Plea bargain offered in murder case against Florida boy

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida boy whose murder conviction and life sentence in the slaying of a 6-year-old playmate were thrown out this month could be freed from prison almost immediately under a new plea bargain offered by prosecutors.

The deal is identical to one Lionel Tate and his mother rejected in 2001, before he went to trial, prosecutors said Friday.

Richard Rosenbaum, Tate's appellate attorney, said he expects his client to make a decision in the next couple of weeks. He said he spoke to Tate Friday afternoon but declined to discuss their conversation.

Tate, now 16, beat 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick to death when he was 12, claiming he accidentally killed her while imitating pro wrestling moves he had seen on television.

He was tried as an adult, convicted of first-degree murder and received an automatic life-without-parole sentence in a case that led to international criticism of Florida's tough handling of juveniles who kill.

The plea bargain would let Tate plead guilty to second-degree murder and receive a sentence of three years in prison, of which he has already served 33 months, Broward County State Attorney Michael J. Satz said in a statement.

That would be followed by a year under house arrest and 10 years of probation. Tate would also have to undergo psychological treatment.

"This plea was the right thing to do before the trial and it's the right thing to do now," Satz spokesman Ron Ishoy said.

Rosenbaum said the offer would mean Tate could be released from prison on or near Jan. 25.

"I believe this is the best offer and the only way to get something better would be to go to trial and to win," Rosenbaum said. But he stressed that it's up to Tate to decide whether to accept the offer.

Tate's mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate, would prefer that her son be allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter instead of second-degree murder, her attorney, Henry Hunter, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for its Saturday editions.

Glenn Roderman, an attorney who represents Tiffany's father, Mark James, said late Friday that the offered deal is "more than fair."

"I think he's a hell of a lucky kid," Roderman said in a telephone interview while vacationing in western Canada. "He should have taken it to begin with."

Two weeks ago, an appeals court threw out Tate's conviction, saying his mental competency should have been evaluated before the trial. The court expressed concern about Tate's apparent immaturity and possible misunderstanding of the plea bargain.

If he had accepted the plea bargain, he could have been out of prison 10 months ago.

The appeals court left it to prosecutors to decide whether to retry him.

Tate's sentence in January 2001 drew international criticism as his mother and supporters brought the case to a U.N. human rights meeting in Geneva and Pope John Paul II in Rome. Florida prosecutes more children as adults than any other state.