PUBLISHED TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2004

Jury seated in Carter trial

Sixteen-year old accused of first degree murder in uncle's stabbing

Amber Bollman
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Daniel Carter sat in a courtroom Monday afternoon looking over a list of 46 strangers' names.

It was the first time in 19 months the 16-year-old had worn something besides a jail uniform.

His hands - kept in shackles in previous court appearances - were free, and his shaggy hair was parted and pulled away from his face with bobby pins his attorney, Patrece Cashwell, had in her purse.

Daniel Carter, 16, is accused of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his uncle. Karena Cawthon @PensacolaNewsJournal.com

After several hours of questioning, Cashwell and Assistant State Attorney David Rimmer selected eight Escambia County residents - four men and four women - as jurors in Carter's first-degree murder trial. Six will make up the panel; two are alternates.

Opening statements are scheduled for 9 a.m. today.

Carter was 15 when he fatally stabbed his uncle, Jack Carter, with an antique knife in July 2002.

He has maintained that he acted in self-defense, protecting himself from his 46-year-old uncle during a violent struggle inside the teenager's bedroom.

Jack Carter was larger, trained in the martial arts and, according to Cashwell, had a blood-alcohol level "more than twice the legal limit" when he drove to the Beulah home where the teenager lived with his mother. He also had "drugs in his system" on the night of his death, Cashwell said before jury selection began Monday.

Rimmer has pointed to the 10 knife wounds on Jack Carter's body as proof that Daniel's attack was premeditated, with enough time for "reflective thought."

On Monday, Rimmer and Cashwell asked potential jurors if they could handle viewing graphic photographs of the wounds on Jack Carter's body and if they felt they could convict a juvenile on adult murder charges.

If convicted, Daniel Carter faces life in prison. He previously has turned down an offer to plead no contest to manslaughter with a maximum possible sentence of 12 years.

With Daniel Carter's mother, Cindy Carter, sitting in the courtroom, Rimmer asked the women in the group whether they had ever been in her situation - raising a child without a father in the home. About a half-dozen said they had.

Cindy Carter stayed in the line of her son's sight throughout the day, leaning forward in her seat. Since her son's arrest and her brother's death, she has received support from several advocacy groups opposed to minors being prosecuted as adults.

Donna Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Justice for Juveniles, is hopeful about the teen's chances for a fair trial.

"He's been locked away for two Christmases and a birthday," she said. "But he really and truly believes that a jury of adults will see the truth. Lord hope they do."

Gallegos and several other Carter supporters held prayer vigils throughout the weekend hoping the teen will be exonerated.

Rob Rockholz, a longtime friend of Jack Carter, hopes for a different outcome.

"I want to see justice served," Rockholz said. "Daniel killed my closest friend and that ripped something out of my body too."

Rockholz said Jack Carter went to his sister's home on the night he was killed to help her get Daniel - a rebellious youth who had struggled with drug abuse and behavioral problems - under control.

"That wasn't the first time, either," he said. "They're acting like Daniel is this innocent little angel, but he wasn't. He used to be a good kid, but at some point over the years, he started to change.

"He's going to have to face the consequences of his actions."

On Monday, Rimmer asked potential jurors if they had experience dealing with teenagers who had drug problems. He also asked whether the use of force in an act of self-defense could "go too far."

Cashwell warned potential jurors that if they were selected they would be dealing with issues of child abuse and questioned them about their own practices for disciplining children.

"Where do you draw that line between punishment and abuse?" Cashwell probed.

She also asked the group of potential jurors about their exposure to anabolic steroids and the so-called " 'roid rage" that is a known side effect of the drugs.

Rockholz said the version of Jack Carter defense attorneys have depicted bears no resemblance to the man he was walking arm-in-arm with on Navarre Beach two days before Carter was killed.

"He wasn't some big kung fu master who liked to rough guys up, and any medicine he was taking was prescribed to him," Rockholz said. "It's hard to hear them portray my friend like that.

"There was a scuffle inside the house that night, but that's no reason to stab a guy 10 times."