Florida | Convicted killer will represent himself in death penalty trial

Convicted killer Peter Avsenew will represent himself next month when a jury is convened to determine whether he deserves to live or die.

Avsenew, 38, was convicted last year of the murders of Kevin Powell, 47, and Stephen Adams, 52, a Wilton Manors couple who took him into their home during the holiday season in 2010 only to have him turn on them, steal their car and escape to his mother’s home in Polk County.

Earlier this week, Avsenew rejected a deal that would have taken the death penalty off the table if he would agree not to pursue an investigation into jury misconduct at his retrial. Jurors admitted that they improperly discussed the case among themselves in a social media app, with some making up their minds before the penalty phase of his trial even began.

There was no concrete evidence of juror misconduct during the guilt phase, and Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein allowed the guilty verdict to stand even after he overturned the same jury’s death sentence recommendation. The judge declined to penalize any of the jurors who admitted misconduct.

Now a new jury will get to decide whether Avsenew should be executed or sentenced to life in prison. And when they do, Avsenew will not have a lawyer pleading his case. “I don’t think he’s making a smart decision, but I do find he is making a knowing, voluntary and intelligent decision,” Fein said.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Oct. 11, and Fein warned Avsenew that there would be no delays. The judge also declined to appoint “standby counsel,” attorneys that could sit with Avsenew and step in at a moment’s notice if he decided he wanted a lawyer to represent him after all.

This isn’t the first time Avsenew has ditched his counsel. Defense lawyers Gabe Ermine and Phyllis Cook represented Avsenew during the guilt phase of his 2017 trial and were dismissed ahead of the penalty phase. But in that case there were no allegations of jury misconduct. Avsenew made his case before the same jury that convicted him.

This time around, Avsenew will be a part of jury selection. He will also make an opening statement if he chooses, cross-examine witnesses, call his own and deliver a closing statement. At his first trial, Avsenew did nothing to counter the prosecution’s evidence supporting a death sentence. “I have no regrets in my life and I am proud of the decisions I’ve made,” he told the jury then, offering no explanation for why he shot the two men. He also wrote a letter to the judge in his first trial all but threatening to kill again if he is not executed. The letter contained racist and homophobic statements that were so inflammatory that Fein refused to allow a jury to hear it at retrial.

The Florida Supreme Court overturned Avsenew’s original conviction because of improper testimony that was heard by the jury the first time around.

Source: sun-sentinel.com, Staff, September 29, 2023

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