Supporters say the recent improved behavior of the teen, who killed a 6-year-old girl in 1999, shows he's not violent.
By Associated Press
Published May 8, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - Supporters of Lionel Tate, who is serving a life prison sentence for the murder of a 6-year-old, advocated clemency for the teenager Wednesday in a meeting with a lawyer for Gov. Jeb Bush.
Tate's mother, who is a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, and a national representative of the NAACP were also at the meeting with Wendy Berger, an attorney who works in the governor's legal office.
Two months ago, Tate's lawyer submitted clemency papers arguing that the teen's improved behavior at a maximum-security juvenile prison in Okeechobee shows that he's not violent.
Bush, who was not in the meeting, told reporters earlier Wednesday he would treat the Tate clemency application like any other.
"We will look at that case like we look at all the other cases," Bush said, adding that he appreciated that people were advocating on Tate's behalf.
Bush also said he would want to review Tate's behavior. Two years ago the governor refused to consider Tate's clemency application because of behavioral problems.
"He was acting out in a way that would leave one to believe that he needed help - which is why he's in a place where he can get help as well as be punished for the crime that he committed," Bush said.
Tate was sentenced in March 2001 to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murder of Tiffany Eunick, a girl his mother was babysitting in the South Florida town of Miramar.
Tate, now 16, was 12 then. He originally claimed he accidentally killed Tiffany while imitating professional wrestling moves he had seen on television. He now says the girl lay at the bottom of a staircase he walked down before he accidentally jumped on top of her. Tate weighed more than 160 pounds, Tiffany about 50.
Experts testified at Tate's trial that Tiffany died of a fractured skull and lacerated liver suffered during a beating that lasted from one to five minutes.
Earlier this spring, a supporter, the Rev. Thomas Masters, took Tate's case to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland.
