Broward County normally does not make national news. A small exception has been the recent Spring Break crowds. However, one of the biggest Broward County national news items for years has been the unpopular decision by a Broward County jury in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass murder sentencing phase.
Years after the murders, the criminal who killed 17 innocent people and injured 17 others was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Broward County jury failed to unanimously recommend the death penalty. This decision disappointed and angered many of the families of the 17 innocent victims. The failure to unanimously recommend the death penalty reverberated all the way up to the Florida Legislature. Gov. Ron DeSantis was instrumental in supporting a change in Florida law that now allows less-than-unanimous jury agreement in death penalty cases.
I am a retired police officer who spent most of my career investigating violent crimes and homicides, but my concern over the sentence a Broward County jury might recommend is far more personal, consumed in circumstances I would never wish on any family.
In June 2011, our son Michael Hamilton was attacked with a knife, stabbed over 50 times and murdered in Coral Springs. Michael was alone in his apartment living room when two men wearing gloves attacked him. The initial investigation was meticulously handled by experts in crime scene evidence collection and amazing investigators from the Coral Springs Police Department. Later, experts from the Broward County Crime Lab and a private crime laboratory helped solved the Michael’s murder. It was never a cold case, but five years passed before first arrest, which came with the tenacity of the lead investigator, Sgt. Brian Koneig, his fellow investigators, lab work and support from Coral Springs police.
Unfortunately, delays in the Broward County court system caused almost a six and seven year delay before Broward County juries heard the facts of Michael’s murder. Last year, Jason Martinez stood trial. The terrible wounds to Michael were too extreme for Michael’s mother to watch the medical examiner’s review, and she left the court room. Other times, pictures of the crime scene caused Michael’s mother to leave, again and again.
When the jurors were instructed to make their decision, the anxiety over what the Broward jury would decide was overwhelming. Fortunately, in a very short time, the jury came back and found Martinez guilty of felony murder. The jury was released, and in short time, Judge Tim Bailey followed Florida law and sentenced Martinez to life without parole. Also per Florida law, family members are allowed to make an “impact statement” in the court room while the defendant is present.
Michael’s mother and aunt described in detail how the murder affected them and the family — how we felt about his crime and his brutality. I was the last person to speak to Martinez on behalf of our family. I wanted him to know that there were three people who were opposed to him standing trial for capital murder, which might have resulted in him receiving the death penalty. They were Michael’s mother, Michael’s sister and Michael. I told my son’s killer that the person he murdered did not believe in the death penalty. Even though Martinez killed Michael, our son would not have agreed to Martinez receiving a death sentence. A dead man contributed to Martinez keeping his life.
Two weeks ago, the second defendant, Kadian Roper was tried by a jury in Judge Tim Bailey’s court. Again, due to uncertainty of what the Broward jury would decide, my family and friends went through overwhelming anxiety.
When the verdict was read, Roper was found guilty of second degree murder. Roper faces sentencing in early May.
Waiting 13 years for the murderers to be brought to justice and convicted was something I wish on no one. All the facts presented in the two trials indicated the murder of Michael was brutal and no one with a lick of humanity would ever do such a thing. Just like what the murderer in the Parkland mass murders was missing.
But I want folks to know that any concern that Broward County juries are not able to apply the law and make the right decisions is not what my family and friends have experienced.
We greatly appreciate the juries in the Martinez and Roper murder cases for their deliberations and verdict. God bless all who helped get our family and friends justice for Michael.
Jerry Green was born in Miami and retired from the Miami Police Department as a lieutenant with over 32 years of service. Most of his career was spent investigating robberies,…
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