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Associated PressHe had been accused of knowingly presenting false evidence in the case of two boys who killed their father.
PENSACOLA - A Florida Bar committee on Tuesday rejected an accusation that an assistant state attorney knowingly presented false evidence when he prosecuted brothers Derek and Alex King and an adult family friend for the murder of the boys' father under different theories of the crime.
The Bar's grievance committee rejected the complaint against David Rimmer filed by Brian Oliver of Maplewood, Mo., who has been convicted of child abuse and is a persistent critic of prosecuting children as adults.
"I've been vindicated, validated and exonerated," Rimmer said. "And I'm going to continue prosecuting all murderers, regardless of their ages, young or old, without fear or favoritism, and this vile reprobate and all the other demons from hell are not going to stop me."
Oliver also had complained that Rimmer humiliated Alex, then 13, by calling him to the witness stand in handcuffs and questioning him in front of a national television audience about alleged sexual activity with co-defendant Ricky Chavis, 41, who had prior convictions as a child molester.
"I respect the finding of the grievance committee," Oliver said Wednesday. "I have no personal qualms with Mr. Rimmer. ... My beef is with the system that allowed this atrocity to happen."
Rimmer last year argued that Derek swung a baseball bat at the head of the boys' sleeping father, Terry King, killing him at their home in nearby Cantonment on Nov. 26, 2001, after being urged on by Alex. Derek and Alex were 13 and 12, respectively, at the time of the crime.
A week earlier, Rimmer had separately prosecuted Chavis of Pensacola before a different jury. His key witnesses were the King boys, who testified that Chavis killed their father. Jurors also heard tape recordings of the boys confessing to police that they were the killers.
Rimmer said he never argued that Chavis was the killer but simply presented the boys' testimony and left it for jurors to decide whether they were lying on the witness stand or in their confessions. All three had faced automatic sentences of life in prison without parole if convicted as charged of first-degree murder.
Chavis was acquitted. The King boys were convicted of a lesser offense, second-degree murder. A judge threw out the convictions and ordered mediation. The brothers then pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. Derek, now 15, was sentenced to eight years, and Alex, now 14, to seven years. They are serving their sentences in separate juvenile prisons.
Rimmer later prosecuted Chavis for related crimes. Chavis is serving 35 years in prison after being convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder, evidence tampering and falsely imprisoning Alex. He was acquitted of molesting Alex.
Rimmer is prosecuting two other juveniles on adult murder charges. Daniel Carter was 15 last year when he was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing of his uncle. Christine Rogers, 13, is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing of another teen on July 5. Both trials are scheduled for November.