MIAMI -- Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against four people charged with the murder of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor because the alleged shooter was a minor when the crime was committed, attorneys said Monday.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people under age 18 can't be executed, and it's a well-established legal principle that others involved in the same murder as a minor cannot face the ultimate penalty if they are less directly responsible.
"All the co-defendants can't be subject to the death penalty if the (alleged) shooter is not," said Richard Sharpstein, a Miami defense attorney who has acted as spokesman for the Taylor family. "There are no issues of discretion here. There's no choice."
The lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant State Attorney Reid Rubin, filed official notice Friday that the death penalty will be waived. That means the four suspects could get a maximum of life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder after a trial scheduled to begin Aug. 25.
Eric Rivera Jr., who turned 18 last month, was 17 when police said he shot Taylor during a botched robbery at the Pro Bowl safety's Miami-area home in November. Taylor, 24, died of massive blood loss after he was shot in the upper leg.
Three other men from the Fort Myers area are charged with murder: Venjah Hunte, 20; Charles Wardlow, 18; and Jason Mitchell, 20. Prosecutors say they drove from southwest Florida to Miami intending to rob Taylor of cash they believed he kept at the house.
Mitchell, who had seen bags of cash at the house at a birthday party two months earlier, told police the group didn't think Taylor would be home because the Redskins were playing a game that weekend in Tampa. But Taylor was out with a knee injury and was permitted by the team to stay with his girlfriend and their infant child.
Defense attorneys are barred from discussing the case with reporters under a gag order issued by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy. But Hunte's attorney, Michael Hornung said in a telephone interview that prosecutors would have had to prove a conspiracy aimed at killing Taylor in order to seek death for the three adults.
"I'm not shocked or surprised they are not going forward with the death penalty," Hornung said. "That would have been challenging legally."
Taylor was an All-American at the University of Miami and was a member of the Hurricanes' national championship team in 2001. He was selected in the fifth overall pick of the 2004 draft by the Redskins and made the Pro Bowl in 2006 and 2007.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people under age 18 can't be executed, and it's a well-established legal principle that others involved in the same murder as a minor cannot face the ultimate penalty if they are less directly responsible.
"All the co-defendants can't be subject to the death penalty if the (alleged) shooter is not," said Richard Sharpstein, a Miami defense attorney who has acted as spokesman for the Taylor family. "There are no issues of discretion here. There's no choice."
The lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant State Attorney Reid Rubin, filed official notice Friday that the death penalty will be waived. That means the four suspects could get a maximum of life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder after a trial scheduled to begin Aug. 25.
Eric Rivera Jr., who turned 18 last month, was 17 when police said he shot Taylor during a botched robbery at the Pro Bowl safety's Miami-area home in November. Taylor, 24, died of massive blood loss after he was shot in the upper leg.
Three other men from the Fort Myers area are charged with murder: Venjah Hunte, 20; Charles Wardlow, 18; and Jason Mitchell, 20. Prosecutors say they drove from southwest Florida to Miami intending to rob Taylor of cash they believed he kept at the house.
Mitchell, who had seen bags of cash at the house at a birthday party two months earlier, told police the group didn't think Taylor would be home because the Redskins were playing a game that weekend in Tampa. But Taylor was out with a knee injury and was permitted by the team to stay with his girlfriend and their infant child.
Defense attorneys are barred from discussing the case with reporters under a gag order issued by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy. But Hunte's attorney, Michael Hornung said in a telephone interview that prosecutors would have had to prove a conspiracy aimed at killing Taylor in order to seek death for the three adults.
"I'm not shocked or surprised they are not going forward with the death penalty," Hornung said. "That would have been challenging legally."
Taylor was an All-American at the University of Miami and was a member of the Hurricanes' national championship team in 2001. He was selected in the fifth overall pick of the 2004 draft by the Redskins and made the Pro Bowl in 2006 and 2007.
