Attorneys for Ricardo Sanchez Jr. this morning completed presenting evidence in their bid to have a federal jury give him life in prison instead of the death penalty for the murders of a family of four along Florida’s Turnpike.

Family slain

Jose and Yessica Escobedo with sons Luis Julian (left) and Luis Damian (right). Husband, wife and two children from Greenacres found shot to death off Florida’s Turnpike in northern Port St. Lucie. More news, photos

The testimony ended with forensic psychologist Tom Reidy, who said that Sanchez’s upbringing made him more likely than the average child to turn to a life of crime.

A jury earlier this month convicted Sanchez and another man, Daniel Troya, of carrying out the murders of Jose Luis Escobedo, his wife, Yessica, and their 4- and 3-year-old sons Luis Julian and Luis Damian.

Sanchez’s mother left the courtroom crying as Reidy said though Sanchez wasn’t physically abused as a child he may have suffered from emotional neglect, which along with a low IQ and upbringing in a violent environment all contributed to his eventual participation in a drug ring headed by Danny Varela.

Escobedo was a supplier for the group, according to prosecutors, and was killed for the theft of drugs and because Varela owed him money.

On cross-examination, Department of Justice trial attorney Richard Burns pressed Reidy on whether or not Sanchez could have been resilient enough to overcome his circumstances, also pointing out the doctor’s prior testimony about a human being’s free will and ability to make choices.

“And he chose to kill?” Burns asked.

Riedy hesitated to answer for a moment before he offered: “Well, he was convicted of that.”

Sanchez’s attorney Donnie Murrell ended his case on Sanchez’s behalf after testimony from James Evans Aiken, a former prison warden and corrections expert who most recently served on a presidential commission tasked with setting guidelines for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Aiken testified that children like Sanchez’s son, 6-year-old Ricardo III, benefit by visiting incarcerated parents, an opinion Murrell hopes will move jurors to give the 25-year-old a life sentence.

Troya’s attorney James Eisenberg before lunch started his defense by counteracting one of the elements prosecutors used to show jurors that Troya had a propensity for violence.

Earlier this week, they brought up Troya’s 2000 battery arrest for allegedly beating up his friend’s mother.

But that friend, Carl Bush, testified this morning that his mother was an alcoholic who attacked Troya and ended up falling and hitting her head on a cinder block as Troya tried to shield himself from her blows.

Testimony on Troya’s behalf is expected to continue through the afternoon and go into Monday.

Jurors could begin deliberating sometime next week.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 8:09 pm and is filed under Courts, Crime, Escobedo trial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.