Harvey Leroy Jones Jr. was convicted of second-degree murder after he struck a fatal blow in a fight in 2000. He is serving a 25-year sentence.
By CHASE SQUIRES
Published October 15, 2003
TAMPA - An attorney representing 21-year-old Harvey Leroy Jones Jr. argued Tuesday his client might not be innocent in the April 26, 2000, Zephyrhills street brawl that sent him to prison, but he didn't deserve a 25-year sentence.
Instead of being convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Loy Lee Hardwick, Jones should have been convicted of manslaughter, public defender Eric Gottlieb argued.
The charge would carry a sentence substantially lighter than the 25-year term he got for murder.
"This was an act of self defense," Gottlieb argued before a 2nd District Court of Appeal panel. "There was no ill will, hatred, spite or evil intent shown."
Jones was 18 when he and his twin brother got into an argument that turned physical with Hardwick and his son in front of Hardwick's Zephyrhills home. At trial, witnesses testified that, during the scuffle, Hardwick swung a metal pole at Jones. Jones took it from the older man and swung back, hitting him in the head.
Hardwick had an abnormally thin skull, and the blow killed him.
Before he was sentenced in 2001, Jones apologized.
"My actions that day weren't meant to hurt anyone. What happened, happened. We can't change that," he said in court. "What happened was an accident. Maybe I did go too far. ... It's really not my fault."
Gottlieb didn't argue Jones' participation in the fight, only the degree of guilt.
"He did deliver a blow, and that is manslaughter, absolutely. However, he did do that during the heat of battle," Gottlieb said.
But at Tuesday's appeal hearing, Assistant Attorney General Tiffany Fearing said the sentence can't be adjusted by the appeals panel.
A jury, she said, reviewed the evidence, listened to the testimony and rejected Jones' self-defense argument, opting instead for a murder conviction.
Judge E.J. Salcines appeared to agree it would be difficult for the three-judge panel to overrule a jury and a circuit judge on findings of fact.
"The jury heard all that," he said after Gottlieb made his case for self defense. "This was a very tragic situation in a neighborhood squabble, but we're also stuck with the standard of review."
Gottlieb said he expects a ruling from the court sometime in the next month.
Jones did not appear at the hearing. He remains in Charlotte Correctional Institution in Punta Gorda.
