After a hung jury in his first trial in May, Monserrate Teron goes on trial again on July 24 on two capital charges of raping his 7-year-old granddaughter. The only possible outcomes aside from another hung jury are acquittal or life in prison on conviction. There is no middle ground.
With that in mind, Circuit Judge Terence Perkins told lawyers on both sides today, in the last hearing before trial, to give a plea deal one more chance.
“The response may be no or hell no from either side. And I get that,” Perkins told Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark, who was in the courtroom, and Cape Coral-based defense attorney Harley Brook, who was attending by zoom, as Teron stood at the lectern in front of the judge.
“That’s your part of the case. I’m just trying to see if there’s a window of opportunity where this case can get resolved short of having the jury decide,” Perkins said, “because once we go to the jury, once we start that process, I’m probably not going to want to take a plea no matter what, from either side. And we’re polarized. I mean, it’s either an acquittal, or it’s life in prison. And I don’t get to say anything about either of those.”
The sentence on conviction is mandatory life in prison. The judge has no leeway under law.
The state has previously offered 25 years in prison. Teron is 59. He would have to serve the sentence day for day, no early release as with convictions on some other offenses. He would be 84 at the end of his sentence, so it’s all but a life term anyway. Teron has declined the offer previously. The state has withdrawn it.
Today’s hearing was to check on the status of the case before trial, a chance for both sides to bring up any unforeseen issues or discuss any differences. There were a couple of surprises, one of them substantial: both sides agreed to impanel six jurors this time, not 12, as they had in the May trial, and even though Teron faces capital charges, which require a 12-person jury. The court and the lawyers did not explain the different approach, though–again, in a surprise–both sides agreed to it.
Clearly, the two sides want to narrow the chances of another hung jury. In May, indications from jurors who wrote publicly on the case were that 10 jurors had voted for conviction and two had held out, doubting not so much whether Teron was guilty of the offense, but whether he had committed it in Palm Coast as opposed to Massachusetts, where the girl and her family live. The girl was visiting her grandfather in his Palm Coast home when the incident allegedly occurred. But by law, jurors cannot convict except on the charge as written, based on where the crime took place.
By halving the size of the jury, the chance of a hung jury also diminishes, proportionately increasing the chances of a verdict.
Perhaps that’s what prompted Perkins to ask, though it’s also a natural question to ask before any trial, the more so before the second trial after a hung jury: “Is there any reason to pursue any discussions with regard to resolution before trial?” That didn’t seem to have been a question the prosecution was much interested in anymore. But Perkins nudged toward it.
“I think your offer was 15 years, correct?” he asked Clark. She corrected him: 25 years. But without seeming as if he were the one egging on the terms, Perkins walked through the door he had just opened to the 15 years.
“So if it’s the state’s position that if the defense indicated they would take 15 years plus lifetime sex offender probation, you would decline that,” he asked Clark.
“Probably. I would certainly discuss it with the family first ,” Clark said. The family–mother, father, the alleged victim, who is now 11; her 14-year-old sister was not a witness in the first trial–are flying from Massachusetts the first day of trial, which is devoted to jury selection and possibly opening arguments. The conversation about a 15-year deal would take place before that, and might give the family a chance to avoid another trial, assuming Teron were even interested. He did not indicate what he would do today one way or the other, though all indications to this point are that he would decline. Even a 15-year deal would have him in prison until he is 75.
Perkins’s mediation skills–he had been a civil litigator for many years before becoming a judge–were on full display.
“Mr. Brook this is your case and Mr. Teron’s case,” Perkins said. “I’m not trying to force anything. Obviously only you can make this case resolve, and it’s Mr. Teron’s decision. But if we were to move the case in that direction, do you have any interest in talking to your client a little bit more about those parameters to see if we can get this case resolved before trial? ”
“I would like the opportunity to discuss the 15 years if for no other reason, just to make sure that’s something that he would not want to consider,” Brook said. Those discussions will take place between attorney and client early next week.
The other surprise today was Brook’s own re-appearance. He had asked the court to withdraw from the case in mid-June, three weeks after the first trial, a trial that seemed to have taken somewhat of a toll on Brook, who at one point found himself defending his integrity. Another lawyer in his firm, Brook O’Sullivan, was to take over. But here was the other Brook again. “Yes, I’m back, to a long story short,” he told the court.
The court expects jury selection to begin out of a pool of 40 jurors at 9:30 a.m. July 24. The trial is expected to last four days. No additional pre-trial motions are expected, and all motions introduced during trial, like pre-trial motions, will carry the same judgments that Perkins delivered before or during the first trial, further reducing unexpected lengthenings of the proceedings.
The state will have one extra witness, presenting the one substantially new evidence that was not introduced at the first trial: the layout of the Teron home in Palm Coast’s E Section. That’s an important part of the case for the prosecution, assuming it can be used to weaken Teron;’s wife’s claim that, the night of the alleged incident, she had been in the living room, watching TV and tending to her dog the whole time, with eyes on Teron, who was in the girl’s room for 30 to 40 minutes. She did not have eyes on the girl, because of the angle. But she said she could see Teron the whole time, sitting on a corner of the girl’s bed. The prosecution has since taken pictures from inside the house to verify the accounts–or challenge them.
