AOM, at the risk of beating a dead horse let’s look at this from the perspective of the laws of the United States and the State of Florida.
- Murder of a peace officer in the performance of her duties is a capital crime and counted as aggravated murder in Florida and many other States
- While Officer Parks was calling for help on her radio Mr. Grossman took her flashlight and beat her with it to the point where the skull suffered multiple fractures and sub-dural bleeds.
- He then took her gun, turned her and shot her in the back of the head.
If he had taken a swing at her, she had fallen and died from knocking her head a defense attorney might have gotten a manslaughter verdict. It’s the next part that scuttled any hope of a lesser verdict. He took a weapon (flashlight) from her and hit her several dozen times in a fashion likely to cause death or serious injury. And after he disarmed her he took the premeditated steps of taking her pistol, turning her over and shooting her execution-style. Under the laws of any State and the traditions of English Common, Napoleonic and Dutch-Roman law – in other words pretty much the entire Western world – that is clearly pre-meditated murder.
In many States a death which occurs as the result of a felony is raised to the status of Felony Murder or Capital Murder. I forget which term Florida uses. That’s why if you kill someone by accident in the course of a burglary you face murder charges. Or if you rob someone and your accomplice is shot by the police you face a murder rap for his death. Mr. Grossman was in possession of stolen property, a criminal in possession of a firearm and in violation of his parole. Any one of these would be enough to raise the crime to the level of a capital crime.
Attempts to cover up the crime are considered aggravating circumstances, hence “aggravated murder”.
You may not agree with the laws of Florida and the United States. You are free to try and get things changed. But the verdict and the execution were completely in line with them.
The case had been appealed about twenty times and rejected each time due to lack of any new evidence. Four governors saw and rejected pleas for clemency, not just Gov. Crist. The governor in Florida is only supposed to grant clemency if there is new evidence that the condemned was not guilty of the crime. A plea from fifty or fifty thousand should not sway him if this is not the case. And much as I dislike Gov. Crist’s politics I am forced to agree with him. He did his duty under the law.