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02/05/09 - 03:50 PM
A Cuban immigrant sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and killing 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce 14 years ago is once again asking for a new trial.
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments today (Thursday) in the case of Juan Carlos Chavez.
Chavez was convicted of kidnapping Jimmy at gunpoint after getting off a school bus near his home in rural Miami-Dade County.
His lawyer claims Chavez did not understand his right to have an attorney. Andrea Norgard argues an expert witness was erroneously prevented from testifying at a prior appeal hearing about the differences between the U.S. and Cuban legal systems.
Assistant Attorney General Scott Browne say Chavez received Miranda warnings at least four times in Spanish and had been in this country long enough to be familiar with American rights. Browne claims Chavez would have been convicted even without the confession.
Chavez had confessed to raping Jimmy, shooting him, then dismembering the body and placing it in planters sealed with cement.
Jimmy’s mother, Claudine Ryce, died of a heart attack last month.
Don Ryce was asked today about carrying on the fight for missing children. Fighing back tears, he said the cause for missing children lost a “great fighter” when his wife died, but he added that a “whole army” of people are stepping foward to carry on the fight.
The Supreme Court previously upheld the conviction and sentence. There’s no word on when justices might issue a decision in this case.
Jimmy Ryce’s name is on a law that keeps sexual predators in custody after completing their sentences if the courts deem a person is still a danger to the community.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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