CSNbbs

Sounds like the Jury got this one right.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Jur...jPU_A.cspx

Quote:Jury Recommends Death Penalty For Kirkland

CINCINNATI -- The jury presiding over the Anthony Kirkland murder trial recommends that Kirkland receive the death penalty for his crimes.

The closing statements were heard Wednesday and the jury deliberated for over three hours to decide on the recommendation. Prosecutors described Kirkland as a "mean, manipulative, predatory killer."

Kirkland was found guilty on Friday of 10 counts including attempted rape, aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and gross abuse of a corpse in the deaths of the two teens, 13-year-old Esme Kenney and 14-year-old Casonya "Sharee" Crawford.

The tapes of Kirkland's confessions to police that told in chilling fashion how he killed the two teens had been played over the course of the trial to assist jurors in making a decision on whether he should be sentenced to death or not.

At the outset of his trial, Kirkland pleaded guilty to killing two others; 45-year-old Mary Jo Newton and 25-year-old Kimya Rolison.

Throughout the trial, Kirkland’s attorneys never disputed that their client was a killer.

Kirkland asked jurors to spare his life on Tuesday as he took the stand and spoke for the first time during the trial, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"I don't deserve to live, but please spare me," Kirkland asked.

"He killed and he killed and he killed and he killed," Hamilton County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said of Kirkland in his closing argument. "That is not mitigation. I've never seen a case where there are more aggravating circumstances and less mitigation. Sentence Anthony Kirkland to death."

Defense attorney Norm Aubin countered that Kirkland needs to be put in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.

"We're not asking for a break. It's not a game. This is life and death," Aubin told the jurors. "He's never going to talk out that prison."

Aubin added that Kirkland has a mental health condition, was raised in abusive family situation and was chemically dependent.

"He is what he is," Aubin said. "Do the right thing and put him in prison for the rest of his life."

Co-counsel Will Welsh told jurors this may be the only time in their lives when they have someone else's life in their hands.

"You have the absolute power to day that death is off the table," Welsh stated. "You can give life in prison."

Welsh said Kirkland's family upbringing meant he had no chance in life.

"Killing him does nothing. Killing him comes out of anger and rage. If you do that, you're acting just like him. You're choosing death while you're in a rage," Welsh continued.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters took offense with that statement.

Deters also downplayed Kirkland's allegedly abusive upbringing and mental condition.

"That's an excuse," Deters said. "He's not mentally ill. This is not a mental defect. He is a psychopath. That's mitigation"" Deters asked.

The prosecutor also attacked Kirkland's unsworn statement to the jury Tuesday -- especially the part about being so angry he can't stop himself.

"He has no personal responsibility for what he did to those four girls. None. He couldn't care less," Deters added.

A formal sentencing will tentatively take place at 9 a.m. on March 31.
Copyright 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

This was not a human that did these things - it was a monster.

Jury foreman says Anthony Kirkland verdict based on facts

By Carrie Whitaker • cwhitaker@enquirer.com • March 17, 2010


The Enquirer/Carrie Whitaker
Anthony Kirkland, flanked by attorneys Norm Aubin and Will Welsh, waits solemnly for the jury's decision. He would soon learn that they recommended him for the death penalty.

CINCINNATI - The jury foreman did something Wednesday he never expected to do in his lifetime: He signed a piece of paper recommending the death of another human being.

It took the foreman and 11 other jurors 3½ hours to choose the death penalty for serial killer Anthony Kirkland. To the jurors, it felt much longer.

"Everybody was sympathetic to any abused child," he said, "but at the same time ... does that rise above the fact that he raped and murdered two girls and murdered two other women? Not even close. He had the opportunity to change his life, but he just liked to kill ... and he wanted to cover it up to keep killing."

Elected the jury's foreman, the man said he agreed to speak on behalf of five other jurors.

"Some people might think (the jury) did this because of the horrendous crimes and the emotions involved in it," he said. "But the verdict that we reached was based on the facts and the law."

When the jury began its deliberation the room was divided, with seven jurors leaning toward death and five toward a life sentence, he said. After rereading jury instructions and talking it out they reached their decision, he said.

One of the hardest decisions came in the first phase of the trial, when the jury found him guilty of all charges against him, including the rape and aggravated robbery of 14-year-old Casonya Crawford.

"I still wasn't convinced that he raped Casonya and took her stuff," he said.

But one of the witnesses for the prosecution - Kirkland's ex-girlfriend's daughter - changed his mind.

In her testimony she described how Kirkland exposed himself to her when she was 13, frightening her so badly that she stood in the rain outside of her home until her mother came back to the house.

“She was the witness that brought it home for us,” the juror said. “That showed that he had this predilection for young girls.”

In the end, it came down to Kirkland’s words and behavior, he said.

“During his taped confession, he talked about how he brutally murdered these women, you hear him eating food and yawning, showing no emotion,” he said. “He only cried when he was talking about himself.”

Some of the jurors also noticed Kirkland smirk when he heard himself on his taped confession say: “I (explicative) like a champ.”

“He is not remorseful, laughing about a comment you made about your sexual prowess when we’re talking about you killing a child,” he said. “That’s the moment when some of us saw truly how depraved this guy was.”

Now the juror will try to sleep. He hasn’t done much of that since the trial began. He knows he’s a changed man.

“I can’t look at wooded lots the same way without having some memory of this,” he said. “Thinking there are people like Kirkland out in the world changes your perspective to a degree,” he said.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100...nd+verdict

(03-17-2010 11:14 PM)ctipton Wrote: [ -> ]Jury foreman says Anthony Kirkland verdict based on facts

By Carrie Whitaker • cwhitaker@enquirer.com • March 17, 2010


The Enquirer/Carrie Whitaker
Anthony Kirkland, flanked by attorneys Norm Aubin and Will Welsh, waits solemnly for the jury's decision. He would soon learn that they recommended him for the death penalty.

CINCINNATI - The jury foreman did something Wednesday he never expected to do in his lifetime: He signed a piece of paper recommending the death of another human being.

It took the foreman and 11 other jurors 3½ hours to choose the death penalty for serial killer Anthony Kirkland. To the jurors, it felt much longer.

"Everybody was sympathetic to any abused child," he said, "but at the same time ... does that rise above the fact that he raped and murdered two girls and murdered two other women? Not even close. He had the opportunity to change his life, but he just liked to kill ... and he wanted to cover it up to keep killing."

Elected the jury's foreman, the man said he agreed to speak on behalf of five other jurors.

"Some people might think (the jury) did this because of the horrendous crimes and the emotions involved in it," he said. "But the verdict that we reached was based on the facts and the law."

When the jury began its deliberation the room was divided, with seven jurors leaning toward death and five toward a life sentence, he said. After rereading jury instructions and talking it out they reached their decision, he said.

One of the hardest decisions came in the first phase of the trial, when the jury found him guilty of all charges against him, including the rape and aggravated robbery of 14-year-old Casonya Crawford.

"I still wasn't convinced that he raped Casonya and took her stuff," he said.

But one of the witnesses for the prosecution - Kirkland's ex-girlfriend's daughter - changed his mind.

In her testimony she described how Kirkland exposed himself to her when she was 13, frightening her so badly that she stood in the rain outside of her home until her mother came back to the house.

“She was the witness that brought it home for us,” the juror said. “That showed that he had this predilection for young girls.”

In the end, it came down to Kirkland’s words and behavior, he said.

“During his taped confession, he talked about how he brutally murdered these women, you hear him eating food and yawning, showing no emotion,” he said. “He only cried when he was talking about himself.”

Some of the jurors also noticed Kirkland smirk when he heard himself on his taped confession say: “I (explicative) like a champ.”

“He is not remorseful, laughing about a comment you made about your sexual prowess when we’re talking about you killing a child,” he said. “That’s the moment when some of us saw truly how depraved this guy was.”

Now the juror will try to sleep. He hasn’t done much of that since the trial began. He knows he’s a changed man.

“I can’t look at wooded lots the same way without having some memory of this,” he said. “Thinking there are people like Kirkland out in the world changes your perspective to a degree,” he said.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100...nd+verdict

Give me the chance to send this parasite down to lucifer... He deserves one thing, and that's a bullet between the eyes...I would do it in a heartbeat and not loose a second of sleep!

Beyond the media attention, Deters ran this case personally for one reason, to fry this animal. No chance he wasn't getting the needle.