OXFORD WEEKLY PLANET
Friday, February 20
Flores sentenced to life without parole
Crime Beat talks to jurors
It may have taken jurors days to decide on Benito Flores' guilt or innocence, but it took them only a few hours to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Defense attorney Pamela Lipscomb may not have persuaded the jury that her client was innocent, but she made an effective argument to spare him the death penalty.
David Fontaine, speaking to the press for the first time and delivering a statement on behalf of the entire Fontaine family, said they were satisfied with the sentence and that the family would now focus on "promoting and perpetuating [their] father's legacy."
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Flores Juror #3 |
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Flores Juror #8 |
Most of the jurors declinedto speak to the press, but Crime Beat was able to speak briefly with two of them: Juror #3 and Juror #8. Both asked not to be publicly identified.
Juror #3 is a white male in his mid-30s and works as a plumber. When asked what took the jury so long to reach a decision, he said, "At first, it was hard for some of us to see him as guilty. Rich people like the Fontaines have ways of getting what they want and not having to pay the price."
Crime Beat asked what finally turned the tide in the jury room. Juror #3 said he thought it was partly the evidence at the crime scene and partly the realization that the judge was going to make them keep deliberating until they reached a verdict.
Juror #8 is a Hispanic female in her late 40s and works as an LPN. She had a different perspective. "Some people just didn't get it. I've known many men like Benito Flores. They always try to blame someone else for their troubles when it's all their own fault."
"The defense attorney, she did the best she could, and I think she was very good," she continued. "But if you think with your head and not with your heart, the answer becomes obvious. He's guilty."
If asked to describe the situation and the jury room, Juror #8 said the panel was pretty equally divided between guilty and not guilty on the first vote. She said there was extensive debate and occasionally heated discussions as they tried to reach their verdict.
More than once, they reached an impasse that seemed unresolvable, including the two times they notified the judge that they were deadlocked. When the judge twice refused to declare a mistrial, Juror #8 said the group decided they would just have to find a way to reach a unanimous decision.
Both jurors Crime Beat spoke with said the final push to a verdict included some shouting and some tears.
"It wasn't like Twelve Angry Men or nothing," said Juror #3, "but there were a few 'come to Jesus' moments before we all agreed."
But in the end, everyone felt they had come to the right conclusion, according to Juror #8. "[The defendant's] story about why his fingerprints were in blood at the murder scene just didn't make sense. It was too convenient."
Neither of the jurors wanted to talk about the discussions around the sentence, but both said everyone was on the same page pretty much from the beginning, which is why they were able to reach a unanimous decision so quickly.
Benito Flores is expected to appeal, but for now, he'll be transferred to the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility to begin serving his sentence.