GUILTY FL - Denise Lee, 21, raped & murdered, North Port, 17 Jan 2008

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King’s lawyer files motion to have evidence thrown out in Lee case By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH
North Port Community News Editor
SARASOTA — Michael King’s attorney is trying to have evidence and King’s alleged confession to the Jan. 17, 2008, kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee thrown out before his August trial begins, saying her client’s rights were violated.
Assistant Public Defender Carolyn Schlemmer is trying to block the death penalty against King being sought by the state, according to a recently filed motion.
Following an evaluation of King, 37, the state asked that he be examined by a second doctor. The documents show the first physician, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Kasper — selected by King’s attorney — found King “incompetent to proceed with the upcoming trial.”
Schlemmer wrote that King’s rights were violated shortly after he was arrested on Interstate 75 off Toledo Blade Boulevard near where the 21-year-old’s body was found Jan. 19. At the time, police observed King’s pants were soaking wet and saw a shovel in his car.
Minutes after he was handcuffed, King said he would like to speak to an attorney, according to the 11-page document detailing King’s questioning on the night of the incident.
At the same time, numerous law enforcement agencies were on a massive manhunt for Lee.
Earlier in the evening, police dispatchers in North Port received four different 911 calls relating to Lee’s kidnapping, including one Lee made from King’s cell phone when he got out of his car to allegedly borrow a gas can, flashlight and shovel from his cousin, Harold Muxlow Jr., while in North Port.
Schlemmer wrote that instead of clarifying King’s request for an attorney, North Port detectives took him on a “ride-along,” searching for Lee while questioning him. She added that King’s rights were “clearly violated” as his Miranda rights were not read to him until hours after he was taken into custody.
She wrote that police obtained information illegally when asking about injuries or bruises on King’s body. She asked to suppress the information during the trial.
According to documents, Schlemmer alleges police also illegally searched and seized evidence after breaking into King’s North Port home. Schlemmer wrote that hair strands reportedly belonging to Lee, pieces of duct tape and hair ties, bedding, carpeting and clothing were illegally removed from the home before police had a search warrant. Therefore, this information should not be used against King.
“At the time of the illegal entry into Mr. King’s house, there was no evidence that any crime had been committed in his house,” Schlemmer wrote, referring to police officer’s reaction to a 911 call Jan. 17 from Sabrina Muxlow — King’s niece — who reported her father, Harold, was concerned King might do something harmful to a woman in his green Camaro.
North Port Police Detective Chris Morales maintains the department “didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s false,” he said Tuesday, regarding the accusations of the department’s method of questioning King. “It’s (interviews with King) all on video.”
Schlemmer said none of the information gathered from Muxlow should be allowed in court.
According to documents, police “circumvented” King’s rights by allowing Muxlow to come to the police department and identify the items King borrowed.
The state is seeking the death penalty for King in this case. However, King’s attorney wrote that lethal injection is “unconstitutional.” She cited cases where lethal injection didn’t immediately kill a prisoner. The anesthetic wore off and caused five to seven minutes of “unnecessary pain,” the report said.
King’s trial is set for August.
E-mail: eallen@sun-herald.com :furious::confused::furious:
 
OMG
That article makes me so angry.....
King should NOT have any rights or spared any pain as far as i'm concerned...
How can that lawyer defend him? And she's a woman??
I wonder if she's a mom too...
I wonder how much pain poor Denise had to be in before she died...both physically and emotionally...
and yet...this person is worried for King???
That he might have "five to seven minutes of unnecessary pain,"
Everything about this story upsets me so much...
Poor Nathan and Adam and Noah :(
RIP Denise :(
 
Area legislators sponsor 911 training bill

House Bill 769, written in response to the kidnapping and murder of North Port's Denise Lee to improve the state's 911 system, made it through a House committee Wednesday. Here, Lee is with her sons, Noah and Adam....

Kreegel, Roberson have authored a bill requiring certification of dispatchers.

# House 0769: Relating to 911 Emergency Dispatcher Certification
# Senate 2040: Relating to 911 Emergency Dispatcher Certification
# Florida House of Representatives
# Florida Senate

With the help of all five North Port city commissioners, state representatives Ken Roberson and Paige Kreegel pushed a bill through committee Wednesday that would require certification standards for 911 operators in Florida.

House Bill 769, titled "911 Emergency Dispatcher Certification," is a measure pushed by the Charlotte County Republicans in reaction to the murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee, who was kidnapped from her North Port home last year. The Lee family believes the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office botched a 911 call to dispatch units to the intersection where Denise was last seen by a motorist.

http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=434363&pubdate=3/26/2009
link to article :Jumpie:
 
Thanks, earthacademy!

I plan to contact my state Rep. and Senator to express my support of these bills and encourage other Floridians to do the same.

To find your Rep. and Senate for your district, visit http://www.flsenate.gov -- scroll down and type your zip code into the "Find Your Legislators" section on the left side of the page.
 
http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=436918&pubdate=5/6/2009

No hurry to pass 911 bill

"Area lawmakers frustrated, vow to introduce it again

NORTH PORT -- Local legislators are disappointed that their efforts to require enhanced 911 emergency dispatcher certification failed last week.

State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, called it "unbelievable that something with this much common sense could not pass the Legislature."

A bill in the House of Representatives that required certification standards for 911 operators in Florida was sponsored by state Rep. Ken Roberson, R-Port Charlotte, and co-sponsored by Rep. Paige Kreegel, R-Punta Gorda.

The local legislators had high hopes for the bill after it was given unanimous approval by the House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee in March. But it was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, one day after the session ended.

Meanwhile, a bill in the Senate, sponsored by Detert, that requires 911 operators to be certified by the state Department of Health, was in the Health and Human Services Appropriations committee in April.

"Since there was no movement in the House and we were running out of days, the Senate did not want to work on it any longer," Detert said.

Detert rejects the assertion that sheriffs across the state, who initially opposed the bill, did not ultimately support it."

:( :( :(
 
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090804/ARTICLE/908041028

sARASOTA COUNTY - Defense attorneys in the Denise Amber Lee case want to stop jurors from hearing some of the most dramatic evidence against the man accused of abducting and murdering her. .art_main_pic { width:250px; float:left; clear:left; } Related Links:




Click to enlarge


Michael King's attorneys are arguing that the recording of Lee calling 911 from her abductor's car -- a horrifying glimpse into her last minutes -- would mostly serve to stir emotions in the jurors.
The recording has not been heard publicly, and would first be heard if played at King's murder trial, scheduled to start Aug. 17 and last for several weeks.
The request to keep the 911 call from the jury comes amid a flurry of motions seeking to limit some of the best-known evidence in the case against King, who is accused of the January 2008 abduction and murder of Lee, 21.


:furious:
 
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090722/BREAKING/907229973

Judge Deno Economou said that if a “fair and impartial” jury could not be found in Sarasota, he could decide to move the case.
Defense attorney Carolyn Schlemmer cited a survey of residents who had learned about the crime through news reports.
“When you read it, it is particularly disturbing,” she said of comments regarding King.
King entered the courtroom clean shaven in a yellow prison jumpsuit, orange sandals and short hair. Five deputies were in the courtroom and those attending the hearing had to pass through a metal detector.
Jury selection will go forward in Sarasota Aug. 17 with a pool of 100 jurors.


yeah and it is particularly disturbing what happened to Denise!! :( :furious:
 
earthacademy said:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090810/BREAKING/908109983

SARASOTA COUNTY — The jury in the Michael King murder trial scheduled for later this month will get to hear a recording of the six-minute 911 call from Denise Amber Lee, a circuit judge ruled Monday.
Click to expand...

I am so mixed on this decison as either way has its merits, but still...I highly doubt that this is the way that her family wants to hear her last words since they were pleas for her life.....:(

Yet, if I was sitting in the Jury Box - I would want ALL of the facts as heart-wrenching as they are....anything to ensure Justice for Denise Amber Lee.
 
http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/llnews.aspx?articleID=14010&bnpg=0

"King, 38, is charged with kidnapping, rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee, a stay-at-home mother of two young boys. Lee was taken from her North Port Estates home on Jan. 17, 2008; her body was found two days later off Toledo Blade Boulevard. The state is seeking the death penalty.

Economou increased security and tightened rules for the media and the public during the trial. No cameras, cell phones or computers will be allowed in the courtroom, only one pool photographer is allowed to shoot pictures during the trial, and no jurors can be photographed, videotaped or named until after the penalty phase of the trial.

Once court is in session, no one is allowed to enter the courtroom; if someone leaves, he can not re-enter until a judge-determined break. However, the public and others can watch the proceedings via videotape in an "overflow" room on the 10th floor of a nearby building, from which they can come and go freely.

A crew from Court TV will be filming the actual trial, set to begin at 10 a.m. Aug. 24. Seating for the public is restricted to fewer than 100 seats; there will be assigned seating for the families of Lee and King. The public will not be allowed to see the green Camaro King was driving on the night of the murder. Jurors will be escorted to the judge's parking area to view the Camaro, which is considered evidence in the case."
 
http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/pnnews.aspx?NewsID=442959&a=newsarchive2/082209/ch4.htm&pnpg=1

King told 12th Circuit Judge Deno Economou that he has been mistreated.
"Since day one (after being arrested), I have had problems with people coming in (from) the police force trying to get things out of me," King said in a low, nasally voice. "They were being hard on me if I didn't speak. If I wouldn't talk, they would put me in a little cell by myself."
King also said there is an inmate who has been "bothering" him during the nighttime hours. He also complained of an untreated dental problem.

King, 38, is accused of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee, 21, a North Port stay-at-home mother of two, in January 2008. His trial begins at 10 a.m. Monday at the Sarasota County Courthouse. In Session, formerly Court TV, will be airing the trial live. King told the judge he repeatedly asked to be moved from the jail to another facility where he would not be so well-known. He said he wanted his trial held in a different city.
Asked if King understood that he was speaking out in spite of his attorneys' recommendations not to address the court, Economou asked if he wanted to keep his lawyers. King said he did.
"I understand you have problems in jail," the judge said. "This doesn't have anything to do with your case."
Economou told King his statements could have detrimental consequences regarding his case.
Prior to King speaking to the judge Friday, 74 juror candidates were questioned for six hours at the courthouse.
It took less than an hour for both sides to agree on the 12 jurors and four alternates (three women and one man). The majority of the jurors are middle-aged women, except for three grandmotherly types. Most of the men are older. Everyone is white.


Don't even get me started! this piece of trash wants to start complaining about not getting medical treatment and not being treated fairly? How the hell did Denise feel in her last hours?? :furious:
 
I came across this case today and began to watch the trial. Missed opening statements but found a blog which gives play by play including reports the prosecuter opened with quoting Denise's heartwrenching and disturbing 911 call. (has not yet been played for the jury) Trying to get caught up with what's taken place from Jan 17, 08 til now.


States opening 10:30 AM (3/4 down page)
http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=10979326

Will be watching & checking in here at WS daily!
 
From the blog
http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=10979326

10:30 a.m.: The prosecution is beginning opening statements. "please let me go, help me, please let me go. Please, my name is Denise, I want to see my husband and kids again...I don't have your phone, I don't have it, I'm sorry. I don't know where your phone is, I'm sorry. I don't know where it is. Maybe if I could see I could help you find it. Oh god help me.....take me home. Please. I can't see, where are we?...Are you going to let me out now?" These are taken directly from Denise Lee's 911 call. (but is not a complete transcription...Prosecutor spoke too fast.)

Now the prosecutor is talking about Jane Kowalski calling 911 about a person screaming in a green camaro.

The prosecutor says King kills her, digs a hole 4 feet deep, puts her naked body inside, and buries her.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I got chills down my spine and very sick to my stomach. This is going to be a tough one to watch & listen to, particularly when this tape is played for the jury.

I also thought the cousin's testimony left out a very important detail--the fact that Denise actually had somehow gotten out of the car and the depraved killer was seen by his cousin wrestle her back inside. This AFTER he heard her call for him to call the police!!! Apparently, he'd seen that she was tied up YET he does not go to her rescue nor call 911!


I think that if King hadn't been stopped when he was by the trooper he'd have gotten rid of all evidence AND there would've been much less chance of finding her body. Unfortunately, that was the only luck on the side of LE that awful awful day.
 
Something's wrong here.....worked on a post for about 10 min then suddenly POOF gone!
And, it's taking forever for the site to come back up? Reply page and thread.


Oh well. Will be out finishing up school shopping so I can't follow this live today. DVR'ng InSessions & hoping to come back here this afternoon for updates and links!


IMO EVERYONE should know about this horrific case so that we can make sure nothing like it EVER happens AGAIN!!!


Thanks WS for this forum!
 
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