Thomas Straight faces at least 111 months in prison at the June 16 sentencing for the manslaughter conviction.
By ANNE BROACHE
Published May 13, 2004
DADE CITY - After deliberating for an hour Wednesday, a jury handed a guilty verdict to Thomas Straight, the Zephyrhills prison psychologist accused of killing his longtime roommate four years ago.
Straight, 64, was convicted of manslaughter, his initial charge, and faces a minimum of 111 months, or about nine years, in prison.
He was taken to Land O'Lakes Jail, where he will be held in lieu of $100,000 bail while his sentence is pending. His sentencing is scheduled for June 16.
The decision closed a two-day trial in which the prosecution presented jurors with hours of taped interviews between Straight and authorities from the day of the shooting. Contrasted with the state's seven witnesses, mostly law enforcement officials, the defense called none of its own.
The manslaughter charge spans three types of actions. The prosecution and defense agreed in their final statements that the first two - intentionally killing and "procuring" someone else to do so - could not be supported through available evidence.
"When he pulled the trigger, there is no way on planet Earth that Mr. Straight thought David Hood would be lying dead on the floor," said Robert Norgard, Straight's attorney.
But Prosecutor Phil Van Allen argued that Straight had committed the third component of manslaughter, called culpable negligence. That meant Straight did not exercise the "usual, ordinary caution" prescribed by the law and used a weapon the law would deem "dangerous," Van Allen said.
"Deliberately pointing a gun at another human being, especially one who is intoxicated, amounts to an act in utter disregard for the state of others, and one Mr. Straight should've known would cause bodily harm," Van Allen told jurors.
About 3:30 a.m. on May 5, 2000, Pasco County sheriff's deputies responded to a call from Straight, who said 36-year-old Hood, whom he thought of as a son, had shot himself.
But later that day, Straight admitted he had actually pulled the trigger of the 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun.
Straight said he was attempting to calm his friend, who had awakened him about 1:30 a.m. to talk about his problems and began threatening suicide. Finally, Hood handed Straight the gun and, swearing it was unloaded, dared him to shoot it. Straight said he did so just to prove he believed his friend.
Hood's official cause of death was a shotgun wound to the head, which entered through the roof of his mouth, the case's medical examiner testified Tuesday.
Investigators said the sole explanation for the shot's entry point was that when fired, the gun barrel was inside Hood's mouth. But Straight said repeatedly in taped interviews presented to the jury that he didn't remember seeing the barrel in Hood's mouth.
In the video shown Wednesday, Straight also revealed more about the nature of his relationship to Hood.
Straight said he thought of him as a son, though he admitted that their relationship had sexual components from time to time. But he said Hood, who was sexually abused by his brother when he was younger, "liked women."
"We both decided we weren't going to do that anymore," he said, citing his religious beliefs.
Hood had been living with Straight at various locations since 1981, Straight told investigators.
From time spent counseling Hood, Straight knew about his history of behavioral, mental and substance abuse problems. Straight said Hood's mother begged him to take in the 18-year-old when he was released from a juvenile detention center, and Straight agreed.
Straight told detectives after the shooting, "He felt I was the only person who ever showed him any concern."
