By
Lisa Sweetingham
Court TV
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
— A Harvard grad student was spared the possibility of life in
prison without parole as a jury cleared him of first-degree
murder but convicted him of voluntary manslaughter in the
stabbing death of an 18-year-old father.
Alexander Pring-Wilson,
26, appeared stricken but calm as he was sentenced to six to
eight years in prison for the fatal street brawl. He could have
received as many 20 years or as little as probation.
Family and friends
of the victim, Michael Colono, were visibly upset by the verdict
and asked the judge for a stiffer sentence Thursday afternoon.
"Pring-Wilson
may be a smart man, but I think he made a big mistake taking a
life for egotistical reasons," Colono's older sister,
Damaris, told the judge.
The victim's
girlfriend, Cindy Guzman, said that whenever she looked at the
couple's 4-year-old daughter, Leah Jade, she was reminded of the
man who was "the love of my life."
Prosecutors claimed
Pring-Wilson stabbed Michael Colono five times, once in the
heart, during a late-night street fight on April 12, 2003,
because he was angry at the teen for making fun of him as he
stumbled drunkenly past in flip-flops and a raincoat.
But
Pring-Wilson claimed he acted in self-defense after being
attacked by Colono and Samuel Rodriguez, Colono's cousin.
Pring-Wilson
maintained he mistakenly approached their car because he thought
they were hailing him for directions. He said he reached for the
4-inch Spyderco blade in his pocket after being repeatedly
punched and kicked in the head by the Colono and Rodriguez.
Pring-Wilson,
an honor student conversant in several languages, had no prior
criminal record and was planning to attend law school before he
was arrested.
Colono
had recently achieved his GED and was a cook at a restaurant on
the Charles River at the time of his death.
Damaris
Colono highlighted the race, educational and age differences
between the two men during an irate plea to the judge.
"The
power that a white, smart man with money has is quite
disturbing. I understand money is power, but money should not
define justice," Colono said.
But
Pring-Wilson's lawyer, Ann Kaufman, blasted the notion that the
case was a clash of cultures. "This isn't about race or
class or privilege or wealth or whatever," she said.
Kaufman sniffled and wiped her eyes, once comparing her client
to Gandhi, while asking the judge to spare Pring-Wilson a prison
sentence.
The defendant's
mother, Cynthia Pring, begged the judge for leniency, saying,
"I am very frightened that a prison sentence would be a
death sentence for him.
The
panel of seven men and five women deliberated 21 hours over five
days before unanimously reaching their verdict at about 10:00
a.m.
He
said, they said
During
three weeks of intense testimony, jurors heard vastly different
interpretations of what happened between the two men during
their 70-second encounter on that rainy spring evening.
Rodriguez
painted the defendant as a knife-wielding aggressor who
viciously murdered Colono because the teen called him
"s---faced." He testified that he was unable to come
to his cousin's aid until the last minute because of his car's
faulty passenger-door handle.
But
Pring-Wilson's defense team attempted to mar Rodriguez's
credibility by pointing out his three prior convictions for
assault and battery, as well as Colono's prior conviction on a
drug charge. The burly bouncer, who held his dying cousin in his
arms minutes after they fled the scene, initially lied to police
about his involvement in the fight.
Possibly
the most damaging blow to Rodriguez's credibility was the
testimony of a former neighbor, Shawn Bates, who called police
just hours before the stabbing incident after seeing Rodriguez
beating up his own girlfriend in front of their apartment
building. Rodriguez denied the accusations, and no charges were
ever filed.
Assistant
State Attorney Adrienne Lynch lobbied a tough cross-examination
of the defendant, who took the stand for two and a half hours in
his defense. She questioned him about his initial inconsistent
statements to police, in which he claimed he was simply an
innocent bystander who witnessed a stabbing.
She also mocked his
melodramatic reenactment of being attacked — "You enjoyed
acting in college, didn't you?" — while pointing out his
lack of visible physical injuries, other than a welt on his
forehead, although he claimed to have been brutalized.
District
Attorney Martha Coakley said she was pleased with the jury's
decision, but believed a higher sentence was justified. She also
spoke briefly for the victim's family.
"They
were disappointed with the verdict. I'm certain they were
disappointed with the sentence," Coakley said.
Coakley
said her decision to push for first-degree murder stemmed more
from the facts of the case and the defendant's behavior after
the stabbing than from race or class issues. "Based upon
the medical evidence, the wound Colono suffered was a fatal
wound. The defendant had to know he was inflicting fatal
wounds," she said.
Jurors
declined comment to the media about the verdict.
Pring-Wilson
appeared somber and somewhat resolute as he was taken into
custody. He will immediately begin serving his sentence at
Massachusetts Criminal Institute - Cedar Junction, a maximum
security prison. He will be eligible for parole in six years.
http://www.courttv.com/trials/pring-wilson/101304_verdict_ctv.html
Jury continues
weighing fate of Harvard student who stabbed teen
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
— A question from jurors and a motion for dismissal from the
defense marked the second day of deliberations deliberation(商议)in
the trial of a Harvard graduate student who killed an unarmed
teenager.
The panel(全体陪审员)of
seven men and five women deliberated about six hours Thursday
before going home for the long weekend. They will start again
Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.
Prosecutors say
that Alexander Pring-Wilson, 26, stabbed Michael Colono, 18,
five times, once in the heart, during a late-night street fight
on April 12, 2003, because he was angry at the teen for making
fun of him as he stumbled drunkenly past in flip-flops and a
raincoat.
The defendant
claims he acted in self-defense(正当防卫)after being
attacked by Colono and Samuel Rodriguez, Colono's cousin, who
had a history of convictions for assault and battery(殴打).
At about 9:10 a.m.,
Justice Regina Quinlan received a note from jurors asking for a
copy of the jury instructions. Their request was denied.
Quinlan spent about
an hour and a half on Thursday reading instructions to jurors.
They are charged with reaching a unanimous verdict on one of
four choices: acquittal, first-degree murder, second-degree
murder or manslaughter(一般杀人罪).
Upon reviewing the
question, defense attorney Rick Levinson motioned for a
mistrial, citing the complex and confusing nature of the
instructions. The judge denied the motion.
Jurors have 150
exhibits at their disposal, and were allowed to take notes
during the nearly three-week-long trial, although the judge
asked them to withhold from notetaking during opening statements
and closing arguments. They may ask specific questions about the
law, but have not done so yet.
Pring-Wilson faces
life in prison without parole if convicted of the top charge. A
manslaughter verdict carries a sentence range of parole to 20
years in prison.
By noon, jurors
were still working, and court insiders say if they don't reach a
verdict by day's end on Friday, they would likely not return
until Tuesday after the long holiday weekend.
Court TV is
broadcasting the trial live.
http://www.courttv.com/trials/pring-wilson/100804_ctv.html
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