Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 16, 2006 11:44:54 GMT -5
Jury refuses to give killer death penalty
Panel decides on life without parole for man
Less than 90 minutes after jurors began deliberating whether Jeffrey Lamb deserves to live or die for the fatal beating of his wife, Cathy, with a tire iron in 2004, the panel decided: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Lamb showed no outward emotion to the decision Friday, but the announcement moved his mother and stepfather to tears as they embraced.
The mother of Cathy Lamb made a brief statement via telephone from her home in Connecticut.
"We would have preferred death, but we are OK with life," Benita Rippeon said. "I think he should be punished for what he did, and he will never be out again."
The motive for the killing, according to prosecutors Craig Williams and Patrick McKamey, was a $27,000 insurance check. As Cathy Lamb, 30, sat in her Lake Park home waiting to go on a movie date with Lamb, he blindsided her with two blows to the face with the tire iron, McKamey said Friday, "And then he went to work on her skull..."
"She thought it was a movie with her husband, and now we know it was a date with death," McKamey told jurors.
The decision serves as a recommendation to Circuit Judge Lucy Chernow Brown and was reached because the panel did not have a majority of seven needed for the death penalty, according to jurors. The split was not disclosed.
The judge will hold another hearing with the lawyers before announcing her final decision on sentencing, but it is rare for a judge to override a jury's recommendation.
The same jury convicted Lamb, 33, of first-degree murder on Monday.
Family members and friends spoke on Jeffrey Lamb's behalf during the penalty phase of the case, offering reasons why his life should be spared.
On Friday morning, Lamb's mother, Judy Jackson, was overcome with emotion when recalling the hardships her oldest son suffered as a child watching his father drink himself to death.
"I need him so much," she said. "Whatever I can have, I need him."
Lamb's life can still have value, even behind bars, according to his attorneys, Richard Lubin and Jonathan Wasserman.
"Jeffrey Lamb has humanity in him," Lubin said. "He should not be extinguished."
Lubin was relieved with the panel's recommendation.
"I thank God the jury decided to spare Jeffrey's life, and I'm still devastated by the guilty verdict," he said, adding that Lamb would appeal the verdict.
Juror Kathleen Eckhart declined to comment on the panel's vote split.
"We were all very united in everything we did," she said. "It was excruciating, it was all very difficult. Our best, of course, goes to Cathy and her family."
McKamey said the state respects the jury's decision.
"We know they were very thoughtful and deliberate in the decision they reached, and although it's not the recommendation we were seeking, we certainly respect their verdict," he said.
Missy Diaz can be reached at mdiaz@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5505.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Panel decides on life without parole for man
Less than 90 minutes after jurors began deliberating whether Jeffrey Lamb deserves to live or die for the fatal beating of his wife, Cathy, with a tire iron in 2004, the panel decided: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Lamb showed no outward emotion to the decision Friday, but the announcement moved his mother and stepfather to tears as they embraced.
The mother of Cathy Lamb made a brief statement via telephone from her home in Connecticut.
"We would have preferred death, but we are OK with life," Benita Rippeon said. "I think he should be punished for what he did, and he will never be out again."
The motive for the killing, according to prosecutors Craig Williams and Patrick McKamey, was a $27,000 insurance check. As Cathy Lamb, 30, sat in her Lake Park home waiting to go on a movie date with Lamb, he blindsided her with two blows to the face with the tire iron, McKamey said Friday, "And then he went to work on her skull..."
"She thought it was a movie with her husband, and now we know it was a date with death," McKamey told jurors.
The decision serves as a recommendation to Circuit Judge Lucy Chernow Brown and was reached because the panel did not have a majority of seven needed for the death penalty, according to jurors. The split was not disclosed.
The judge will hold another hearing with the lawyers before announcing her final decision on sentencing, but it is rare for a judge to override a jury's recommendation.
The same jury convicted Lamb, 33, of first-degree murder on Monday.
Family members and friends spoke on Jeffrey Lamb's behalf during the penalty phase of the case, offering reasons why his life should be spared.
On Friday morning, Lamb's mother, Judy Jackson, was overcome with emotion when recalling the hardships her oldest son suffered as a child watching his father drink himself to death.
"I need him so much," she said. "Whatever I can have, I need him."
Lamb's life can still have value, even behind bars, according to his attorneys, Richard Lubin and Jonathan Wasserman.
"Jeffrey Lamb has humanity in him," Lubin said. "He should not be extinguished."
Lubin was relieved with the panel's recommendation.
"I thank God the jury decided to spare Jeffrey's life, and I'm still devastated by the guilty verdict," he said, adding that Lamb would appeal the verdict.
Juror Kathleen Eckhart declined to comment on the panel's vote split.
"We were all very united in everything we did," she said. "It was excruciating, it was all very difficult. Our best, of course, goes to Cathy and her family."
McKamey said the state respects the jury's decision.
"We know they were very thoughtful and deliberate in the decision they reached, and although it's not the recommendation we were seeking, we certainly respect their verdict," he said.
Missy Diaz can be reached at mdiaz@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5505.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel