Posted Saturday, May. 01, 2010
BY ALEX BRANCH
abranch@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- Jurors deliberated for about three hours Friday evening before convicting Eric Acevedo of capital murder for killing his ex-girlfriend, rejecting the defense argument that Acevedo, a combat veteran of Iraq, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and, therefore, did not intend to kill her.
Intent is a crucial factor in a capital murder conviction, and Acevedo's attorneys had hoped to show that he was unable in his mental state to form the intent to break into Mollie Worden's Saginaw town home on March 22, 2008, and stab her repeatedly.
Because the prosecution waived the death penalty, Acevedo, 23, was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Acevedo, a Marine, served three tours in Iraq.
He was the first defendant to use PTSD as a defense in Tarrant County, court officials said.
Acevedo sat stoically while the verdict was read.
But he dropped his head into his hands and sobbed as Worden's relatives addressed him after state District Judge Scott Wisch passed sentence.
"Eric, you had dinner at my house," Worden's mother, Georgia Fuentes, said, her voice choked with emotion. "I sent you my grandfather's little black Bible to put in your pocket and keep you safe [in Iraq].
"What I didn't know is that I should have given it to my daughter to keep her safe."
Criteria met for PTSD
Acevedo admitted during the trial that he beat and stabbed Worden, 32. But he said he went to the apartment they had formerly shared -- after drinking two to three shots of whiskey and several beers -- to talk. He said the attack was dreamlike and that he felt as if he watched himself kill her. He also said it seemed like he was attacking something "faceless."
A defense psychologist testified that Acevedo met all the criteria for severe and chronic PTSD acquired during three tours, including one in which his best friend was killed.
Acevedo's lawyers, Jim Lane and David Richards, asked the jury to find Acevedo guilty of the lesser charge of murder.
In his closing argument, Lane, a former Army captain and military lawyer, urged jurors not to ignore Acevedo's PTSD diagnosis. He called it a serious problem that society must face as long as old men use young men and women to fight wars.
"It is real," he said. "It is not something to close your eyes to."
But prosecutors Sean Colston and Michelle Dobson argued that Worden's murder was not about Acevedo's PTSD. They said that Acevedo had a history of disturbing behavior with women and that he killed Worden in a jealous, drunken rage
Another ex-girlfriend testified earlier Friday that Acevedo harassed her after she broke up with him.
Camie Medlock, 23, said she dated Acevedo from 2002 to 2004 and was engaged to him during his first deployment to Iraq. They were 17 when they started dating. He sometimes got angry about what clothes she wore and was upset when she would not agree to have a baby with him, she testified.
She broke up with him after discovering he had cheated on her.
After Acevedo returned from Iraq, he bothered her so often that her mother attempted to get a restraining order against him, she said.
In his closing argument, Colston said: "This case is about whether a jealous brat can handle a breakup. Obviously, he can't."
'You had honor once'
During the final phase of the trial, when relatives of victims are allowed to address the defendant, Fuentes told Acevedo that her family once considered Acevedo their "brave Marine."
She told him that she never believed he didn't realize he was killing Worden.
"In my heart, Eric, I believe you knew what you were doing," she said.
Fuentes urged him to find the goodness that once existed inside him and put it to good use in prison.
After she spoke, Wisch paused, then looked at Acevedo and echoed that sentiment.
"You had honor once," Wisch told him. "You have the rest of your life to try and reclaim it."
ALEX BRANCH, 817-390-7689
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