Evidence of Murder (30 page)

“That on the date set for your execution, you shall be taken to the death chamber and you shall be put to death in the manner prescribed by law, until you are rendered dead.”

Judge Perry also pronounced sentence on Huggins for Count II, the carjacking, for which he gave thirty years.

For Count III, the theft of the jewelry, the sentence was sixty days.

For Count IV, kidnapping, Judge Perry sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Judge Perry concluded his long dissertation by announcing for the second time, “John Steven Huggins, may Almighty God have mercy on your soul.”

When Judge Perry completed his painstaking presentation, a hush fell over the courtroom. Everyone seemed to be overwhelmed by the solemnity, the finality of the sentence, even though it was not unexpected. Judge Perry looked at the assembled group owlishly, then began to gather up his papers.

As soon as Judge Perry exited, the courtroom came alive, the press scrambling to get near the principals, hoping to record their reactions.

John Huggins sat very still, his face as expressionless as it was throughout the entire proceedings. It was impossible to gauge what he was feeling, whether the sentence was expected or if he had hoped for prison. He turned to look at his family, trying to summon a smile for them. His mother was in tears. His children were visibly disappointed and crying. Their hopes were that their father’s life would be spared.

John Huggins was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, to be transported to the Florida State Prison at Raiford, to death row, to await his fate.

Outside the courtroom a reporter asked for Jim Larson’s feelings on the sentence. Larson said in his usual quiet voice, his deep blue eyes focused into space, “I think it’s fair.” He added, “I just wish it could have been a little quicker.” He brushed back his brown hair and said sadly, “I’m not looking to hang this guy. I just don’t want him walking around so he can hurt anybody else.”

Larson turned away from the reporter, obviously finished with this brief, unwanted interview.

The reporters pressed on to the nearby parents of Carla Larson. Dabbing her eyes, Phyllis Thomas murmured through her tears, “It’s not a happy day. But it’s a relief. It’s what we hoped for.”

When questioned, ASA Jeff Ashton stated that the United States Supreme Court’s ruling should not affect the Huggins case, because jurors voted unanimously on the aggravating factors that led to his sentencing. With the strong confidence that Ashton displayed throughout the trial, he said that he did not see a third trial on the courthouse calendar.

Ashton explained, “It all depends on what the Florida Supreme Court says. But I am very confident that the guilt issue will not have to be readdressed.”

Public defender Bob Wesley, Huggins’s former defense lawyer, on the other hand, stated, “Perry’s decision will likely give Huggins an appeal opportunity.”

The Larson and Thomas families left the courthouse to try to pick up their lives, hoping that this was finally the end to their long, harrowing experience. Now all their lives would revolve around the care and rearing of Jessica.

 

 

John Huggins sits on death row. As his automatic appeal goes through the channels, the Florida Supreme Court has not yet reached a decision on the constitutionality of Florida’s death penalty.

Meanwhile, the state of Florida resolved to proceed with the long-delayed execution of convicted murderer Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco, which was effected on October 2, 2002.

With this execution precedent established, on Wednesday, October 9, 2002, the infamous Aileen Wuornos, one of the nation’s first-known female serial killers, the so-called “Highway Hooker,” who pleaded for the cessation of her life, was granted her wish by means of lethal injection.

After twenty-one years on death row for the murder of elderly Eatonville postmistress Catherine Alexander, Linroy Bottoson was executed on Monday, December 9, 2002.

All executions were on signed order of the governor of the state of Florida, who could at some future time sign the order to execute John Huggins.

However, the issue remains in limbo until the ultimate resolution is handed down by the United States Supreme Court.