Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Closing arguments in Fla. homeless beating death
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- One defense attorney says the teens charged with fatally beating a homeless man in South Florida with a baseball bat never intended to kill anyone.
During today's closing arguments, defense attorney Jeremy Kroll told jurors that 21-year-old Brian Hooks and 19-year-old Thomas Daughtery were "just out to mess with some people that night, as horrible as that sounds" and never intended to kill anyone.
The defense also tried to cast doubt on earlier testimony from 21-year-old William Ammons, who pleaded guilty in May to felony murder and aggravated assault and is awaiting sentencing. They said Ammons admitted to lying to police 80 times, but that he told the truth when he initially said he saw Hooks running away from the attacks.
But prosecutor Peter Holden said the teens were "all in this together" and that every blow was intended.
Prosecutors played a video which captured the nonfatal attacks a few times during closing arguments in the 2006 rampage. The teens were also accused of attacking two other homeless men.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
