Friday, March 27, 2015

FL: Shooter Found not guilty after 4 years in Jail; Driver serving 30 year Sentence in convoluted case


In a bizarre domestic case in Florida, a jury has found the man who shot and killed his former girlfriend's boyfriend and severely wounded her, not guilty.  The father of the girlfriend's four children drove the shooter to and from the shooting, and had been the employee of the shooter.   The driver was also a convicted felon.  The shooting occurred in 2009.  The driver was convicted in 2010 and is serving a 30 year sentence for being an accessory to murder, after the fact.  From tbo.com:
A jury last month found Eric William "Scooter" Bazemore guilty of the Sept. 13 attempted murder of Shirley Sexton, the mother of his four children.

He was acquitted of the first-degree murder of Sexton's new boyfriend Eric Brewer, but Bazemore was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to both shootings.

Circuit Judge Daniel H. Sleet rejected appeals for leniency by Bazemore's family.

Bazemore told authorities William Previtt fired the shots. At first, he said he saw the shooting. Later, he said he drove Previtt to the couple's home where they were shot in the driveway, but never knew what Previtt planned.
 But a jury found William Privett "not guilty" in 2015.  He had been held in jail for four years, but was released on bond in 2013.   From tbo.com:
TAMPA — William Privett, the Ruskin landscaper who claimed to have shot his ex-girlfriend by accident and killed her new boyfriend in self defense, was acquitted of first-degree murder Tuesday.

The jury took about 45 minutes to make a decision, defense attorney Barry Cohen said.

“In this case, justice prevailed,” he said.

Privett, 57, was accused of murdering Eric Brewer and shooting Shirley Sexton five times while she was sitting next to Brewer in a car. The shootings happened in 2009.
Bazemore, the driver, was a convicted felon before the shooting, which is what contributed to his 30 year sentence.  Privett said that he was there to retrieve property that had been stolen from him in a recent armed home invasion, where he said that he had recognized Brewer and Sexton.  Privett was also said to have had an affair with Eric Brewer's wife.  Privett had been charged with domestic violence and with threatening Sexton earlier.  From tbo.com:
Sexton and Previtt's relationship was also stormy and featured patterns of escalating violence, court records show. In January 2006, Sexton was cut by a rock thrown at her face. Previtt was charged in the incident, but Sexton did not press charges, records show.

Fourteen months later, Previtt grabbed Sexton during an argument about dinner, pushed her into a wall, pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot her and her two children, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

Prosecutors say charges against Previtt were dropped after Sexton refused to cooperate.
Eric Basemore's, the driver, convictions were appealed once, and a new trial ordered.  from findlaw.com:
Eric Bazemore appeals his judgments and sentences arising from his involvement in a murder and an attempted murder. We reverse his judgment for attempted second-degree murder and remand that offense for a new trial. We affirm his judgments for accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and accessory after the fact to shooting into a vehicle. Because the reversal might affect Mr. Bazemore's sentences on the two judgments that we affirm, we reverse all of the sentences.
It is unknown if another appeal is planned.  How can a person be convicted of being an accessory after the fact, in a case where the principal is found not guilty?  We have a person serving a 30 year sentence for accessory after the fact to a crime that has now been found by a jury not to be a crime.  None of the people involved in this convoluted criminal construction seem to be exemplars of public or private virtue.  People who commit crimes are often victims of other criminals.   The permutations of sex, violence and crime in this case are enough to provide plots for a dozen crime novels.

It is the first such case that I have heard of, but there may be others.  Perhaps there is precedent.  Comments from knowledgeable lawyers are welcomed.


©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I consider myself well versed in the law and I represent my self pro se. I have been in similar situations myself and because of my knowledge of the law I have been able to extricate my self from prosecutions. I won total custody of the child from my second and third marriages one in Arizona and one in California. I studied law on the internet for three years. My second wife accused me of several felony counts and had eleven eye witnesses. I proven in open court that my ex wife and all of her witnesses were lying. The judge designated my ex wife as a habitual liar. My third wife I proved had committed 18 counts of contempt of the original court orders for custody and three felonies under California law I defeated her bar licensed attorney three consecutive time in court. They both made attempts to get me shot by police on false charges. My second wife tried to get me beaten senseless by her boy friend, He had a history of being a real bad ass, to his surprise it took him six weeks to recover to the point of being able to get out of bed by himself, see out of one eye and start eating solid food. both of my ex wives told the police and sheriffs deputies I was very dangerous and had lots of guns. They asked me why I had a loaded 12 gauge shotgun and I showed them my FFL and stated I was responsible to my license to protect my inventory. My third wife bought me a pistol for my birthday and told the cops He has a gun.

Wireless.Phil said...

Sounds like the 3rd wife set you up.

Anonymous said...

You would not believe how easy it is to be set up. According to the DOJ's web site women are responsible for 56% of domestic violence, yet we have the violence against women act (VAWA). We also have the federal Child stealing And when it comes to women stealing the children the cops have no interest in prosecuting. That act makes it a felony for the non custodial parent to take the child/ren without specific orders. Try getting judges or cops to enforce that. Parental kidnapping is rampant in this country, thanks to the corrupt family court judges and the piss poor cops that tell you to get an attorney rather than enforce the law. They refuse to take criminal complaints and dare you to do anything about it. Most bar certified attorneys refuse to take such cases. I have had experiences with corrupt cops in five states. Judge Debora Davis walker of the second judicial district court of Albuquerque New Mexico violated 22 state, federal and international laws in just two hearings. the appeals court said they could not find any violations. the commission for judicial standards refused to investigate my complaints in three states Clark county Nevada, Las Vegas, sheriff's department threatened to put me in jail for trying to file a criminal complaint. I could write a book on my experiences with corrupt judges and police agencies. I guess I know the law too well and they don't like it. Georgia police were set to arrest me on sight until I walked into their office and showed them my paper work. A California judge had to write a public apology letter because he was wrong and I was right. La Paz county sheriffs criminally kidnapped my daughter out of my home and gave her back to her mother. I had a total custody order with no visitation to the mother, but her new husband, number five, had a badge, she is on husband number 9 now. I got my daughter back five months before she turned 18, her mother threw her out because she could not get along with husband number 8. I put my daughter thru college and she is out on her own now.

Anonymous said...

Fuck him he destroyed my life took away the only thing I ever wanted. 4 years was bullshit the justice system is nothing I will never trust it. 30 years was nothing should have rotted away the both of them. God served justice to prevettt may he forever rott in hell now patiently waiting for Eric’s sentence to come. He to will get what’s coming to him Gods hand will forever be stronger than any mans. This is not your story not another party of the “56% women responsible of domestic violence” you were not there. It happened and was like living in a nightmare you could never wake up from it was not made up shit being used as leverage. Everything was dropped due to no cooperation because it was a toxic mind game being played from years of abuse that did not allow her to be strong enough to fight against and press the needed charges. No voice lead to her being shot forever changing her life and later taking her out of this world to soon and the people around her and brewers family suffering the consequences of Bazemore’s and prevetts actions. This was not justice. Just another example of a faulty justice system and sick people living in this world.