Pasco: State rules out death sentence for mother

State rules out death sentence for mother

If she is convicted of murdering her 6-year-old son, prosecutors say Kristina Gaime should get life in prison, not capital punishment.

By CHASE SQUIRES

DADE CITY -- Prosecutors announced Monday they will not seek the death penalty against Kristina Gaime but asked to delay the scheduled Dec. 10 trial of the Land O'Lakes woman accused of murdering her young son more than two years ago.

In a motion to Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson, prosecutor Phil Van Allen said attorneys still need to question doctors on both sides of the case, and there would not be enough time to prepare for trial.

Gaime, 37, has been in jail since she was released from a hospital after her May 1999 arrest. She is charged with the April 1999 murder of her 6-year-old son, Mathew Rotell, and the attempted murder of her other son, Adam Rotell, then 8. Investigators say she drugged the boys, put them in her minivan at their Land O'Lakes home, directed the exhaust into the cabin and climbed inside with them.

Gaime and Adam were found inside their home alive the next day. Mathew was found dead inside the van.

The state had considered pressing for the death penalty if Gaime was convicted, but on Monday the motion for a new trial date made it clear that no longer was an option.

"While the state of Florida is not seeking the death penalty, should the defendant be convicted, she will spend her life in prison," Van Allen's motion said.

Van Allen said State Attorney Bernie McCabe made the call on the death penalty issue, deciding Gaime's was not an appropriate case for capital punishment.

Typically, the court must consider a variety of factors before imposing a death sentence, including the cruelty of the crime and the mental status of the defendant.

Gaime's attorneys alerted the court last year that they will use an insanity defense, claiming she was insane at the time of her son's death, due to "severe mental and emotional defects."

Her attorneys could not be reached late Monday. The boys' father, Stephen Rotell, has maintained a policy of not commenting on any aspect of the case.

A hearing on Van Allen's request to delay the trial is set for Friday.