Golden — A jury in Jefferson County has asked a judge for clarification in the case of a teen accused of killing his friend’s father.
Originally, officials said a verdict in Michael Tate’s murder trial was to be announced.
After consultations in the courtroom this afternoon, the jury resumed deliberations.
Lawyers for Tate, now 19, say he was “profoundly mentally ill” in November 2004 when Steven Fitzgerald was beaten and stabbed to death in his garage.
“He did know right from wrong, that is the critical claim,” prosecutor Jackie Russell said in closing arguments Wednesday.
The jury began deliberations late Wednesday afternoon in the case after 2-1/2 weeks of testimony by 50 witnesses, including Fitzgerald’s son, Michael.
Michael Fitzgerald, who was sentenced in March to 62 years in prison in connection with his father’s murder, said Tate is the one who wielded the knife and shovel in the killing.
Michael Fitzgerald — “a kid with a motive” — is the only one to say what happened in the garage, defense attorney Shawna Geiger said. Tate followed Michael Fitzgerald’s lead, Geiger said, adding: “This is a child who at age 12 couldn’t tell time or tie his shoes. He doesn’t have the mental state to brush his teeth.”
The attack, prompted by the two boys who had broken into the Fitzgeralds’ Westminster home after running away from a group home, “was so ferocious,” Russell said, that Steven Fitzgerald’s ribs were fractured.
Russell said Tate hit Steven Fitzgerald in the face five times with a shovel, leaving him to die on the garage floor.
Tate showed he knew what he was doing was wrong when he put a T-shirt over his face during the break-in, Russell said.
Tate also wore gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, helped to move trash cans to hide the body and changed out of bloody clothing before leaving the house, Russell said.
Geiger reminded jurors that several experts testified about Tate’s long mental-illness history, which showed he was “one of the sickest kids” they had encountered.
Geiger asked the jury to send Tate to the state mental hospital instead of prison.
