Teen convicted in girl's death goes free this week
By Wire services
Published January 26, 2004
WEST PALM BEACH - A young teen who stomped and kicked a playmate to death is expected to walk out of jail this week, three years after he became the youngest defendant in the country to be locked away for life.
Supporters say Lionel Tate recognizes that the reversal of his first-degree murder conviction will be his only second chance.
Tate will go before Circuit Judge Joel Lazarus twice this week to make the final arrangements for his release. Lazarus oversaw Tate's criminal trial two years ago and repeatedly rejected requests to throw out or reduce the tough sentence for a crime Tate committed when he was 12.
An appeals court threw out the sentence last month, when judges ruled he should have been evaluated to make sure he understood what was at stake at his trial.
