Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Hi All :)
A lot of the cases we have discussed previously have come to their
respective conclusions, I'll be doing up a couple postings and summaries
of the case and verdicts, in the next couple days. I apologize I seemed
to have fallen behind in this but I had some things to take care of in
my private life. So don't be surprised if your suddenly overwhelmed by
some messages from me, I'm just trying to do catch up :)
The first case that has concluded, was the Central Park Jogger, John
Royster has been found guilty of the brutal beating of three women,
including a Park Avenue dry cleaner who was killed as she opened her
shop.
A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for 15 hours over two
days before finding Royster guilty on all 11 counts, including first-
degree murder in the killing of Evelyn Alvarez, and attempted rape in an
attack on a piano teacher in Central Park.
He will be sentenced on March 24. First-degree murder carries a
mandatory sentence of life without parole.
Royster could also face trial in Westchester for an attack on a woman
in Yonkers, just north of the Bronx.
The 23-year-old's attorneys admitted he committed the crimes but tried
to prove he was mentally disturbed when he carried out the attacks in
June 1996.
The jury apparently believed a forensic neuropsychiatrist called by
the prosecution to refute defense witnesses. The doctor said he found
Royster to be a ``sexual sadist'' but saw no evidence he was mentally
incompetent.
When the verdict was read, Royster hid his face in his hand. The
piano teacher's mother and two sisters held hands as tears ran down
their cheeks.
Their relative was Royster's first victim, attacked as she exercised
in Central Park. He beat her so violently she lingered in a coma for
weeks, and when she woke up, had to be re-introduced to her close
friends.
Her family had to identify based on her hand features because her
face was so badly beaten.
Another woman he attacked while she was strolling along the East River
blacked out during the beating, which was so severe she had to undergo
reconstructive surgery on her face.
Royster's final victim in the eight-day spree was Alvarez, who was
beaten to death as she unlocked her Manhattan dry cleaning store.
--
Kathy E
"I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
isn't looking too good for you either"
http://members.delphi.com/kathylaw/ Law & Issues Mailing List
http://pw1.netcom.com/~kathye/rodeo.html - Cowboy Histories
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2990/law.htm Crime photo's
Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
