013, Toledo stormed into Suarez's workplace and slapped her, according to reports. Someone called 9-1-1 and Toledo drove away.

    Dredden told investigators that he texted Suarez about 12:24 a.m. on Oct. 23 and she called back about 12:49 a.m. Suarez apologized to Dredden, who told her nothing good would come of her being home that night with Toledo.

    Suarez replied that “she thought being there would help smooth things out,” a report said.

    Toledo's neighbor, Jackson, said Toledo tapped on his bedroom window about 6:10 a.m. Oct. 23, 2013, seeking his help. Jackson then followed in Toledo's Saturn as Toledo drove Suarez's Honda to a Publix in Seminole County. Toledo wiped down the car before getting behind the wheel of his Saturn and driving to an apartment complex, where he dumped some items in a trash container, authorities said.

    Investigators would later find the trunk mat from Suarez's car in a dumpster at the Lake Jennie Apartments in Sanford. It was found along with a plastic bag containing a pair of black Timberland boots, rags, a towel and a Mean Green spray bottle. Investigators also found a garage door opener from Suarez's car.

    Thalia Otto's blood was found on the trunk mat. And it was also found on the size 7 left boot.

    Toledo drove back to Deltona and dropped Jackson off.

    Suarez's mother, Felicita Perez, called deputies because her daughter had not called as customary and was not at her home at 317 Covent Gardens Place in Deltona. Toledo drove up in his Saturn while a deputy was at the scene and allowed him inside. He was arrested after that on a domestic violence charge out of Lake Mary and subsequently charged with the murders.

    Investigators would later find 14 different spots of blood from 9-year-old Thalia around the master bathroom of her Deltona home, according to a DNA report.

    No one else's blood was found.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...002-story.html

  7. #57
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Man says he fears for family's safety if he testifies in triple-murder trial of Luis Toledo

    By Daytona Beach News-Journal

    St. AUGUSTINE — The brother of a former gang leader accused of killing his wife and her two children told a judge he did not want to testify against the Latin King because he feared for the safety of his children.

    Chris Lasanta was brought in shackles to face Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano late Tuesday after jury selection finished for the day at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center in St. Augustine in the trial against his brother, Luis Toledo. Lasanta turned himself in on Tuesday after Zambrano issued a warrant for his arrest for ignoring a subpoena from prosecutors.

    Toledo, 35, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife, 28-year-old Yessenia Suarez, and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Thalia, 9, and Michael, 8. If convicted of killing either of the children, Toledo could face the death penalty.

    Jury selection is scheduled to resume on Wednesday as attorneys go through the time-consuming process of finding enough people to serve on a death-penalty trial that is expected to last an entire month.
    <aside data-v-ntidd="1069529" data-adloader-networktype="nativo" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-load-type="method">
    </aside>The mother and children were reported missing Oct. 23, 2013, from their home at 317 Covent Gardens Place in Deltona. Their bodies have not been found.

    Lasanta, 38, said he didn't want any part of the trial and feared for his three children.

    “He's accused of killing two kids and a mother,” Lasanta said of Toledo, “and they still haven't found the bodies and you want me to come and put my face all over the news and my family in danger.”

    Toledo, who at one point was the third-ranked Latin King in the state, was not in the courtroom when Lasanta was brought in, but Toledo's three attorneys were.

    Lasanta also said that no one knew Toledo was his relative. Lasanta, who described Toledo alternately as his brother and stepbrother, said the two men have different fathers.

    Lasanta also said he did not want to be considered a rat against his brother.

    Zambrano tried to ease Lasanta's concern.

    “As I understand it, his connection to the Latin Kings is not a positive one or a favorable one,” Zambrano said. “As I understand it, he might have been a Latin King. I'm not sure that they'll be welcoming him back.”

    Lasanta said that he knew how the street worked and said things could turn ugly once the trial was over.

    “Everybody's in sleep mode,” he said.

    Assistant State Attorney Ryan Will said Lasanta was an important witness and was needed to prove a portion of the state's case.

    Zambrano warned Lasanta that if he did not agree to return to court to testify, he would be held in jail until it was his turn on the witness stand, which is expected to be next week.

    Lasanta relented and said keeping him in jail would mess up his life and the good job he has as a plumber. He agreed to return at 9 a.m. on Monday.

    But he had one more thing to say.

    “I'm just letting you guys know,” Lasanta said, “if something happens to my children, it's on your heads.”

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...004-story.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #58
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    FRANCE
    Posts
    3,073
    Jury selection continues in Luis Toledo trial

    By Spectrum News 13

    Another round of potential jurors will be questioned in St. Augustine on Monday for the trial of Luis Toledo, who is accused of killing his wife and her two children in Deltona in 2013.

    Last week, the Deltona man faced dozens of potential jurors.

    Jury selection in the case against Toledo began in St. Johns County, where his attorneys think they will have a better chance of finding unbiased jurors.

    The potential jurors — about 200 from the county were summoned for the trial — were questioned about their familiarity with Toledo and the crime he's accused of committing.

    In October 2013, Yessenia Suarez and her two children, Thalia and Michael Otto, went missing. Their bodies have not been found.

    Toledo faces the death penalty if convicted.

    http://www.mynews13.com/content/news...ion_conti.html

  9. #59
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    FRANCE
    Posts
    3,073
    Jury selection in Luis Toledo murder trial could be completed Tuesday

    By Daytona Beach News-Journal

    ST. AUGUSTINE -- Defense attorney Michael Nielsen has been here before: the Deltona mass murder case 11 years ago was moved to St. Augustine because of publicity in Volusia County.

    Nielsen, along with defense attorneys Jeff Deen and Michael Nappi, are back in St. Augustine at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center, defending Luis Toledo, who is accused in a triple murder.

    The defense and prosecution are working on the challenging task of picking 12 people plus three alternates to serve on the jury. They have summoned 180 people since Oct. 2, chosen 11 jurors so far and hope to finish on Tuesday and then make their opening statements on Wednesday.

    Toledo, 35, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife, 28-year-old Yessenia Suarez, and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Thalia, 9, and Michael, 8. If convicted of killing either of the children, Toledo could face the death penalty.

    In 2006, Nielsen was at the St. Augustine courthouse, for perhaps the biggest case it has ever held, representing Troy Victorino, the ringleader in the Xbox murders in which four men beat and stabbed six people to death at a home in Deltona in 2004.

    “There are a lot of similarities in the sense that both crimes occurred in Deltona and got moved to St. Augustine, because of pretrial publicity,” Nielsen said. “Both of them involved multiple victims and in both of them the state is seeking the death penalty.”

    The cost for defending the accused in the Xbox case was not available. But the Toledo defense has so far cost $77,878 just for expenses such as depositions and investigators. That's not including the cost of the attorneys for the past several years. Nor does that include the cost for the attorneys during the trial which is expected to last at least the rest of the month.

    The defense attorneys are facing off against Mark Johnson, who is the lead prosecutor, and Ryan Will. Johnson has handled 14 murder cases, including five involving the death penalty. Will has 24 murder cases, including three involving the death penalty. Excluding the salaries of the prosecutors, 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza's office has spent $26,182.67 on the Toledo case thus far, not including expenses for the trial.

    Nielsen, 55, is lead counsel for Toledo. Nielsen has a contract to work on first-degree murder cases for the state's Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel covering the 5th District. Deen, as the regional counsel, is in charge of the office. Nappi also works for the office.

    Deen and Nappi declined comment for this story.

    Nielsen also has his own private law practice, Neilsen Law Firm in Winter Springs. Nielsen has been a lawyer for 29 years and the Toledo case is his 26th first-degree murder trial. Nielsen said the trio of attorneys are functioning like “three equal branches of government” each with their own jobs in the case.

    Nielsen and attorneys Jeff Dowdy and Robert Sanders, who is now a county judge in DeLand, defended Roy Lee McDuffie during his retrial in St. Augustine for killing two coworkers during the 2002 robbery of a Dollar General store in Deltona. That case was also moved to St. Augustine due to publicity. Nielsen and his colleagues convinced jurors to recommend life for McDuffie, who had been given a death sentence at his first-trial but the conviction was overturned.

    However, the case that has received the most publicity was the Xbox murders in which Nielsen and Dowdy represented Victorino.

    “There are a lot of similarities in the sense that both crimes occurred in Deltona and got moved to St. Augustine because of pretrial publicity. Both of them involved multiple victims and in both of them the state is seeking the death penalty,” Nielsen said in an interview.

    But there are significant differences. In the Toledo case, the mother and her young son and daughter were reported missing Oct. 23, 2013. Their bodies have not been found.

    That means there are no crime scene pictures or autopsy photos of their bodies.

    That was not the case in the Xbox murders. Nielsen said some of the jurors were crying after looking at the pictures in the Xbox case.

    “The crime scene photos were horrific. The autopsy photos were horrific,” Nielsen said. “Those people were so severely injured some of their faces were not recognizable. I don't see how that could not possibly affect a juror in a negative way.”

    The victims in the Xbox murders were young people with parents who greatly grieved their violent deaths. But Toledo is accused of killing young children. That has led to some prospective jurors saying they could not fairly reach a verdict.

    Nielsen said cases in which kids are victims are also tough on defense attorneys.

    “We are all humans,” Nielsen said. “We have an initial connection or feeling of sympathy for a child victim. It's not like you are not human, but you've got to act more like a machine, a legal machine, and don't let those feelings affect how you represent your client. The main thing is this: Luis is entitled to a fair trial and what we are here to do is protect and make sure his rights are not trampled on.”

    Victorino was sentenced to death but since Nielsen and Dowdy convinced some jurors to vote for life it was not a unanimous death recommendation. Jerone Hunter, another man convicted in the Xbox murders, was also sentenced to death but the recommendation for him also was not unanimous.

    Those non-unanimous votes would become huge in 2016 when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a jury vote for death must be unanimous.

    That means Victorino and Jerone Hunter, another man sentenced to death in the Xbox murders, must be resentenced. Prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty against the two, who now have different attorneys.

    And if Toledo is convicted, Nielsen won't need to convince half the 12-member jury to recommend life to keep his client off death row.

    “Now, we just need one,” he said.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...010-story.html

  10. #60
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Jury seated for triple-murder trial, testimony starts Wednesday

    By Frank Fernandez
    The St. Augustine Record

    ST. AUGUSTINE | A jury of 11 women and four men, including three alternates, were seated Tuesday, seven days after selection began in the high-profile Deltona triple murder trial moved to St. Augustine because of the publicity. Here’s what you need to know.

    WHAT HAPPENED: Luis Toledo confronted his wife and slapped her at her workplace on Oct. 22, 2013, in Lake Mary after learning she was having an affair with one of her coworkers, reports said. Toledo is accused of killing his wife and her children the following morning in Deltona and disposing of their bodies. The bodies have not been found.

    THE CHARGES:
    Luis Toledo is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children. If convicted of killing either of the children, Toledo could face the death penalty. Toledo is also accused of tampering with evidence which includes allegations he disposed of the bodies.

    THE SUSPECT:
    Luis Toledo is a 35-year-old former high-ranking member of the Latin Kings gang. Toledo got his nickname “Semi” from his martial arts and boxing. Toledo was studying to be a barber at some point before his arrest.

    THE VICTIMS:
    28-year-old Yessenia Suarez, and her children, Thalia Otto, 9, and Michael Otto, 8. The mother and children were reported missing Oct. 23, 2013, from their home at 317 Covent Gardens Place in Deltona by their maternal grandmother.

    COURT ACTION: Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano ruled on Tuesday that prosecutors could use statements from Toledo that when he was driving home on the morning of Oct. 23, 2013, he saw police outside his house and threw a knife out the window of his car.

    Zambrano said that prosecutors at least for now could not show jurors a picture of the actual knife, which is more than 11 inches in length, appears to have brass knuckles on the handle and a serrated edge. The defense had objected saying there is no evidence linking the knife to any murder.

    EXPECTED AT TRIAL:
    Attorneys will make opening statements on Wednesday morning at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center.

    http://staugustine.com/local-news/ne...arts-wednesday
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Page 6 of 9 FirstFirst ... 45678 ... LastLast

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
  •