Sep 25, 2008 2:18 pm US/Eastern
Michael Hernandez Guilty Of First-Degree Murder
Sentencing Will Take Place Nov. 7th in Miami
Click Here To Watch The Entire Hernandez Confession Video
ORLANDO (CBS4) ―
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Michael Hernandez in Orlando as jury selection got underway on Sept. 8, 2008.
CBS
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Jamie Gough was stabbed to death in the bathroom of Southwood Middle School in February, 2004.
CBS4 News
An Orlando jury found teenager Michael Hernandez guilty of first degree murder for killing a 14-year-old classmate at Southwood Middle School four and a half years ago. It returned its verdict at about 7:30pm on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old's parents held their heads in their hands as the jury foreman read the verdict, which found Hernandez guilty of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. He showed no emotion as the verdict was handed down
It took the jury three and a half hours to find Hernandez guilty. They also found him guilty of attempted murder of another classmate, Andre Martin, a murder he later backed out of committing.
In response to a possible sentence of life in prison for his client, defense attorney
Richard Rosenbaum, said, "Fourteen year old children should not be stuck in prison for the rest of their lives, no matter how serious the offense."
After the trial was over, Jorge Gough, the victim's father, said in the courtroom hallway, "He understood what he was doing. He knew what he was doing. He has ruined two families, his family and my family."
And despite the horrific nature of the crime, the Gough family still believes in forgiveness.
"Absolutely, yes," said Gough. "I could not be standing here if I could not forgive. We all make stupid mistakes in life."
Gough cried as he uttered these last words.
"I think all things we do have consequences," said Jaime Gough's mother, Maria.
Hernandez's parents declined to talk with reporters as they left the courthouse after the jury rejected the argument that their son was insane whenhe stabbed and slashed his good friend to death in a boy's bathroom at their middle school.
In her closing arguments to the jury, lead prosecutor and assistant state attorney Carin Kahgan said "Jaime Gough was slaughtered."
"The murder," she added, "was absolutely premeditated as evidenced by Hernandez's careful planning, wearing gloves, taking the knife to school, the savageness of the attack, all point to premeditation."
Kahgan added, "And the cold, calm confession he gave police also illustrated that he carefully planned to kill Jaime."
The state explained that it presented an expert witness who testified Michael wasn't insane.
She said, "There's no evidence that the defendant knew the killing wasn't wrong, when he could plan ahead." She said that Hernandez made some stupid mistakes and got caught.
"Stupid mistakes don't mean a person is legally insane," she added. "It's clear he knew what he was doing, the consequences of what he was doing, and that it was wrong."
The lead defense attorney, Rosenbaum, countered the state's main argument, saying "He was losing it, he was going crazy."
He asked the jury, "How do we make sense of this tragedy? There's only one explanation. It's insanity."
Rosenbaum said three defense experts testified that Michael was legally insane, and argued that his experts were more credible than the one psychiatrist the state put on.
She said Hernandez's cold, unemotional confession was evidence of his insanity. His bizarre journal was evidence of his instability.
"He was going to kill all the people in the world, including the people on the space station," he added.
He argued that police took advantage of a mentally disturbed teen by questioning him for hours without notifying his parents. The parents testified last week that they knew their son was spiraling into mental illness.
"He suddenly became a child they didn't know. They looked into his eyes and they were empty, their son wasn't there," Rosenbaum went on to say.
Earlier in the day, the prosecution called only one witness, Miami-Dade Homicide Detective Salvatore Garafalo. Det. Garafalo took Hernandez's videotaped confession on February 3rd, 2004, the day Hernandez was charged with killing classmate Gough.
Garafalo testified Hernandez was alert and answered the questions put to him on the day of the murder.
Kathleen Hogue, for the state, questioned him, "After the defendant confessed to you his involvement, you charged him with first degree murder, is that correct?"
"Yes, Ma'am," answered the detective.
Garafalo said Hernandez answered all his questions right down to his height and weight, in addition to graphic detail of the killing.
Prosecutors had planned to call two to three witnesses for their rebuttal case, but that tactic has changed. The state's decision to call no more expert witnesses reflects an apparent confidence in the case.
Defense attorneys for Hernandez wrapped up their case on Tuesday. During those proceedings, Hernandez's attorneys decided against calling him to the stand to testify in his own defense.
When asked by the judge if he wanted to testify, Hernandez quietly said, "No."
"Is this your decision of your own free will, after conferring with your lawyers?" the judge asked.
"Yes," Hernandez said.
"Has anyone promised you or guaranteed you how the case is going to turn out?" the judge asked.
"No," Hernandez replied.
At the conclusion of the case, the defense asked the judge to enter a directed verdict of acquittal, not guilty by reason of insanity.
"We feel based on the mental health testimony that there's not enough evidence to move forward," defense attorney Rosenbaum said.
Judge Schlesinger denied the defense motion.
Prosecutors then called their first rebuttal witness, University of Miami psychiatrist Dr. Jon Shaw.
Shaw testified Hernandez was mentally ill, but not legally insane when he stabbed classmate Jaime Gough to death.
Shaw testified Hernandez was a bright student who developed an obsessive fear of death and decided to become a serial killer and perhaps achieve fame.
Shaw said, "He became enamored of the whole idea of becoming a serial killer, which would give him, and he said this, would give him notoriety."
Shaw also explained Hernandez's withdrawal from family and friends in the months before the murder, "His idea was, if you want to become a serial killer, you cannot have loving, tender, caring feelings" about family or friends.
He said Michael had no remorse, and believed the worse thing that ever happened to him was not that he killed Gough, but that he was in jail.
Shaw's opinion conflicted with three defense experts who testified on Monday that Hernandez was a paranoid schizophrenic who was detached from reality and did not appreciate the consequences of his actions.
The three mental health experts testified they believed Hernandez was legally insane when he killed Gough.
Defense expert Dr. Barry Rosenfeld, a forensic psychologist, who was questioned for more than 10 hours over two days, told jurors his assessment of Hernandez's mental state.
"I've diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia," Rosenfeld said. "It's a psychotic disorder. It's a break from reality, someone who is out of touch with reality," he added.
Rosenfeld also mentioned Hernandez's diary, saying "He was going to kill all the people in the world. The idea that he could kill all the people in the world is absurd for anyone, certainly an 18 year old."
Explaining Hernandez's calm, cool confession, Rosenfeld commented, "A paranoid schizophrenic can sound coherent, but have all kinds of crazy ideas."
The testimony was used to lay the framework for the defense, claiming Michael was criminally insane during the time of the killing.
On the legal issue of an insanity defense, Schlesinger told the jurors, "It's pretty straight up: the defendant is insane if he doesn't understand the difference between right and wrong or appreciate the consequences of his actions.
Hernandez faces mandatory life in prison without parole, but his official sentencing hearing will take place in Miami on November 7th.
If Hernandez would have been found not guilty by reason of insanity he would have been committed to a mental institution for an indeterminate period of time.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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