NOT GUILTY FL - Collin Griffith, 17, stabs mother to death 1 year after fatally shooting father - Sep. 11, 2024

[I am not Sherlock H.]

I blame the grandmother more than the prosecution. She was supposed to testify FOR the prosecution, which they'd planned as their final witness. If she had testified the way she had done during interviews with them, he'd have been convicted.

But she went rogue and threw her dead daughter under the bus. I don't blame the prosecutors for that---although maybe they should have known?

Yikes @katydid23 …. and apologies as I didn’t follow this one closely, but was floored by the result.

Did the prosecution not try to impeach the grandmother by simply playing her interview videos? To rebut the jaundiced testimony (my choice of words)? I sure hope they weren’t worried about offending a supposed prosecution witness that seems to as suggested have gone ‘rogue’ and helped the defense’s client, her grandson. Second option declare her a hostile witness…… I mean a mother was gruesomely …….. (insert term)…. SMH

Amazing and I usually don’t endorse hearing from jurors…. as their confidentiality should be preserved. But making an exception in this case. MOO

 

[joe jones]

I wonder if they will revisit his father's death, and charge him for that,

 

[Luna20]

No word from the jurors yet, some of whom have to be shocked. It is understandable if they would need time to process it before speaking.

It would be a whiplash moment for me if I had been on the jury. What just happened??

 

[Swirlz]

They were out for two and half days of a five day trial. Why would they a have whiplash moment?

 

[Tigerlily81]

Yikes @katydid23 …. and apologies as I didn’t follow this one closely, but was floored by the result.

Did the prosecution not try to impeach the grandmother by simply playing her interview videos? To rebut the jaundiced testimony (my choice of words)? I sure hope they weren’t worried about offending a supposed prosecution witness that seems to as suggested have gone ‘rogue’ and helped the defense’s client, her grandson. Second option declare her a hostile witness…… I mean a mother was gruesomely …….. (insert term)…. SMH

Amazing and I usually don’t endorse hearing from jurors…. as their confidentiality should be preserved. But making an exception in this case. MOO

To me, this is the dangerous part of using a grieving family member for either side. Emotions get involved. She clearly didn't want to lose her grandson and her judgement was clouded. This verdict was SO disturbing to me. I really wish that the prosecution had been allowed to tell the jury about dad's murder. Anybody objectively hearing that he also killed his other parent would have absolutely had a whole different perspective on this kid's motives. It reminds me so much of Edmund Kemper and his mom and grandparents for some reason. I genuinely think the kid is dangerous and this won't be his last trial. MOO.

 

[Swirlz]

A lot of the grandmother's statements were backed up by investigators familiar with the family. It was a fact Cathy had been convicted previously of pulling a gun on Collin's father in the presence of Collin. Both Collin and also Cathy's older child had, in the past, been removed from Cathy's custody by DCF. Cathy did own firearms.

 

[Tigerlily81]

A lot of the grandmother's statements were backed up by investigators familiar with the family. It was a fact Cathy had been convicted previously of pulling a gun on Collin's father in the presence of Collin. Both Collin and Cathy's older child had, in the past, been removed from Cathy's custody by DCF. Cathy did own firearms.

I understand that and have read it in articles before. It's still just incredibly sketchy to me that a witness saw him dragging his mother into the house by her hair before she was killed and heard her saying "stop". Past transgressions aside -if someone is defending themselves they aren't assaulting the screaming perpetrator. Nobody "falls on" a knife. That's not a thing.

 

[Swirlz]

Two witnesses testified to hearing a verbal altercation coming from the driveway of the grandmother's residence. Both witnesses testified to Cathy, NOT Collin being verbally aggressive. One witness said she wasn't sure whether she saw Collin pull on either Cathy's ponytail or grab a hold of her shoulder. The other witness was more specific, saying she saw Collin grab a hold of Cathy's ponytail. That witness said she heard Cathy say, "Stop, you're hurting me."

Both witnesses said it wasn't a big enough deal for them to have called 911 and that they saw Cathy walk into the house with Collin. The defense attorney went over this repeatedly with both of them, both witnesses were clear on that Cathy walked into the house on her own. She wasn't dragged.

And yeah, it wasn't a great look for Collin that he said Cathy fell on the knife. She obviously didn't. But that DOESN'T mean she wasn't the primary aggressor. The defense position was that Cathy started the physical altercation when she picked up the knife first and threatened Collin with it.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Reflecting on this case and what led to this point, one thing seems apparent in it - two parents are now dead at the apparent hands of the same child. I hope the state of Oklahoma IIUC rekindles and reopens the investigation into the prior death of the father. SMH at the outcome of the trial. MOO

 

[Luna20]

They were out for two and half days of a five day trial. Why would they a have whiplash moment?

Finding out that Collin had also killed his father.

 

[Swirlz]

They already had the info that he'd killed someone previously and the details that he'd shot the person twice. And the jury wasn't sequestered, which means AT LEAST one or two of them either googled or heard something.

 

[CrimeTheorist]

Does anyone know any information about the father and the details of how he was killed? I couldn't even find his name, he's just referred to as the father.

 

[Soulmagent]

I wonder if they will revisit his father's death, and charge him for that,

I hope . Except it's Oklahoma. So probably NOT.

 

[CrimeTheorist]

Even if the story of her picking up the knife first was true, it's still not really self-defence; she would no longer have a weapon, and he was probably a foot taller and much stronger. Also, the story about the father cornering him with a knife exactly where a gun happens to be is just unbelievable.

 

[Swirlz]

he was probably a foot taller and much stronger.

Whether or not it matters, Collin was actually quite a bit shorter than the male attorney who served as co-counsel on his case and that attorney didn't look like he was particularly tall. I didn't get any particular impression that Collin was a big kid, not that the mother was exactly the incredible hulk either.

This kid just had a public defender. She put on a very low-key case but was able to establish through thorough crosses of prosecution investigators and by calling one witness, Collin's maternal grandmother, to the stand, that Cathy had, in the past, exhibited a clear pattern of threatening, abusive, volatile and aggressive behaviors including threatening Collin and other people in Collin's presence with weapons. The grandmother's testimony was corroborated by some facts that weren't in dispute; Cathy had been convicted previously of threatening Collin's father with a gun and in the presence of Collin. Collin and Cathy's other child had both repeatedly been removed from Cathy's custody by Florida's DCF.

It was established that Collin had made multiple attempts to remove himself from Cathy's home. He had reported abuse by her to school authorities, he had asked law enforcement to remove him, he had repeatedly run away to his grandmother's house. But Florida DCF workers continued to automatically believe Cathy's claims that Collin was lying and failed to investigate. Collin was continuously returned by authorities to Cathy.

The prosecutor WAS allowed to tell jurors Collin had killed previously and by firing two shots. The ONLY info the jury wasn't given was the relationship between Collin and the decedent. They didn't know the previous victim was Collin's father. The jury wasn't sequestered.

The defense left open the question of what exactly happened the day Cathy was killed but took the position Cathy was the primary aggressor. Collin didn't take the stand.

 

[Megnut]

What's sad is thst he's been churned back into the world, one which probably won't be very forgiving, with few skills and little incentive to become self-regulating. Volatile upbringing, volatile child. Now manchild, maybe always a manchild. And not a sympathetic character because he didn't/doesn't react like we probably hope/think he would. Not horrified by what he did, far as we know, no clear narrative of what happened, how it happened and why he did what he did. No real "omg, what I have I done?" No mixed emotion -- "I had to but I didn't want to. I loved her but I was scared." Frankly no real emotion at all.

Boy, I imagine everyone wishes to rewind the clock on this one. But how far back? Dad wasn't healthy, Mom wasn't healthy, marriage wasn't healthy, divorce wasn't civil, parenting wasn't even mediocre. Family and individuals within it all in need of serious intervention. But whose job is that? Young social workers and CPS workers, fresh out of school?

I worry about people in CG's orbit going forward. He has all the markers of childhood stressors without any real support structure. Who is going to equip him with problem-solving skills? Set him up with housing, employment, especially with his -- um -- history? Grandma?

There are no winners here. Just a lot of losers.

JMO

 

[Swirlz]

Just wanted to make the point that Collin graduated high school a year early and at age 17 already had earned community college credits and was working. He's been acquitted so nothing is stopping him from changing his name. The coverage of this case though has been brutal. The media slant is overwhelmingly pro-prosecution. This kid is being talked about like he's a sociopathic monster. And the trial was televised.

Also just wanted to point out that the jury was out for two and half days of a five day trial. It's not like they just sort of went back there, shrugged their shoulders and said, "Oh, well, let's acquit him just because we feel like it."

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

From what was observed IMO it seems the now acquitted defendant going forward might have some things to address other than image. And not speaking to the jury or their deliberations. Perhaps the state just didn’t put on the case that they needed or should have presented. Yet they only have the evidence they and investigators can assemble. And it also seems that the grandmother’s testimony was an unanswered curve ball?

Sadly this outcome reminds me of the FL Casey Anthony case. I hope that Oklahoma is looking at the father’s death and assessing if that should be addressed and charged. And most unfortunate IMO that the earlier case of the father’s death was not handled differently. MOO

 

[Kemug]

And it seems he has a brother. I wonder how he is doing in his life - and also if he is in any danger.

 

[Swirlz]

Sadly this outcome reminds me of the FL Casey Anthony case.

Just to make the point; the Casey Anthony jury was out for a little less time than Griffith's jury. The Casey Anthony trial lasted about five weeks. Collin's trial lasted five DAYS and the jury was out for slightly more time than Casey's jury, a little over 11 hrs. I'm just saying I disagree with people bashing the Griffith case jurors. I'm not saying anyone here has done that but I've seen it on other social media; saying things like that these are the dumbest jurors since Casey Anthony blah, blah, blah.

And most unfortunate IMO that the earlier case of the father’s death was not handled differently. MOO

Kind of a separate subject but Collin obviously shouldn't have been returned to Cathy Griffith after the shooting. Custody of him had been transferred to the father to begin with because Cathy was unstable, volatile and erratic.