Post by CCADP on Aug 29, 2005 7:22:44 GMT -5
Death penalty sought against man accused of raping, killing girl, 5
By Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
Moffett
A man charged with the 1994 sexual assault and death of his then-girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter will become Hinds County's first death penalty case in nearly 10 years.
The attorney for Eric Moffett, however, said the district attorney's office reneged on a Dec. 16, 2004, statement not to seek the death penalty.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger denied a defense attempt to force District Attorney Faye Peterson's office to honor the statement. He ruled whether to seek the death penalty is up to Peterson's office.
Death penalty cases
Since Jackson firefighter Kenneth Tornes' death sentence in 1998 for shooting deaths at Central Fire Station in 1996, Hinds County prosecutors have sought the death penalty in two other cases:
In March 2000, Bryan Joseph Kolberg, initially sentenced to death in 1990 for the 1988 slaying of his then-girlfriend's 22-month-old child, was retried. The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial in December 1997, citing reversible errors in the first trial. The jury was unable to agree on a sentence in the second trial. Kolberg received life in prison.
A Hancock County Circuit Court jury found Willie "Fire Truck" Martin guilty in January 2000 of capital murder but couldn't reach a unanimous agreement on the death penalty. Martin received life in prison without parole. The case was moved from Hinds County because of pretrial publicity.
Martin was one of three people police said carried out the Nov. 6, 1994, kidnapping, torture and shooting death of Steve Steverson, 44, of Jackson.
The Tornes, Kohlberg and Martin cases were prosecuted under former District Attorney Ed Peters.
"They have elected to go forward on it, and we will go forward and defend him," defense attorney Dan Duggan said. "I believe he is innocent."
Peterson, district attorney since May 2001, said she is seeking the death penalty in Moffett's case because "it seems fitting, considering the crime."
Peterson's office said in court papers that it decided to seek the death penalty after new evidence became available, including DNA results that revealed the presence of semen in the victim. A pathologist said the child, Felicia Griffin, was brutally raped. An autopsy showed the child could have died from strangulation, blows to the head or blood loss from the tearing in her genital area.
Moffett's capital murder trial is set for Feb. 6 and he is being held without bond at the Hinds County Detention Center at Raymond.
The last death sentence handed down in Hinds County was to former Jackson firefighter Kenneth Tornes, who killed his estranged wife and four Jackson Fire Department officials in 1996. He pleaded guilty on March 19, 1998, and asked for the death penalty. A jury sentenced him to die for two of those murders. Tornes, 36, died from a blood clot in his lungs in 2000 while on death row.
Peterson has said the evidence of guilt must be overwhelming to seek the death penalty because of the expense and time involved. She said a prosecutor almost has to make it his sole case.
Peterson's predecessor, long-time District Attorney Ed Peters, had questioned the ability to get a death sentence in a predominately black district like Hinds County. Peters said black jurors are less likely to vote for the death penalty.
Peterson said black jurors will vote for the death penalty if the circumstances warrant it, especially if a child is involved.
Felicia died at the home her mother shared with Moffett on Lynda Street. Moffett reported to police he found Felicia on the bed bleeding after he came home from a bar. Her sisters, about 4 and 7 at the time, also were home, according to police reports.
Moffett originally was charged with capital murder in 1994, jailed for several months and then released because prosecutors took too long to forward the case to a grand jury. The district attorney's office lacked forensic evidence at the time to tie Moffett to the crime.
The grand jury later reviewed the case but did not return an indictment.
The child's mother, Pennie Griffin, couldn't be reached for comment.
Griffin immediately accused Moffett and told police she had suspected he sexually abused her children before.
She said she had taken all three of her children to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for exams for sexual abuse, according to police reports. A doctor examined the girls but found no signs of trauma, bruising or tearing.
Felicia told an uncle in the summer of 1994 that she had been touched between her legs by Moffett, but Griffin didn't file charges.
The Department of Human Services, which is responsible for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, said it never received a report of the allegations.
The district attorney's office reopened the case in 2002 after new evidence was presented through the Mississippi Children's Advocacy Center, a treatment facility for sexually and physically abused children. Mississippi Children's Advocacy Center officials said some children interviewed had knowledge of the case.
The Advocacy Center, citing confidentiality laws, said it couldn't identify the children interviewed or discuss specifics.
By Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
Moffett
A man charged with the 1994 sexual assault and death of his then-girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter will become Hinds County's first death penalty case in nearly 10 years.
The attorney for Eric Moffett, however, said the district attorney's office reneged on a Dec. 16, 2004, statement not to seek the death penalty.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger denied a defense attempt to force District Attorney Faye Peterson's office to honor the statement. He ruled whether to seek the death penalty is up to Peterson's office.
Death penalty cases
Since Jackson firefighter Kenneth Tornes' death sentence in 1998 for shooting deaths at Central Fire Station in 1996, Hinds County prosecutors have sought the death penalty in two other cases:
In March 2000, Bryan Joseph Kolberg, initially sentenced to death in 1990 for the 1988 slaying of his then-girlfriend's 22-month-old child, was retried. The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial in December 1997, citing reversible errors in the first trial. The jury was unable to agree on a sentence in the second trial. Kolberg received life in prison.
A Hancock County Circuit Court jury found Willie "Fire Truck" Martin guilty in January 2000 of capital murder but couldn't reach a unanimous agreement on the death penalty. Martin received life in prison without parole. The case was moved from Hinds County because of pretrial publicity.
Martin was one of three people police said carried out the Nov. 6, 1994, kidnapping, torture and shooting death of Steve Steverson, 44, of Jackson.
The Tornes, Kohlberg and Martin cases were prosecuted under former District Attorney Ed Peters.
"They have elected to go forward on it, and we will go forward and defend him," defense attorney Dan Duggan said. "I believe he is innocent."
Peterson, district attorney since May 2001, said she is seeking the death penalty in Moffett's case because "it seems fitting, considering the crime."
Peterson's office said in court papers that it decided to seek the death penalty after new evidence became available, including DNA results that revealed the presence of semen in the victim. A pathologist said the child, Felicia Griffin, was brutally raped. An autopsy showed the child could have died from strangulation, blows to the head or blood loss from the tearing in her genital area.
Moffett's capital murder trial is set for Feb. 6 and he is being held without bond at the Hinds County Detention Center at Raymond.
The last death sentence handed down in Hinds County was to former Jackson firefighter Kenneth Tornes, who killed his estranged wife and four Jackson Fire Department officials in 1996. He pleaded guilty on March 19, 1998, and asked for the death penalty. A jury sentenced him to die for two of those murders. Tornes, 36, died from a blood clot in his lungs in 2000 while on death row.
Peterson has said the evidence of guilt must be overwhelming to seek the death penalty because of the expense and time involved. She said a prosecutor almost has to make it his sole case.
Peterson's predecessor, long-time District Attorney Ed Peters, had questioned the ability to get a death sentence in a predominately black district like Hinds County. Peters said black jurors are less likely to vote for the death penalty.
Peterson said black jurors will vote for the death penalty if the circumstances warrant it, especially if a child is involved.
Felicia died at the home her mother shared with Moffett on Lynda Street. Moffett reported to police he found Felicia on the bed bleeding after he came home from a bar. Her sisters, about 4 and 7 at the time, also were home, according to police reports.
Moffett originally was charged with capital murder in 1994, jailed for several months and then released because prosecutors took too long to forward the case to a grand jury. The district attorney's office lacked forensic evidence at the time to tie Moffett to the crime.
The grand jury later reviewed the case but did not return an indictment.
The child's mother, Pennie Griffin, couldn't be reached for comment.
Griffin immediately accused Moffett and told police she had suspected he sexually abused her children before.
She said she had taken all three of her children to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for exams for sexual abuse, according to police reports. A doctor examined the girls but found no signs of trauma, bruising or tearing.
Felicia told an uncle in the summer of 1994 that she had been touched between her legs by Moffett, but Griffin didn't file charges.
The Department of Human Services, which is responsible for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, said it never received a report of the allegations.
The district attorney's office reopened the case in 2002 after new evidence was presented through the Mississippi Children's Advocacy Center, a treatment facility for sexually and physically abused children. Mississippi Children's Advocacy Center officials said some children interviewed had knowledge of the case.
The Advocacy Center, citing confidentiality laws, said it couldn't identify the children interviewed or discuss specifics.