Florida Court Throws Out Conviction of Boy Sentenced to Life for Death He Blamed on Wrestling

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Dec. 10 Appellate judges ordered a new trial Wednesday for a 16-year-old boy who is serving a life sentence for killing a 6-year-old playmate, raising questions about the Florida law that allows child murderers to be locked away with no hope of parole.
The judges at the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that Lionel Tate's first-degree murder conviction and life sentence should be reversed because Tate's competency should have been evaluated before the trial. The boy had claimed he was imitating pro wrestlers when he killed Tiffany Eunick.

The family turned down a plea bargain before the trial that would have given the boy a three-year sentence.

"A competency hearing should have been held particularly given the complexity of the legal proceedings" and Tate's age, the judges wrote in a nine-page ruling.

Tate's attorney argued before a state appellate court that the boy, who was 12 when he killed Tiffany Eunick, was too immature to understand what was at stake when he was on trial in 1999. Tate's trial attorneys said he accidentally killed the girl. They argued he was imitating the moves of professional wrestlers he saw on television.


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