Lawyer’s defense: My client is too dumb to have committed the crime
NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but what about being just plain ignorant across the board? That's the tack one Broward County defense attorney is taking. His opening statement:
My client is so dumb, he thinks the St. Louis Cardinals are appointed by the Pope.
My client is so dumb, he thinks the Kentucky Derby is a hat.
My client is dumb, he thinks the English Channel is a British TV station.
But seriously, folks, attorney Peter Grable explained to the jury that George Mato Dotel, who drove the getaway car in a 2007 convenience store robbery that went bad, should not be convicted of murder because “he’s not that bright” and didn’t realize he was involved in a plot to commit a crime, The Palm Beach Post
reports:
It was that lack of intelligence, Grable said, that made Dotel the unwitting participant in the robbery. Grable said he thought he was driving the group to the Boynton Beach convenience store to collect a debt.
Assistant State Attorney Sherri Collins told jurors the evidence showed Dotel knew exactly what was going on. And though prosecutors say Dotel didn't fire the shot that killed [70-year-old retired baker Samuel Salomon] his participation in the robbery and subsequent car chase made him responsible for the man's death regardless.
"He had a part in what was going on, he was getting paid and ultimately his choices led to the death of Samuel Salomon," Collins said.
Earlier this year a jury acquitted Dotel of attempted murder charges but found him guilty of two counts of false imprisonment as a lesser conviction on the kidnapping charges he originally faced. Four men were convicted of murder and are serving life sentences, and the man who rented the car used in the robbery accepted a plea deal in exchange for testifying against the others and could be sentenced to as little as 15 years in prison for his part in the crime.
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