John Couey found guilty on all four charges

Thursday, March 8, 2007

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Couey had no reaction when the verdict was read.

The jury convicted John Couey of all four charges he was facing after about 3 1/2 hours of deliberations at the Gerstein Justice Center in Miami Wednesday.

Couey was convicted of abducting, raping and murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in February 2005, and burglary of a dwelling with battery.

The sentencing phase can't start earlier than Tuesday morning. The only possible sentences under Florida law for Couey are life in prison or the death penalty.

The same jury that convicted Couey will make a sentencing recommendation, but Judge Richard Howard will have the final say on Couey's fate. It's not clear yet if the jury will be sequestered at the same hotel where they have been staying during the trial or allowed to go home until the sentencing phase.

Trial Resources

Lunsford's father, Mark Lunsford, wiped away tears as the verdict was read. Her mother, Angela Bryant, was also in tears. Couey had no reaction.

The prosecution conducted its closing arguments in about an hour Wednesday morning.

Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino urged the jury to find Couey guilty of all the charges he was facing.

"He's not just a killer given the testimony and evidence in this case," said Magrino. "He's a first-degree murderer."

The defense then conducted its closing arguments in about 15 minutes, urging jurors to focus on the evidence, not emotion.

"Gary Atchison, the lead detective, couldn't solve this case even though he was at the very trailer where the crime was committed," said Couey's attorney, Dan Lewan. "In a way, in a sense, is he outsmarted by the mentally retarded John Couey?"

The prosecution then gave its rebuttal.

Tuesday's proceedings

The defense only called one witness during its case Tuesday after the prosecution rested following four days of testimony.

Jessica Lunsford

The prosecution focused on what the last few days of Lunsford's life were like. Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) guard Nathalia Windham testified Couey confessed to her that he had told Lunsford she was going home and that she crawled out the window where he had been holding her hostage in Homosassa.

"He told her to get into a plastic bag because he didn't want people seeing her going across the street," said Windham.

Dr. Steven Cogswell, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Lunsford's body, told jurors he felt Lunsford was alive when she was put into two garbage bags, but later suffocated.

"She was pushing her fingers out of the bag itself because that's the only way realistically that her fingers could get through that bag," said Cogswell.

While Couey was in jail, guards say he told them he didn't know why he did it.

"He said that he could not bring himself to directly kill her by his own hands," said CCA guard John Read. "He said that he didn't mean to kill her, but that he panicked when the police came by with dogs."

Jessica Lunsford's mother, Angela Bryant, cried as the verdict was read Wednesday.

Atchison of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office also told jurors Couey said he wishes he could take back his actions.

"He said that he had to forgive himself before God would forgive him and that someday he would see Jessica Lunsford in heaven and that he would apologize to her," said Atchison.

The defense's lone witness during its case, which took less than an hour, was psychologist Dr. Robert Berland. He told jurors he believes Couey is slightly mentally retarded and is suffering from mental illness. He said that combination added up to poor judgment.

"So he isn't very good at reasoning through situations and inhibiting behaviors that might otherwise he might have guarded against," said Berland.

Couey declined to speak on his own behalf and the jurors were released early for the day.

An impartial jury couldn't be selected at his original trial in July 2006, so the case was moved to South Florida, where jury selection began Feb. 12, and testimony got underway March 1.

Bay News 9 and baynews9.com will continue to provide complete coverage during the sentencing phase of the trial. More information is also available on Bay News 9 on Demand, channel 342 on Bright House Networks digital cable.

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