TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Murderer Nets Double Life Sentences

ADVERTISEMENT

By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: June 6, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Two consecutive terms of life in prison without a chance at parole were given to a convicted murderer on Thursday.
Circuit Judge Jack Springstead didn't mince words as he delivered his sentence to James Ray Booth, telling the defendant he had used up any second chances.

"This is not your first time to flaunt the law," he said.

Booth gave a brief statement expressing that he was sorry that someone was killed and repeated his claims of self defense.

But Springstead dismissed the implied plea for mercy and used the opportunity to point out that this was Booth's second time in court on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If Booth had learned his lesson the first time, the victim, Kenneth LaPointe Sr., would still be alive today, the judge said.

"LaPointe never got a second bite of the apple," Springstead said.

In October 2006, Booth brought loaded guns to a trailer in DaMac Estates, north of Brooksville, as collateral for a $150 drug debt. During a struggle over one of the rifles between Booth and another man the weapon fired five times. One of the bullets struck and killed LaPointe as he sat at his kitchen table.

Booth was convicted by a jury of a lesser offense, third-degree murder, and aggravated assault with a firearm. He was acquitted of aggravated battery and armed burglary.

After the sentence, Booths' attorney, Patricia Jenkins, called the sentence "harsh" but added: "You have to expect the worst when you go to trial."

She said her client still struggles to understand why he was charged with murder when it was not premeditated and an accident. He plans to appeal. Booth's criminal history, which dates back to 1970, was a major factor behind the double maximum sentence and, initially, a sticking point during the afternoon hearing.

Using the conventional point system that calculates a legal sentence, Booth was facing a minimum 20 years on the firearm charge.

But it wasn't so simple. The prosecutor, Pete Magrino, also petitioned that Booth be sentenced as habitual felony offender, which enhances a sentence. Springstead also had to factor in the "10-20-Life" law that dictates how much prison time someone faces for using a gun in the commission of a crime.

It took about 30 minutes of back-and-forth discussions in dry legal terms that had the laymen in the courtroom scratching their heads and the transport deputy nodding off.

Even the people running the show seemed lost at one point, with Springstead commenting that "we can thank the Legislature for this maze" needed to reach a legal sentence.

Tribune researcher Stephanie Pincus contributed to this report. Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT