Law Firm Fights Fla. Teen's 30-Year Sentence for Deadly Driving
William Thornton IV was reportedly driving without a valid license when he skidded through a stop sign on a poorly lit road in Citrus County, Fla., in 2004. Both occupants of the vehicle he hit, who weren’t wearing their seatbelts, were thrown from their SUV and died.
But Thornton, who was 17 at the time, and had no drugs or alcohol in his system and no criminal record, didn’t deserve the 30-year prison sentence he got from a Florida judge for vehicular homicide, many feel. Now a well-regarded Tampa law firm is taking on his cause pro bono and has filed an appeal contending that Thornton was ineffectively represented by his public defenders and that the judge who gave him the maximum sentence should be disqualified from the case, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
In court filings, attorney Stephen Romine of Cohen, Jayson & Foster criticizes public defenders for allegedly not properly investigating Thornton’s case and recommending that he plead no contest and allow a judge known for his tough sentences to determine the penalty for the crime.
According to Romine, one public defender, “never took depositions, interviewed witnesses, photographed or measured the scene, challenged or verified the Florida Highway Patrol’s findings or consulted with experts,” the newspaper writes. Another allegedly spent only a day reading Thornton’s file before representing him at sentencing, even though she had never handled a homicide before.
