| Darius Simmons
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John Henry Spooner sentenced to life in prison for killing unarmed teen
Mike De SistiPatricia Larry (facing front), the mother of Darius Simmons, hugs Ald. Milele Coggs after John Henry Spooner was sentenced Monday.
Spooner was
sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a
punishment Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner said fit the
"horrific, egregious act" of killing a 13-year-old neighbor.
"There should
never be any light in the tunnel for you," Wagner said to nods in the
courtroom gallery, filled to near-capacity Monday afternoon. "This is
one of the worst of the worst."
The judge also ordered Spooner to pay $58,551 in restitution to the Simmons family.
Spooner
appeared in an orange jumpsuit for the first time Monday, his prison
apparel replacing the short-sleeved, checkered shirt he had donned
during his trial last week. As Wagner told him he would spend the rest
of his life behind bars, Spooner gazed back impassively.
Spooner's sentencing hearing followed a weeklong trial split into two phases — a guilt phase and an insanity phase. A jury found Spooner guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in Simmons' death on Wednesday and, two days later, deemed him criminally responsible for
his actions, rejecting Spooner's insanity defense in less than 15
minutes of deliberation. Spooner took the witness stand Thursday against
the advice of his lawyer and told a stunned courtroom that he considered Simmons' death "justice."
Simmons was
retrieving a garbage can from the curb when Spooner gunned him down,
demanding the teenager return four shotguns he believed Simmons had
taken from his home two days earlier. When Simmons said he did not have
the guns — and when his mother, Patricia Larry, threatened to call the
police from the front porch — Spooner shot the teenager in the chest. He
fired a second shot that missed, and attempted a third, but his gun
jammed.
Police searched the victim's home after the incident and found none of the missing guns.
Spooner
addressed the court again Monday during his sentencing hearing,
reiterating his exasperation over the stolen guns and dwelling on the
perplexity of videos retrieved from his surveillance cameras
successfully capturing his confrontation with Simmons but failing to
show who had broken into his home two days earlier.
He said he didn't know if what he did was right or wrong.
"I feel sorry
for Darius. He had nobody who loved him enough to teach him to go
straight," Spooner said, eliciting an expletive from Simmons' older
brother, Theodore Larry.
Spooner
alleged during his trial that Simmons' mother directed the burglary,
telling her children to rob a "sick, old man," he said.
"May God
forgive you, Ms. Larry, for your lying and cheating and stealing,"
Spooner said. "I don't know if I did right or wrong. The jury didn't
tell me. Nobody told me."
Wagner tried to remove any doubt in Spooner's mind, telling him, "You did wrong. You took the life of a child."
"It was an
evil act," Wagner added. "That family is left without the love of their
child. (Simmons) will never be able to experience childhood, to go
through high school ...to go to college, to get married, to have
children. You took that all away from him."
Though bound
by a mandatory life sentence, the court had the option of permitting the
consideration of Spooner's release with extended supervision after a
minimum 20 years in prison, Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams
said before the sentencing.
Williams asked Wagner to impose the maximum sentence and to deny Spooner the chance of ever leaving jail.
"He's going
to die in prison with murderers and rapists, and that's the choice he
made," Williams said. "He believed what he did was right, and that's
what makes him so dangerous."
Larry, on the other hand, said Monday she would pray for Spooner, that she has "no hate for this man."
Still, she
said she wants Spooner "to be held accountable for what he did to (her)
son Darius Simmons" and asked Wagner to sentence him to life in prison.
"He is a menace to society," Larry said. "No mother should have to go through this."
Larry read
only a brief, prewritten statement and declined to comment after the
sentencing. Simmons' brother and the family pastor, Steve Jerbi, also
made statements asking for a life sentence.
"My brother lost his life over something he didn't do," Larry said. "(Spooner) should be in jail for the rest of his life."
A maximum sentence
Defense
attorney Franklyn Gimbel said the court's decision about parole
eligibility was inconsequential, calling the prospect of Spooner living
for another 20 years "totally improbable." Afflicted by cancer, heart
disease and recurring bouts of pneumonia over the years, his client does
not have long to live, Gimbel said.
Yet because
his conviction marked Spooner's first contact with the criminal justice
system, Gimbel asked the court to leave open the possibility that
Spooner be considered for release after 20 years, albeit as an "academic
exercise," Gimbel said.
"Prior to the
day of May 31, 2012, John Spooner was an average working human being,"
Gimbel said. His four adult children did not attend the trial because
they do not "endorse their father's conduct," Gimbel said, but "they
love their father."
Wagner said the severe sentence would deter others.
"If someone
else hears about this case or reads about it, they will know that
offenses like this ...and the lack of remorse and repentance call for a
maximum sentence," Wagner added.
He also
denied Gimbel's request to provide Spooner with protective custody, a
precaution Gimbel said was necessary "because of the racial undertones
that have been raised about his behavior underlying the offense."
|
Published July 17, 2013, 01:58 PM
Wisconsin man found guilty in fatal shooting of teen
A jury convicted John Henry Spooner of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of Darius Simmons in May 2012. The trial now shifts into a second phase in which the defense will try to prove the defendant was mentally ill at the time of the shooting. By: Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press- John Henry Spooner
John Henry Spooner, 76, right, confers with his defense attorney
Monday, July 15, 2013, during a break in jury selection for his trial
on charges that he fatally shot a black teen last year whom he suspected
of breaking into his Milwaukee home and stealing weapons. The case has
drawn comparisons to the trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted
two days earlier of killing Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last year.
(AP Photo/Dinesh Ramde)
MILWAUKEE — A 76-year-old Milwaukee man was found guilty Wednesday of fatally shooting his 13-year-old neighbor whom he suspected had broken into his home and stealing weapons. The trial now shifts into a second phase in which the defense will try to prove the defendant was mentally ill at the time of the shooting.
A jury convicted John Henry Spooner of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of Darius Simmons in May 2012. Surveillance video taken from Spooner's own security cameras showed him confronting the teen that morning, pointing a gun at him from about 6 feet away and shooting him in the chest.
Spooner had entered two pleas to the homicide charge: not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. That set up the trial to be conducted in two phases: one to determine whether he was guilty of the homicide, and if so, a second to determine his mental competence at the time.
Spooner's defense attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, has said he has an expert who will testify that Spooner was suffering from mental disease at the time of the shooting that prevented him from knowing right from wrong.
Gimbel conceded from the outset that his client shot Darius. However, he argued that Spooner did not intend for the gunshot to be fatal.
The surveillance video provides a clear view of what happened. Spooner emerges from his house and confronts the teen, who is retrieving his family's garbage cart from the street. Spooner points a gun at Darius, who quickly moves back a few steps. Spooner then talks to Darius' mother, who's standing on her porch out of view of the camera, and Spooner briefly points the gun in her direction. Moments later, Spooner points the gun back at the boy standing a couple of feet in front of him. He fires, hitting Darius in the chest.
The teen stumbles and runs away, and Spooner fires a second shot that misses.
The mother, Patricia Larry, testified that she chased Darius to where he collapsed in the street and held him in her arms as he died.
"I pulled his shirt up and I (saw) he had a bullet hole in his chest," she testified tearfully. "He took one more breath and that's it."
Spooner paced up and down the sidewalk until police arrived a few minutes later. Police officer Richard Martinez testified that he was handcuffing Spooner when Spooner acknowledged, "Yeah, I shot him."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Jury: Wis. man sane when he killed black teen neighbor
John
Spooner is led out of the courtroom as his case is turned over to the
jury at Milwaukee County Court on Friday, July 19, 2013, in Milwaukee.
Spooner was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide Wednesday,
a verdict that advanced the trial to a second phase in which the jurors
were asked to determine whether he was mentally ill at the moment he
pulled the trigger. (AP Photo/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Kristyna
Wentz-Graff)
The same jury decided two days earlier that Spooner was guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 13-year-old Darius Simmons in May 2012. The trial then shifted into a second phase in which jurors were asked to determine whether Spooner was mentally ill at the moment he pulled the trigger.
It took the jury less than 30 minutes to agree he was sane and in control of his actions at the time of the shooting.
The boy’s mother, Patricia Larry, declined to speak with reporters after the trial but thanked God, the prosecutor and the community. Her son had died in her arms.
“Justice was served,” she said.
Two doctors testified Friday that Spooner has anger issues and aggressive impulses, but that he was neither delusional nor detached from reality when he killed Darius.
Spooner, who is white, never denied killing his unarmed, black next-door neighbor. He testified that he shot Darius because he believed the teen was among the burglars who had broken into his home two days earlier and stolen four shotguns that held deep sentimental value.
He also testified that he wanted to kill Darius’ brother after the older boy ran into the street to help his dying brother. But Spooner didn’t fire because he feared he might endanger other people around them.
Dr. Robert Rawski, a court-appointed forensic psychologist, said that level of recognition shows how Spooner was thinking clearly at that moment.
“He opted not to (shoot) because there was a couple and a child in the distance. He did not want to chance it,” Rawski said, recalling his interview with Spooner last year. “This is an individual who … recognized the environment around him. His anger was very specific.”
Police searched Darius’ home after the shooting but found no stolen weapons.
If the jury had found Spooner mentally incompetent, he could have faced life in a mental institution. Instead he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, although the judge has the option to set a possible parole date. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Monday afternoon.
The verdict came less than a week after George Zimmerman was acquitted in Florida in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. In the opening days of Spooner’s trial, the judge told the jury pool to separate the cases.
“You understand the facts aren’t the same. It’s a whole different case,” Judge Jeffrey Wagner said.
Spooner’s attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, said the only similarity between the cases was that both teens were black.
Race was almost never mentioned in Spooner’s trial, except when he referred to video from his surveillance cameras from the day of the burglary. It showed two black teenage males walking near his house from the direction of Darius’ home. Their faces are hard to make out and neither is carrying Spooner’s guns.
The strongest piece of evidence against Spooner was footage from his own surveillance cameras, which showed him confronting Darius on the sidewalk and pointing a handgun at him. The boy backpedaled a few steps with his hands up. Spooner then exchanged words with Darius’ mother on her porch off screen, and then turned and fired one shot at Darius’ chest.
The teen fled, and Spooner fired a second shot that missed. He tried to shoot a third time but the gun jammed.
Darius died a few moments later across the street, in his mother’s arms.
Spooner, who testified against his attorney’s advice, told the jury he killed Darius because he really wanted his guns back. Prosecutor Mark Williams suggested Spooner was out for revenge.
“I wouldn’t call it revenge,” Spooner replied. “I would call it justice.”
In his closing statements, Gimbel said Spooner’s attitude shows how clouded his client’s thinking was at the time. He said Spooner failed to recognize that his conduct was “outrageously wrong.”
But prosecutor Mark Williams said it would be incorrect to equate a bad temper with mental disease. That would excuse anyone who committed a crime during a moment of anger.
“I don’t know if he even lost control because he was pretty calculated in his shooting,” Williams said. “He knew what he was doing.”
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John Henry Spooner sentenced to life in prison for killing unarmed teen
Mike De Sisti
Patricia Larry (facing front), the mother of Darius Simmons, hugs Ald. Milele Coggs after John Henry Spooner was sentenced Monday.
When John Henry Spooner, 76, told police last year that "they are going to throw the book at (him)" for shooting Darius Simmons, he was right.
Spooner was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a punishment Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner said fit the "horrific, egregious act" of killing a 13-year-old neighbor.
"There should never be any light in the tunnel for you," Wagner said to nods in the courtroom gallery, filled to near-capacity Monday afternoon. "This is one of the worst of the worst."
The judge also ordered Spooner to pay $58,551 in restitution to the Simmons family.
Spooner appeared in an orange jumpsuit for the first time Monday, his prison apparel replacing the short-sleeved, checkered shirt he had donned during his trial last week. As Wagner told him he would spend the rest of his life behind bars, Spooner gazed back impassively.
Spooner's sentencing hearing followed a weeklong trial split into two phases — a guilt phase and an insanity phase. A jury found Spooner guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in Simmons' death on Wednesday and, two days later, deemed him criminally responsible for his actions, rejecting Spooner's insanity defense in less than 15 minutes of deliberation. Spooner took the witness stand Thursday against the advice of his lawyer and told a stunned courtroom that he considered Simmons' death "justice."
Simmons was retrieving a garbage can from the curb when Spooner gunned him down, demanding the teenager return four shotguns he believed Simmons had taken from his home two days earlier. When Simmons said he did not have the guns — and when his mother, Patricia Larry, threatened to call the police from the front porch — Spooner shot the teenager in the chest. He fired a second shot that missed, and attempted a third, but his gun jammed.
Police searched the victim's home after the incident and found none of the missing guns.
Spooner addressed the court again Monday during his sentencing hearing, reiterating his exasperation over the stolen guns and dwelling on the perplexity of videos retrieved from his surveillance cameras successfully capturing his confrontation with Simmons but failing to show who had broken into his home two days earlier.
He said he didn't know if what he did was right or wrong.
"I feel sorry for Darius. He had nobody who loved him enough to teach him to go straight," Spooner said, eliciting an expletive from Simmons' older brother, Theodore Larry.
Spooner alleged during his trial that Simmons' mother directed the burglary, telling her children to rob a "sick, old man," he said.
"May God forgive you, Ms. Larry, for your lying and cheating and stealing," Spooner said. "I don't know if I did right or wrong. The jury didn't tell me. Nobody told me."
Wagner tried to remove any doubt in Spooner's mind, telling him, "You did wrong. You took the life of a child."
"It was an evil act," Wagner added. "That family is left without the love of their child. (Simmons) will never be able to experience childhood, to go through high school ...to go to college, to get married, to have children. You took that all away from him."
Though bound by a mandatory life sentence, the court had the option of permitting the consideration of Spooner's release with extended supervision after a minimum 20 years in prison, Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams said before the sentencing.
Williams asked Wagner to impose the maximum sentence and to deny Spooner the chance of ever leaving jail.
"He's going to die in prison with murderers and rapists, and that's the choice he made," Williams said. "He believed what he did was right, and that's what makes him so dangerous."
Larry, on the other hand, said Monday she would pray for Spooner, that she has "no hate for this man."
Still, she said she wants Spooner "to be held accountable for what he did to (her) son Darius Simmons" and asked Wagner to sentence him to life in prison.
"He is a menace to society," Larry said. "No mother should have to go through this."
Larry read only a brief, prewritten statement and declined to comment after the sentencing. Simmons' brother and the family pastor, Steve Jerbi, also made statements asking for a life sentence.
"My brother lost his life over something he didn't do," Larry said. "(Spooner) should be in jail for the rest of his life."
A maximum sentence
Defense attorney Franklyn Gimbel said the court's decision about parole eligibility was inconsequential, calling the prospect of Spooner living for another 20 years "totally improbable." Afflicted by cancer, heart disease and recurring bouts of pneumonia over the years, his client does not have long to live, Gimbel said.Yet because his conviction marked Spooner's first contact with the criminal justice system, Gimbel asked the court to leave open the possibility that Spooner be considered for release after 20 years, albeit as an "academic exercise," Gimbel said.
"Prior to the day of May 31, 2012, John Spooner was an average working human being," Gimbel said. His four adult children did not attend the trial because they do not "endorse their father's conduct," Gimbel said, but "they love their father."
Wagner said the severe sentence would deter others.
"If someone else hears about this case or reads about it, they will know that offenses like this ...and the lack of remorse and repentance call for a maximum sentence," Wagner added.
He also denied Gimbel's request to provide Spooner with protective custody, a precaution Gimbel said was necessary "because of the racial undertones that have been raised about his behavior underlying the offense."
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