Lionel Tate, originally sentenced to life in prison for murder, could avoid a retrial and be released soon if he accepts a deal.
By Associated Press
Published December 27, 2003
Lionel Tate, 16, entered a juvenile prison in 2001, two years after he killed Tiffany Eunick when he was 12.
Tiffany Eunick, 6, was battered to the point that her liver was split, a jury was told in 2001.
FORT LAUDERDALE - Prosecutors said Friday they have offered Lionel Tate a plea bargain that could mean almost immediate freedom for the boy whose murder conviction and life sentence in the slaying of a 6-year-old playmate were thrown out earlier this month.
The deal is identical to one Tate and his mother rejected in 2001, before he went to trial.
It would let Tate, now 16, plead guilty to second-degree murder and accept a sentence of three years in prison, of which he has already served 33 months, State Attorney Michael J. Satz said in a statement. That would be followed by a year of house arrest and 10 years' probation. Tate also would have to undergo psychological treatment.
Ron Ishoy, a Satz spokesman, said no agreement had been reached with the family.
"This plea was the right thing to do before the trial, and it's the right thing to do now," Ishoy said.
Richard Rosenbaum, Tate's appellate attorney, said he expects his client to make a decision "in the next couple of weeks."
"I believe this is the best offer, and the only way to get something better would be to go to trial and to win," Rosenbaum said.
He spoke to Tate on Friday but declined to discuss their conversation. He stressed that it would be his client's choice to accept or reject the offer.
"My client is Lionel, and while Lionel listens to his mom, it's his decision, not hers," Rosenbaum said.
Rosenbaum said the offer would mean Tate could be released from prison about Jan. 25. Tate entered a maximum-security juvenile prison in January 2001, two years after he killed 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick when he was 12.
Satz said the reoffer was made after consulting with Deweese Eunick-Paul, Tiffany's mother, and the state Attorney General.
Attorney General Charlie Crist's office will file a motion for a rehearing Monday, which would keep the case alive in the event that Tate and his mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate, do not accept the plea offer, spokeswoman Joann Carrin said.
An appellate court in West Palm Beach threw out Tate's murder conviction and life sentence two weeks ago, arguing that his competency should have been evaluated. It ordered a new trial.
The appellate judges expressed concern about Tate's apparent immaturity and possible misunderstanding of a plea bargain that would have let him leave a juvenile facility as early as 10 months ago, had he taken the original deal.
Tate's attorneys said at trial that the boy accidentally killed Tiffany while mimicking wrestling moves he had seen on television.
"Lionel was 12 years old then, and he was a child. He's now 16 years old and he's still a child, and he was treated more harshly as a child than some adults," his mother, a state trooper, said after lawyers made their appeal arguments last month. "It was clearly an accident then, and it is still an accident."
Prosecutors said the 48-pound girl was punched, kicked and stomped by Tate, who weighed 170 pounds. The child was battered to the point that her liver was split, the jury was told.
Tate's sentence in January 2001 drew international criticism of a Florida law that lets child murderers be tried as adults and locked away with no hope of parole.
His mother and supporters brought the case to a U.N. human rights meeting in Geneva and Pope John Paul II in Rome. His attorneys have requested clemency from the governor and the members of the state's elected Cabinet, who all make up the clemency board.
Although other states have similar laws, Florida prosecutes more children as adults than anywhere else.
