PUBLISHED SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2004

Teen acquitted in uncle`s death

Carter family seeks closure after verdict

Amber Bollman
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

An Escambia County jury on Friday acquitted 16-year-old Daniel Carter of first-degree murder in the July 2002 stabbing death of his uncle, Jack Carter.

"Daniel believed all along that if a jury could be put in his bedroom that night, they would understand his actions," Cindy Carter said after her son's verdict was announced.

A crowd of tearful supporters exchanged hugs outside the courthouse Friday evening and made preparations to pick up Daniel from Escambia County Jail, where he has been held the past 19 months.

"We just want to get him home tonight," Cindy Carter said. "He's going to get to open his Christmas presents."

After three days of testimony, the six-person jury deliberated for nearly three hours and reached its verdict about 5:30 p.m.

Carter was 15 years old when his uncle bled to death inside his Beulah bedroom after a violent struggle. Jack Carter, 46, suffered 10 knife wounds to his body, including a fatal gash to the side of his neck.

Daniel Carter, who did not testify, maintained that he acted in self-defense after his uncle stormed into his bedroom, beat him with a large steel flashlight and threatened to tie him up and castrate him.

"It was a double loss for my family when my brother died and my son was arrested," Cindy Carter said. "I think we've still got a lot of wounds to heal.

"They won't be closed for a long time."

Daniel Carter had faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Defense attorney Patrece Cashwell said she believed she helped save the teenager "from the guillotine."

Brandon Howell, a juror in the case, said he and other jurors did not believe the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Though Daniel Carter admitted stabbing his uncle, the prosecution had to prove it was a premediatated act and not self-defense.

"We couldn't say 100 percent that he did it," said Howell, 20. "Nobody wants to put a guy away for something they're not sure he did."

Assistant State Attorney David Rimmer said he respects the jury's decision and understands its reservations about the case.

On the night of Jack Carter's death, the Navarre Beach man had been called to his sister's home to help discipline Daniel. Cindy Carter testified earlier in the week about the 20 minutes of screaming, sobbing and items being thrown as her brother and son argued.

She called Jack Carter to the home after becoming exasperated with Daniel's behavioral problems. She said in court that Jack Carter promised not to physically harm her son.

After Jack Carter's death, Daniel Carter claimed in interviews with investigators that he picked up a knife only to get his uncle to stop beating him.

"I just wanted him to stop, but he kept coming," Daniel Carter said hours after his arrest. The jury heard an audiotape of an interview conducted by a lead investigator in the case.

Rimmer, who argued that Daniel Carter planned to attack his uncle when he showed up to punish him, painted the teen as a troubled boy who was resented his uncle.

"Jack Carter confronted an angry, out-of-control teenager with a chip on his shoulder, a knife in his hand and murder in his heart," Rimmer said during his closing remarks.

Cashwell, however, portrayed Daniel Carter as "terrified and terrorized" when his uncle entered his room in a violent rage, smashing Daniel's belongings and ripping a telephone out of the wall when the teenager tried to call 911.

Jack Carter had two knives, a box of shotgun shells and a 7-foot length of rope with him when he was killed. He also had a loaded shotgun in his truck.

"He couldn't call 911, he couldn't get his mom, he couldn't get out of the room," Cashwell said. "Daniel Carter had nobody protecting him that day."

Two forensic pathologists presented conflicting statements about whether the wounds on Jack Carter's body appeared defensive or the result of a sudden struggle with a knife in close quarters.

Rimmer argued that even if Daniel Carter initially picked up the antique knife to fend off his uncle, he took his right to self-defense too far.

"He did not need to inflict that fatal blow," Rimmer said. "After he had cuts on his arms and blood dripping down his face, Jack Carter was a vanquished foe. He was at the mercy of Daniel."

Several children's-rights advocates rallied outside the courthouse after the verdict Friday. They were joyous over Daniel Carter's acquittal but critical of the fact that he was prosecuted as an adult for the killing.

"Daniel Carter was abused and beat by his uncle, but he was abused a second time by the state of Florida," said Donna Gallegos of the organization Justice for Juveniles.

Bishop Thomas Masters, a founding member of the group Under Our Wings, said minors never should be pushed into the adult court system.

"How can a child be 12 on a Monday and suddenly be considered 18 on a Tuesday?" he said.

Though acquitted of his uncle's murder, Daniel Carter still faces criminal charges for attempting to escape a juvenile detention facility two weeks after his arrest.

He was granted a $1,000 bond, and Cindy Carter said he was expected to be released from the jail Friday night.

His next court appearance for the attempted escape charge is scheduled for April 6.

"Hopefully they will drop this charge since he was being held there for something that he never should have been," Gallegos said. "Hopefully they will let him get on with the rest of his life."