JACKSON – (AP) The Mississippi Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for one of several teens convicted in the slaying of a man who was shot after stopping to ask for directions to his grandson’s football game.
Linda and Michael David Porter had gotten lost going to their grandson’s football game in Moss Point in 2008. Authorities say he was shot during a robbery attempt at a gas station.
Tevin James Benjamin, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The high court said in a ruling Thursday that trial judge in Jackson County “erred in denying Benjamin’s motion to suppress his statement to the police, which was given in violation” of his Miranda rights.
The court record says that Benjamin denied participating in the shooting, instead saying he was at a fair. Authorities say that was an alibi the group concocted and that it in itself implicated Benjamin.
Benjamin was made to believe that if he talked to police he wouldn’t have to spend the night in jail, the court record said.
The officers also pressured Benjamin’s mother to convince him to cooperate without an attorney and instructed her on getting him to waive his right to a lawyer.
“Benjamin’s immaturity is revealed by the fact that his main concern at being charged with capital murder was avoiding a night in jail,” the court wrote.
“By encouraging Benjamin’s belief that, by talking to the police, he could avoid a night in jail, and by allowing Benjamin’s mother to speak with him after instructing her on how Benjamin could reinitiate questioning, the police used psychological ploys and compelling influences to elicit Benjamin’s statement.,” the Supreme Court ruled.
The case was tried in Jackson County Circuit Court.
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