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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAfter 6 Years, Florida Face-Biter Is Going on Trial
https://www.newser.com/story/287874/psychiatrist-gives-his-take-on-killer-face-biter.htmlAfter 6 Years, Florida Face-Biter Is Going on Trial
Judge will decide whether Austin Harrouff was insane when he killed couple
A former college student who randomly killed a Florida couple in their garage six years ago and then chewed on one victim's face finally goes on trial Monday, with a judge deciding whether he goes to prison for life or to a mental hospital. Austin Harrouff, 25, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder and other charges for his August 2016 slayings of John Stevens, a 59-year-old landscaper, and his 53-year-old wife, Michelle Mishcon Stevens.
The former Florida State University student has waived a jury trial, meaning Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer will decide whether Harrouff was insane when he killed the couple, the AP reports. The trial, which was delayed by the pandemic, legal wranglings, and Harrouffs recovery from critical injuries suffered while drinking a chemical during the attack, is expected to last three weeks.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)brer cat
(24,402 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Peregrine Took
(7,408 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)but completely leaves out other important, relevant facts -- the ones that would dampen a blaze of outrage. Race was not the only difference between the two cases at sentencing. There are other facts that affected sentencing. They're in the court record, and responsible reporting that you can go read describes them.
Of course, that some black people get harsher sentences than white is proven true, and many attempts have been made over the years to reform sentencing to make discrepancies based on nothing more than a judge's mood at the moment impossible. But it still happens, and Republicans have been appointing very unfit judges known to be willing to misuse their power to persecute women, minorities, etc.
(ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES! And some suffer them far more than others.)
Presumably there's evidence to back up the claim that a "fix is in". By whom and what's the payoff to whom? Did a watchdog group uncover it? Name? Others pushing for an investigation?