Steele sentencing: defense's closing

DADE CITY -- Assistant Public Defender Bob Focht delivered the defense's closing argument in the Alfredie Steele Jr. sentencing hearing Friday. This is the argument that helped sway the jury to spare Steele's life, and recommend a sentence of life in prison for fatally shooting Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in 2003.

The defense had already conceded one of the aggravating factors the state listed: that Harrison was on duty when he was slain.

"The state had indicated to you there are two aggravators. Lt. Harrison was on duty and this crime was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner. As you will see from the instructions, it is not cold, or calculated, or premeditated. It is that it wass cold and it was calculated and it was premeditated and each must be proved beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt.

"The state would submit to you that this cold and calculated and premeditated plan began to be played out on the night of May 31, 2003. There is absolutely not one strap of evidence that Mr. Steele knew or had reason to know that any police officer, let alone Lt. Harrison, would be there waiting for him to bring fruit to his plan. If that is the case then what you have out at the cook shed is a guy shooting a gun. A drunk shooting a gun. And nothing more.

"The state has to prove to you that there is a plan, beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt. The state will then submit to you that as part of the plan (at this point the victim's son, Charles Harrison Jr., the only family member able to remain throughout the trial, has to leave the courtroom) that somehow he knew he was going to have this opportunity to enact his plan, that he was drinking to screw up his courage. That was part of his plan, other than a 19-year-old drinking.

"The definition for you means that cold means the murder was the product of a calm and cool reflection. And that it was calculated means it was a careful plan for a prearranged design to commit murder. Without some knowledge, some reason to believe there was a police officer going to be there who would somehow come into his sights that night, what is there but pure speculation?

"What substantial period of reflection is established by the evidence or can even be inferred by an inebriated 19-year-old who comes out of the club and sees the police officer? I submit to you that that aggravated circumstance did not exist and should not be relied upon you as you sit here today.

"If you determine that one or more of the aggravators have been established, you must reach the decision that if one or more of the aggravators themselves warrants the death penalty without looking at another thing. And if you do not, your inquiry is over, and the recommendation is life.

"What was he doing? Sitting back, throwing back drinks to get progressively stronger so he could commit his plan to commit premeditated murder? That fact undermines any thought that there was a plan."

Focht asks for a bench conference. Both sides huddle with Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach, who then announces to the jury that Steele has no criminal record -- prior to Thursday's first-degree murder conviction, that is.

"If you would find the aggravator or aggravators justified in the imposition of the death penalty, then you must consider the mitigating factors for Mr. Steele. His background, the crime itself ...

"... As the court will indicate to you (Steele) has no criminal record. This is not someone who ran wild. All but those unholy seconds, these few minutes of his life, has he done anything wrong except for this disaster.

"You may also consider from the evidence whether Mr. Steele was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbances. I would submit that that what has been implied as motive, the last in the series of violent deaths of friends and family members. This is not a justification. But it is an explanation for the total irrationality of his act. And lastly, the capacity of Mr. Steele to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct or to conform his conduct ..."

"To one degree or another every witness who saw him that night said he was intoxicated, from drinking too much.

" 'Fredie got along with everybody, and possibly one of the most telling of these other factors is that in his own home as a child, as a burning cross is put in his yard, as his home is assaulted, his reaction is to reach out to the community. This is a young man who has manifested the ability to reach out to people, which is what makes this all the more horrific.

"From jail facing trial on charges that could cost him his life, he helps a family member in counseling a cousin. At school, the phrases that were used by two of the teachers, ' 'Fredie being 'Fredie'  and 'the same 'Fredie anywhere ...

"In the horror of life in prison, he will in fact bring a helping hand. If for no other reason than that, I would ask you to spare his life.

"He's polite. See the way he behaved here? ... other than these few minutes of aberration the only thing you can say about Alfredie Steele is he's just a nice kid."

As Focht looks into the courtroom gallery it is divided into two halves. On his  right, Harrison's family. On his left, Steele's family.

"Probably the most horrifying and heartbreaking, the most destructive part of this whole chain of events is that if Lt. Harrison's picture wasn't here, that whole family (Focht stretches out his hand to the Harrison family) would be over there. And if Alfredie Steele was not over there (the lawyers reaches out to Steele's family) that whole family would be over here. That is just a disaster for these people.

"The death of Alfredie Steele would serve nothing."

-- JAMAL THALJI

Steele sentencing: state's closing

DADE CITY -- The verdict has been rendered, the sentence has been carried out.

It took just 10 minutes for a Pasco County jury on Friday to end a tragedy that unfolded over nearly four years. Ten women and two men recommended a sentence of life in prison for Alfredie Steele Jr. in the death of sheriff's deputy Charles "Bo" Harrison on June 1, 2003.

Forgive us if the blogging fell off in all the chaos. Here, then, is what we didn't have time to blog about before the sentencing.

Assistant State Attorney Jim Hellickson delivered the state's closing argument:

"In this case the state has established two aggravating factors as I said in my opening statement. The defendant committed the crime in a cold, calculating, cruel, premeditated manner without any moral or legal justification.

"He took the SKS (semi-automatic rifle.) Took it out about 10 p.m. to the Withlacoochee Forest and shot it at that cook shed. Getting acclimated to the nighttime conditions, getting acclimated to the weapon, firing 12 rounds at that cook shed. Either then or sometime before he turned himself in on June 3, taking shells from the scene, shell casings which could have been connected at the scene of the murder of Lt. Bo Harrison.

"He arrived at the cook shed about 10 p.m., spent about 20 minutes there, according to his statement to the police. Shooting shots, collecting the shell casings, and when he was done he left. He said to the police he put his SKS in the back seat of the car of the car he was using ... and headed out to Rumors. He arrived at Rumors about 11:30 p.m.

"At 11:30 p.m. he arrived at Rumors, spends some time there, then walks out of Rumors. He looks across the street and sees what he says is a marked patrol car, sitting by itself, lights on, engine running. (He) gets in his car, drives behind the marked patrol cruiser, up Bald Eagle Drive. He doesn't stop. He goes around a corner. Stops at the curve. Walks back. Doesn't run back, doesn't go quickly back to try and get the shots off. He walks back to where he saw the police car with his loaded SKS. Points it at the back of the cruiser and starts cranking off 13 rounds. Four of those rounds hit the cruiser. You've seen the pictures of the back of the cruiser.

"What is significant, what is significant about all four bullet holes in that cruiser. You noticed it looking at the picture yesterday. All four bullet holes are on the driver's side, the left side of that cruiser. There are no holes on the right side, the passenger side of the cruiser. All four bullet holes were on the driver's side of that vehicle and what was on the driver's side of that vehicle?

"Lt. Bo Harrison.

"And you could see clearly in the re-enactment the head of that individual. The head he told Mr. (Nathaniel) Vanzant he could see in the cruiser and never saw move. That established heightened premeditation."

Then the prosecutor began to argue the second aggravating factor the jury had to consider: "a law enforcement officer engaged in the official performance of his duties."

Then Hellickson grabbed a large, blown-up photo of Harrison. He is in his gray uniform shirt, the long-sleeved dress uniform with his gold badge and lieutenant's bars, posed in front of the red, white and blue of an American flag.

"Here's a person you haven't heard much about the last two weeks. This is a picture of Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison. This is what Charles Albert 'BoBo' Harrison looked like in life. Bo Harrison was a cop. Bo Harrison was a citizen of the peace. Every single one of his working days he strapped on his service pistol and went out to serve and protect. Every day he strapped on a service pistol and went out to serve and protect the people of Pasco County.

"On May 31, 2003, Lt. Harrison strapped on that service pistol and went out to serve and protect. On May 31, Lt. Harrison went out on patrol. On June 1, 2003, Lt. Harrison never came back.

"On June 1, 2003, Lt. Harrison never came back because of that man right there," Hellickson said, pointing at Steele.

"During the course of this trial the defense has been talking about the defendant being young. Mr. (Tom) Hanlon (Steele's lawyer) called him a child. On June 1, 2003, that child was a man. On June 1, 2003, the defendant was a man on a mission, to kill a cop. His mission was a success.

"Lt. Bo Harrison was going to go into retirement on June 15, 2003 after 31 years of service to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Instead, on June 7, 2003, Lt. Bo Harrison was buried.

"The state has established the two aggravating circumstances. Every time a law enforcement officer is killed or murdered it is an appropriate consideration for you to consider death."

-- JAMAL THALJI

Jury: Life for Pasco cop-killer

DADE CITY -- A jury took just 10 minutes to recommend a life sentence for cop-killer Alfredie Steele Jr. on Friday, a day after they found him guilty of fist-degree murder in the sniper-style slaying of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in 2003.

The quick verdict came in at 4:21 p.m.

Then Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach affirmed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Steele, 23, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"Nobody won in this case," the judge said. "Everyone in this courtroom wishes we could turn back the clock , but it can't be done. So what's a fair sentence in this case? What is fair for the defendant? There is no fair sentence.

"It will not return things to what they were."

The jury of 10 women and two men left without comment.

Before the sentencing was carried out, Harrison's family addressed the court and the man convicted of shooting the beloved sheriff's deputy in the back on June 1, 2003, as Harrison sat in his patrol cruiser just two weeks before he was set to retire after 31 years on the force.

Instead of a retirement party, they held a funeral.

"My daddy put his gun in his holster every day and never took it out until he got home every day," said the victim's daughter, Sandy Harrison. "He trusted the people in this community to the point where he felt a (bullet-proof) vest wasn't necessary because he was a mentor, he was a peer to his friends, he had the utmost respect of over 5,000 people who (were at his funeral) on the day we should have had his retirement party.

"I agree with allowing Alfredie Steele Jr. to live so he can have the rest of his life to think about what he has done to myself and my entire family."

Steele's lawyers rejoiced that he had been spared the death penalty. Everyone seem satisfied with the outcome except for those who should have wanted a life sentence the most: Steele and his family.

Steele was defiant throughout his sentencing hearing, telling the judge Friday morning that "the fact (is) there is no evidence against me in this case." This despite a week spent watching the very audio and videotaped confessions he made just days after the shooting, in which he confessed and apologized.

Then, after he was fingerprinted and led out of the courtroom, Steele had this to say to the crowded courtroom:

"First time y'all seen somebody convicted without any evidence."

A friend shouted: "Yo dawg."

-- JAMAL THALJI

Mother: Steele didn't do it

DADE CITY -- His easy going manner. His absent father. His love of those of every color. The death of his stepfather. His helpfulness, his friendliess, his good nature. The deaths of good friends during that tragic summer of 2003.

The defense has shared all this with the jury in the Alfredie Steele Jr. sentencing.

Steele's lawyers are trying to convince the jury to spare his life, to not recommend the death sentence for the man convicted of killing Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison.

But there is one element missing from the defense's game plan to save Steele's life: contrition.

Regina Clemmons, the mother who tried to humanize her son to the jury, had just one more thing to say at the end of her testimony Friday:

"I want to go on the record saying I don't believe my son did this," she said.

Assistant Public Defender Bob Focht tried to stop her from blurting that out in front of the jury.

The jury wasn't in the courtroom earlier Friday when her son said the same thing a day after he was convicted of first-degree murder: he didn't do it, and his lawyers should have told the jury that.

"The fact there is no evidence against me in this case," he told the court. "It wasn't stressed. It wasn't put there, and therefore the jury never really had the chance to even get that in their brain, to even consider that there."

No evidence, except the many recorded confessions Steele made that were played for the jury this week.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Steele's family tells his story

DADE CITY -- The jury has become well acquainted with who Alfredie Steele Jr. was the night of June 1, 2003, when he pointed a semi-automatic rifle at the back of a sheriff's cruiser and took the life of a helpless deputy.

Now, slowly, the jury is learning about the Alfredie Steele Jr. who existed before the murder -- the man the defense wants them to see.

Steele's friends, sisters and his mother, Regina Clemmons, told the jury about key moments in the 23-year-old's life. His father, Alfredie Steele Sr., was a faint part of his life.

"He was hurt," Clemmons said of her son. "(His father) didn't really show any love for him."

In 1993, the mother moved her family from the Cypress Manor apartments to another Lacoochee neighborhood on Jarvis Street -- a predominantly white and Hispanic neighborhood.

They were the first black family to live there, Clemmons said.

Soon, a burning cross lit up their yard.

"We made the newspaper," the mother said. "It was not a ritzy neighborhood, but they just did not want me there. They burned a cross in my yard. They threw bottles and rocks."

There were fights too, Steele's sisters told the jury, with boys and girls on the block.

"Is it fair to say those years were difficult (for Steele)?" attorney Bob Focht asked.

"It was very difficult," said Catrina Ceazer, Steele's sister.

But Steele helped his mother accept her neighbors and other races.

"I can honestly say Freddie broke some barriers for me," Clemmons said.

Then the jury learned about Lonnie Clemmons. He was Steele's stepfather, who drowned in a 1999 boating accident. Who was there to comfort Clemmons? Bo Harrison, the man her son was convicted of killing.

"He tried to calm me down," Clemmons told the jury. "He was really decent to me."

Lonnie Clemmons' death devastated the family.

"It was fair to say he was near and dear to your family's heart?" Focht asked.

"It would be fair to say that," she said.

Then she talked about the series of events in 2003 that pushed Steele over the edge.

That year an accident took the life of Garion "Red" Pope, a good friend and former teammate of Steele's. Soon after another friend, Michael Reed, died. Reed died after fleeing a traffic stop by a Pasco sheriff's deputy. A photo of a dying Reed appeared in the St. Petersburg Times.

"How did 'Fredie react to these deaths?" Focht asked.

"I ... I ... I guess it was like anybody else," Clemmons said. "He was so hurt he couldn't even attend the funeral."

-- JAMAL THALJI

Her brother, her mentor's killer

DADE CITY -- Catrina Ceazer, one of Alfredie Steele Jr.'s sisters, is the first family member to take the stand. She is a corrections officer at the Hernando County jail.

She grew up in Lacoochee and owes her start in law enforcement to the man her brother is convicted of killing: Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison.

He even helped her pass a key firearms qualification test she had failed.

"He asked me if I had any problems he would help me," she said. "He wanted me to pursue my career."

Then she talked about her brother.

"He's very quiet," Ceazar said. "He loved me and protected me, especially from the boys. He was very nice and outspoken. He wouldn't hurt nobody."

-- JAMAL THALJI

It was 'Fredie being 'Fredie

DADE CITY -- Pasco High athletic director Jim Ward was the first character witness called by Alfredie Steele Jr.'s defense.

Steele was a student assistant for Ward when he was in high school, known at the school as a peer, and often stayed late to help grade papers, do chores or even help other kids who struggled with reading.

"It was 'Fredie being 'Fredie," Ward said. "He just wanted to help out."

"What was your phrase? ' 'Fredie being 'Fredie?' " asked defense attorney Bob Focht.

"Yeah, 'Fredie always helped out," Ward said. "It didn't matter what I needed done."

And Steele made friends across racial boundaries.

"It didn't matter to 'Fredie if it was black, white or Hispanic," Ward said. "If they needed help he was gonna help them."

Ricky Giles then took the stand.

"Most kids know me as Coach Giles," he said.

Pasco's longtime baseball coach said he's known Steele since he was in elementary school, and knows Steele's family, too. Steele was also Giles' peer, or student assistant, and played for the football team.

"How did he get along with other kids?" Focht asked.

"He was always fun," Giles said. "I never really seen him upset. He was always a joy to be around."

Giles said his relationship with Steele was beyond student-teacher.

"You consider him like a friend?" Focht asked.

"I consider him like a son," Giles said.

East Pasco can be a very small place sometimes. The Steele trial is no exception. For like many at today's sentencing hearing, Giles also knew well the victim, Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison. Giles grew up watching Harrison star in football and baseball at old Mickens High School.

Focht asks each witness if they had ever known Steele to be violent. It is a question the defense will ask again and again throughout the day.

Ward and Giles both said no, never.

-- JAMAL THALJI

The prosecution opens and rests

DADE CITY -- The state opened and rested its case. It took maybe a minute or two.

Assistant State Attorney Jim Hellickson introduced only one new piece of evidence:

It is a photo of slain Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison, in his dress uniform, posed in front of an American flag.

The photo has become a local icon, one that can be seen in buildings and offices and homes -- and newspapers -- since he died in the line of duty nearly four years ago.

Then Hellickson read off four important dates for the jury:

Harrison's first day of service as a sheriff's deputy: Oct. 15, 1972.

The lieutenant's retirement date: June 15, 2003.

The day he died in the line of duty: June 1, 2003.

The day Bo Harrison was buried: June 7, 2003.

The state will rely on the power of the case it presented to the jury this week, the same case that convinced the jury to return a guilty verdict for first-degree murder.

Hellickson will deliver the state's closing.

The defense says it could put on more than 20 witnesses.

Now begins the fight to save Steele's life.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Defense: Steele deserves life, not death

DADE CITY -- The state will argue two aggravating factors the jury in the Alfredie Steele Jr. sentencing should consider when deciding whether to put the convicted cop-killer to death.

Assistant State Attorney Jim Hellickson's opening is succinct:

"No. 1, the crime for which he is to be sentenced was committed in a cold, calculated, premeditated manner without any moral or legal justification," the prosecutor said, "and the victim of the crime for which (Steele) is to be sentenced was a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of his official duties.

"It's not a counting process. It's a weighing process ... if you feel the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances, you should recommend a sentence of death."

Then Assistant Public Defender Bob Focht delivers the defense's opening:

"I cannot tell you that today is going to be any easier."

Unlike the trial phase, voluntary intoxication can now be considered in the penalty phase, Focht tells the jury.

Then Focht tells the jury they will hear about Steele's life -- good and bad.

"Alcohol abuse. Emotional disturbances. You will hear evidence of a number of deaths, violent deaths, in Mr. Steele's life before this incident. Contributions from his family and the community about the kind of person he was, is, and will be. His manner, his mild manner.

"Probably the most fundamental concept that you need to go back into that jury room with is that there is never, ever, a circumstance in which you are required to return a recommendation of death ... after all is said and done, you have no obligation at any point in time to return a verdict -- a recommendation -- of death.

"After you have heard ... the evidence presented in this portion, and when you consider it with the evidence presented in the first portion of this case, you will come to the conclusion that a recommendation of life is a proper (sentence.)"

-- JAMAL THALJI

Steele, lawyers at odds as sentencing begins

DADE CITY –- It’s hard to imagine that things could get worse for Alfredie Steele Jr.

But barely 10 hours after the 23-year-old man was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, Steele’s relationship with his public defenders appears to be crumbling.

For about 10 minutes before today’s sentencing hearing began, Steele huddled with his attorneys, presumably to discuss strategy.

The jury can recommend one of two sentences for Steele: life in prison or the death penalty for the murder of sheriff’s Lt. Charles “Bo” Harrison almost four years ago.

Then it will be up to Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach. The judge allowed Steele’s mother, Regina Clemmons, to be part of the discussion, albeit with armed deputies standing feet away.

The meeting, which was a privileged conversation, appeared tense. At one turn, lead public defender Tom Hanlon started to speak, then stopped as he fought back tears. At another, Steele turned his chair away from his attorneys in anger and refused to turn back.

Then, when Beach returned to the courtroom, Steele rose and gave his longest statement yet.

“I was fine with all the representation that was given to me up until the point yesterday,” Steele told the judge. “There’s some things that happened yesterday that I specifically asked not to go on with my attorneys, and it was done anyways.”

Hanlon urged Steele to be specific about his objections.

“Yesterday, a lot of facts of the case came out on my behalf, and they were not stressed to the jury, things that I specifically asked to be specifically stated to the jury were not stressed.

“The fact there is no evidence against me in this case,” he continued. “It wasn’t stressed. It wasn’t put there, and therefore the jury never really had the chance to even get that in their brain, to even consider that there.”

He went on.

“The fact that I could not be put at the scene of the crime. The fact that I don’t even know what happened, what went on.” There were things about that June 1, 2003, night Steele said he couldn’t remember.

“That this picture was used against me … a picture that was taken two months before this occurred. A picture of a gun that was seized two months before any of this occurred.”

Steele was referring to a photograph prosecutors showed the jury of Steele sitting on a couch holding an SKS assault rifle. That’s the same type of weapon Steele said in confessions that he used in the crime.

But it may not be the murder weapon, which was never found.

The atmosphere in the courthouse is as tense as it has been during the week long trial. Harrison’s family is here, his former wife, adult children and small grandchildren seated in the first row. Some of them plan to take the stand.

Both sides have the opportunity today to present mitigating and aggravating factors –- aspects of the crime and of the lives of the victim, Harrison, and the man convicted of his murder, Steele, to guide the jury’s recommendation.

Beach then must give great weight to the jury’s recommendation before handing down the ultimate decision.

Steele had one last request before Assistant Public Defender Bob Focht began the defense.

"My client's biggest concern was that I was going to say something negative about Lt. Harrison," Focht said, "and I am obviously not."

Opening arguments began at 10:07 a.m. Friday.

-- MOLLY MOORHEAD

Steele guilty of first-degree murder

DADE CITY -- A jury convicted Alfredie Steele Jr. of first-degree murder at 7:56 p.m. Thursday in the sniper-style slaying of beloved Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison nearly four years ago.

The next task for the panel of 10 women and two men: decide whether or not Steele, 23, should be put to death for his crime.

"I'm just glad that it's over so my children can finally have some peace," said Lydia Harrison, the slain deputy's former wife. Her son, Charles Jr., hugged her outside the Pasco County Courthouse, as TV news cameras lined up to speak to Harrison's family. "It's been a terrible thing for all of us and I'm jsut glad that God allowed me to be there for them, to stand in the gap in the absence of their father."

But should the man who killed the father of her children be put to death?

"That question I will not answer," she said. "I cannot answer that."

Steele's family left quickly, without comment.

In recorded confessions, Steele admitted to shooting Harrison as he sat in his parked cruiser outside a Trilacoochee nightclub June 1, 2003. But Steele wept with regret about killing a man he had known his whole life.

"Mr. BoBo, I'm sorry," Steele sobbed in an apology recorded for Harrison's family soon after the murder, a recording the family didn't hear until it was introduced as evidence on Monday. "God bless your soul."

Steele was distraught over the deaths of several friends -- deaths he blamed on the Sheriff's Office -- when he killed Harrison in an act of vengeance, authorities say.

But even prosecutors conceded that Steele hit the wrong target.

"Even as upset as he was -- he likely didn't intend to kill Bo Harrison," Assistant State Attorney Bob Lewis told jurors in the state's closing argument Thursday, "But he intended to kill whoever the deputy sheriff was that was sitting in the car."

"He just didn't know it was Bo."

Authorities say Steele took an SKS semi-automatic rifle out shooting the night of May 31, 2003, in the Withlacoochee State Forest. Then he went to the infamous Trilacoochee nightclub Rumors to drink.

As he left the club, he spotted a sheriff's cruiser parked across U.S. 301 on stakeout. He drove into some nearby woods, parked, walked back, raised his rifle and opened fire about 130 feet from the car. At least thirteen shots were fired early that June 2003 morning.

Deputies patrolling nearby didn't know at first that one of their own had been felled by a bullet. Finding him unconscious, they thought Harrison had suffered a heart attack and began CPR. It wasn't until paramedics rolled him onto his back that they saw the blood and two bullet wounds in his back.

It was only later that Steele learned the man he had killed was someone he knew and respected, a man who often helped Steele's own family and many others in the impoverished community of Lacoochee.

Harrison, 57, was a high school sports legend who grew up during segregation and rose through the ranks of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. He was one of the agency's first black deputies. When he died he was highest-ranking African-American in Sheriff's Office history, and he touched many lives along the way.

"He worked 31 years for justice," said Charles Harrison Jr. of his father, "and this was justice for him."

The murder weapon was never found, but Steele made several recorded confessions after Harrison's death, including two videotaped interviews with detectives. The jury heard them all during the trial.

On a television screen, jurors watched Steele bury his face in his hands as he cried while telling detectives he pulled the trigger -- but didn't mean to "kill that man."

"I didn't mean to kill Mr. BoBo," Steele cried. "Sorry Mr. BoBo."

The defense argued Steele acted without premeditation, the key element of first-degree murder. If the jury believed Steele when he said he pulled the trigger, his lawyers argued, then they should believe him when he said he didn't mean to hurt anybody, that he couldn't see if anyone was in the car, that he only meant to scare, not kill.

"Why can't you believe that?" implored Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon in an emotional closing argument Thursday. "Why can't you believe when that young man has the decency -- even though he did a completely indecent act -- to tell you he did it. And your common sense tells you if he was gonna lie about it, he'd just say 'I didn't do it.' "

Harrison was a 31-year deputy two weeks from retirement when he died.

And his family will get their say when Steele's sentencing hearing begins at 9 a.m. Friday.

Said Harrison's son: "My name ain't Charles if I don't testify tomorrow and tell him how I feel."

-- JAMAL THALJI and MOLLY MOORHEAD

The jury has reached a verdict

DADE CITY -- Everyone is summoned back to Courtroom D at 7:45 p.m. The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Alfredie Steele Jr., accused in the 2003 murder of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison after nearly five hours of deliberations.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Waiting for a verdict

DADE CITY -- The victim's family, the Harrison family, sits outside in the courthouse atrium.

Inside the Pasco County Courthouse, the crowd is divided into two sides: on one side sits the defendant's family, Steele's family; on the other side sits another family, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

Outside, television news trucks are lined up, waiting for a verdict.

Extra deputies are on patrol everywhere. Even the Dade City Police Department sent over extra officers, just in case.

A nervous tension hangs over everyone.

Dozens hang on a sign, any sign, from the jury of 10 women and two men charged with the task of judging Alfredie Steele Jr.

His lawyers have conceded what his own numerous recorded confessions revealed: that Steele pulled the trigger in the June 2003 sniper-style slaying of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison. But the defense also says Steele never intended to kill or hurt anyone.

The state told the jury it was a premeditated act for which they should return a guilty verdict on the maximum charge possible: first-degree murder, which carries the death penalty.

Their discussions started at 3:03 p.m. and pressed into a fifth hour Thursday evening.

Another note from the jury room made its way to Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach at 5:52 p.m. This time the jury had a serious question: what was the time and date that Steele recorded an apology to the Harrison family with his cousin Nathaniel Vanzant?

"What do you want to do?" Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon asked the state.

"What do you want to do?" Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe responded.

Hanlon turned to the judge: "I asked you first."

Both sides agreed: the jury would be told the audio recording was made between Steele's first videotaped confession to detectives and his second.

And the wait continues at the Steele trial.

-- JAMAL THALJI, MOLLY MOORHEAD

Smoke signals from the jury room

DADE CITY -- The attorneys in the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial were quickly summoned back to the courtroom at 4:55 p.m. A bailiff handed a note from the jury room to Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach.

It read:

"We need a smoke break please."

"I've never had that asked," the judge said. "What's your pleasure, gentlemen?"

Both sides agreed to it. But the jurors were instructed not to discuss the case during their smoke break.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Steele's fate in the jury's hands

DADE CITY -- The fate of Alfredie Steele Jr., accused of gunning down Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in 2003, was placed in the hands of a jury of 10 women and two men at 3:03 p.m. Thursday.

"It's your duty to return a verdict for the highest offense allowed," Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe told the jurors as he delivered the state's rebuttal to the defense's closing argument.

Steele, 23, is charged with first-degree murder, which implies he acted with premeditation and can carry the death penalty. He made several recorded confessions implicating himself in Harrison's death.

The defense argued intent, that Steele did not intend to kill anyone when he fired his SKS rifle at the deputy's cruiser the night of June 1, 2003. Rather, Steele intended to scare. The defense asked the jury to return a verdict on a lesser murder charge, one that only carries a prison sentence.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Defense: Steele told the truth

DADE CITY -- Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon delivered the defense's closing argument in the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial:

" 'Fredie Steele told (cousin Nathaniel) Vanzant that the cops were looking for him. Vanzant told him that he was worried they were gonna kill him. What -- stand up 'Fredie -- what did this 19-year-old boy do when he found out they were looking for his cousin? He said 'Go down and clear your name.' Does that sound like a liar to you?

" 'Fredie tells (detectives) the story, "I didn't intend to hurt nobody or nothing.' Now you're supposed to presume he's innocent unless they can show through the evidence that that's not true. He told the truth. If you were gonna lie to try and get out of this charge, would you lie about 'Yeah, I shot him, no, I didn't mean to hurt anybody.' Well you know your common sense will tell you he is gonna say 'I didn't do it.' The biggest time in his life, with his mother's guidance, he tells them, based upon the truth, he tells them he shoots, but he didn't mean to kill anyone. A stupid thing? Yeah. Do people do stupid things every day? Yeah, and I don't mean to be disrespectful to him, but a dumb, drunk 19-year-old with a gun? Is there ever a rationale for that? How do we ever know he intended to do this thing?"

"How could anybody, without being clairvoyant, know that there would be a police car there? He didn't know there would be a police car there. Well Detective Medley asked him 'Did you go down (to the cook shed) for target practice. He said no. He went to shoot the gun. Like kids who go to throw rocks at windows ..."

"So four hours after he's shooting in the middle of the dark, it's target practice, to shoot what? Something he doesn't even know is going to be there?"

"He then talks to Detective Medley and Detective Christensen, and you recall they started out by Detective Medley saying 'I want to talk to you about Lt. Harrison.' And that's what his attention is drawn to, Lt. Harrison. And therein being the basis to say 'That man.' ...

"If he never intended to kill this unknown person he never knew about, then you don't have first-degree murder. It's gone."

"And he said 'that man' when he talked about Mr. BoBo and he's crying and he knows who's dead, and he knows he shot, and that's what he said. 'I wasn't trying to kill nobody or nothing, I guess I was trying to scare them.' Why can't you believe that? Why can't you believe that when that young man has the decency -- even though he did a completely indecent act -- to tell you he did it. And your common sense says if he was gonna lie about it, he'd just say 'I didn't do it.' "

"Had that young man not been honest we would not be sitting here today. There is no direct evidence that suggests he did it. No DNA, no fingerprints, no tire tracks, nothing, nothing that indicates he did it. Nothing. We're not here if he's not honest. And have they proved anything that makes you disbelieve him?"

"They can't prove to you beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt that he meant to hurt anyone."

"As jurors in life, don't we give credit to those who tell the truth?"

"I know as you sit there right now it's hard to fathom how could somebody do something like this? Go out and scare somebody like this, like that man told you. But you have no reason to disbelieve him. None."

"Was there a terrible disaster that occurred? Yes. I will assure you that Lt. Harrison did not deserve to die. A fine man. Did not deserve to die. That's not what this case is about. This case is about what that young man did and what that young man intended. That's what this is about. And don't think that for a minute that anybody sitting at that table (pointing to the defense table) thought he deserved to die, because he didn't. He was a fine man."

"Don't hold anything I've done against him. Only hold against him what the evidence shows. And if he's established a trust ... with you when he tells you he didn't meant to hurt, you can rely on that. Does that mean a not guilty all the way down the board? ... But the evidence shows that what he said, 'I didn't mean to hurt anybody,' certainly that makes first-degree  murder a not guilty."

"If you don't think it took intestinal fortitude to the deepest depths that no one else can know for that 19-year-old kid to come in here and tell you what he did, then you're wrong. If you don't think it wasn't the biggest day of his life, you're wrong."

-- JAMAL THALJI

Bring your kids to the murder trial day

DADE CITY -- Now we know why so many children have suddenly appeared at the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial.

It's bring your kid to work day.

But that's not the only reason why Courtroom D is nearly packed for Thursday's closing arguments. There are more than 60 here, including Pasco Sheriff Bob White.

Prosecutor Bob Lewis finished at 11:20 a.m. The defense will start soon.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Prosecution: Steele intended to kill

DADE CITY -- Assistant State Attorney Bob Lewis started the prosecution's closing argument in the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial:

"Let me just clear the air about what the evidence will show in this case. What we are talking about, the issue in this case. Even as angry and upset ... as he was about the death of his friend Michael Reed, he likely didn't intend to kill Bo Harrison that night. He said it. 'I didn't intend to kill that man.' But he intended to kill whatever deputy sheriff who was sitting in that car. He just ended up killing Bo Harrison. That's exactly what happened ...

"He intended to kill whoever it was, whatever deputy sheriff was sitting in the car, and that was his intent ... if he intended to kill one person but actually killed another, that's premeditation. Your intent is transferred to the person he intended to kill. It doesn't make any sense, does it? That you can excuse killing someone. 'I didn't mean to kill that man.' Bo Harrison is still dead, dead at the hands of that man."

Lewis then pointed to Steele, who sat passively at the defense table.

"What's the best evidence of his intent? What should you consider? Well frankly there's a lot of evidence. He said he took his SKS (rifle) to the cook shed to shoot it at 10 at night. How do we know that? He. Said. It ...

"Now we had a lot of witnesses come in and testify ... some said he was drunk. Some said he was calm. But you didn't hear one single witness who said he was a liar. He said he took his SKS. He said he took it to the cook shed. He said it was 10 at night. He said he shot it. Why can't you believe that?

"... Same gun fired both bullets. One bullet lodged in the cook shed. One was taken from Bo Harrison's spine. Why can't you believe he took the gun to the cook shed and shot it?"

"Is there any other reasonable explanation for shooting a gun in the darkness of the forest at 10 at night other than preparation? Then continuing to Rumors where he drank ... We know from his statement at Rumors that he saw a marked police car ... "

"His own statement, he told you be drove down Bald Eagle Drive, around the corner, parked the car and walked back. Walked back. What he didn't say in that statement, which is implicit in his statement, that he carried his SKS with him ... What did he intend to do?"

"He shot, and shot, and shot, and shot, and shot ... until he fired 13 rounds, four of which hit the car, two of which hit Bo Harrison, killing him. And he said 'I didn't mean to kill that man.' That's true. The evidence seems to show that. He didn't know he was killing Bo Harrison. The evidence shows he intended to kill whoever that deputy sheriff was sitting in that car. He just didn't know it was Bo Harrison ..."

"He filled the car with lead. Why? To shoot the FM dial off? Didn't mean to hurt nobody? 13 shots from a rifle? At a car? He didn't mean to hurt nobody? Use your common sense. If he didn't mean to hurt nobody, why is he shooting at them?"

"He only became upset when he learned who he had killed."

"Some think there's no evidence of premeditation. How about the first time he fired the gun? Was the gun aimed at the ... the woods or the sun? Maybe some think he didn't have time to reflect or not. How about the second time he aimed the gun at the car and pulled the trigger? How about the third time he pulled the trigger? ..."

"You know exactly what happened. That man set out to take revenge for the deaths of at least one of his friends on those he blamed, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the police. And he did, he just didn't intend to kill that man."

"Everything ... tells you to take that cop-killer right there and let him stand in front of the judge, if you render a verdict of guilty."

Read today's story: Defense offers two theories.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Both sides rest; Steele speaks

DADE CITY -- Both the defense and the state rested their cases this morning in the murder trial of Alfredie Steele Jr.

As he has several times throughout the trial, Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach questioned Steele himself about how he thinks his trial has gone.

"You've discussed the strategy of this case with the lawyers?" Beach asked.

"Yes, sir," answered Steele, who was standing, under oath, wearing a dark suit.

"I take it that you're not going to testify in this case," Beach said.

"No, sir," he replied.

But then Steele indicated that at least some things have happened that were not to his liking. He told Beach he is satisfied with lawyers, but that "a lot of things happened during this case I don't think should have happened."

Beach did not ask him to explain but had Steele clarify his dissatisfaction is not with his own lawyers -- a frequent issue on appeal. The judge has made numerous incremental rulings against the defense, key among them the introduction of a photo of Steele holding an SKS rifle, which is the same type of gun Steele confessed to using in the 2003 shooting of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison. The gun in the picture is not necessarily the murder weapon, which has never been found.

The defense then again asked the judge for a motion of acquittal on the charge of first-degree murder, which carries the death penalty. Assistant Public Defender Jason Bavol argued nothing in the state's case showed Steele acted with premeditation.

"There is no testimony inconsistent with the theory ... that he did not mean to hurt anyone," Bavol told the judge.

Interestingly, the defense did not ask for a judgment of acquittal on the second-degree or manslaughter charges, which are lesser crimes of which Steele could also be convicted.

Does the defense believe the state has met its burden of proof on those charges?

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe summarized the prosecution's case: "(Steele) said he saw a head. A re-enactment shows a head. The shooting height of the bullets was high enough to inflict two fatal wounds to the back of the victim. We believe we have met our burden."

Beach again denied the defense's motion.

The jury was brought into the courtroom, told they'll have to wait another 30 minutes before closing arguments so both sides can work on the jury instructions, then sent back out.

Pasco County's top law enforcement officer made his first visit to the Steele trial. Pasco Sheriff Bob White entered the courtroom at 9:25 a.m. and sat in the back pews.

Several young children were seated in the courtroom, too. Either they were looking for juvenile court and got lost, or they're here to watch the trial, too.

-- MOLLY MOORHEAD, JAMAL THALJI

Questions about the Steele defense(s)

DADE CITY -- Alfredie Steele Jr.'s lawyers are competent, experienced criminal defense attorneys. They're well-known around the Pasco County Courthouse as good guys. They're public defenders, passionate about their work. And they clearly have an affection for their client, Steele, the 23-year-old whose very life is at stake in this week's murder trial.

So now that all the niceties are out of the way:

What is going on with the Steele defense?

They've meandered while questioning witnesses, and during cross-examination, and even during Wednesday's long-delayed opening argument. It came to a point where one attorney had to shout questions to another attorney at the podium questioning an expert state witness.

Now they've unveiled a contradictory defense strategy.

Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon first argued Steele didn't intend to kill Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison when he drunkenly aimed and fired his rifle in 2003.

"I didn't mean to kill that man," Steele sobbed on an audio recording introduced as evidence Tuesday. "I didn't mean to kill Mr. BoBo."

Basically, the defense is arguing against premeditation, the key element of first-degree murder. If Steele is convicted of that, he could be put to death. A second-degree conviction saves Steele's life. It's a simple concept for the jury to grasp.

But if that's the defense, then why did the lawyers try so hard to muddy that by dredging up another, far more nebulous theory in front of the jury?

That's what the lawyers might have have done every time they brought up Nathaniel Vanzant, Steele's cousin, the one who recorded the defendant's tearful apology to the Harrison family that is quoted above.

Vanzant is a controversial figure in the case. He gave the apology to his lawyer, not Harrison's family. Steele's mother, Regina Clemmons, raised Vanzant and thinks he knows more about the case against her son than he's telling. But Vanzant has never been charged with anything in connection with the Harrison case.

Vanzant testified as a state witness on Monday. The defense got him to say that Steele was drunk during the time of the murder. That helped the defense. But then Hanlon kept questioning Vanzant's role in the case, pointed out he was the first one deputies looked for after Harrison's death, and implied he had something to hide.

"If you didn't do anything why would you have to clear your name?" Hanlon asked him.

"When that many people come with rifles," Vanzant said. "I didn't know you need that many rifles to talk to anyone anyway."

Then in Wednesday's opening argument, Hanlon said Steele didn't intend to kill anybody, that Steele was drunk --- then the lawyer wandered off his own tracks to bring up Vanzant again.

"Does your common sense make you wonder, when he was the first person of interest for the state, that he had something to do with it?" Hanlon asked the jurors. "And what did he have to do with it?"

So which defense theory should the jury believe? That Steele killed Harrison, but didn't intend to? Or that maybe he wasn't responsible for the shooting, others may have been involved, and that a state witness might know more than he's telling?

That's reasonable doubt?

So the defense was in the uncomfortable position Wednesday of putting witnesses on the stand who testified to one theory or the other. Some testified, to varying degrees of success, that Steele was drunk the night of the murder. Some testimony cast aspersions upon Vanzant.

It culminated late Wednesday afternoon in what might be the most head-scratching moment of the Steele trial: the testimony of Shaun Yeomans. Well, he didn't testify. He skipped out on the subpoena and couldn't be found. So two defense attorneys just took turns reading his deposition to the jury.

In it, Yeomans said he bought marijuana from Vanzant, and the two spent time together behind bars. They were also together the morning after Harrison's murder, watching TV news reports.

"He just said he was involved," Yeomans said in the deposition. "He was acting skittish, he was acting nervous."

Spectators smirked, rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

And it was already past 5 p.m.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Public defender: Steele was drunk

DADE CITY -- Tom Hanlon finally laid out the defense's case for the jury:

Alfredie Steele Jr. was drunk.

Which means Hanlon's client could not have intended to kill Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison.

Steele himself admitted he had been drinking the night he is accused of aiming a semi-automatic rifle at Harrison's cruiser and pulling the trigger. Steele got intoxicated beforehand at the Trilacoochee nightclub Rumors. The defense said it would produce witnesses who would tell jurors just how drunk Steele was.

"You're probably looking at me and saying 'Hanlon, what does (being) drunk have anything to do with it?" the assistant public defender told the jury. "If somebody is so drunk they cannot form a certain intent."

Actually, Hanlon is wrong. Voluntary intoxication is not a defense against intent. And intent, or premeditation, is the issue here. If the defense can prove Steele did not intend to kill when he pulled the trigger, then the jury should not convict him of first-degree murder, which carries the death penalty.

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe objected, interrupting Hanlon's opening. Both legal teams conferred with Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach in a bench conference. But the judge let Hanlon continue, without any corrective action. if the state wants to make its point that being drunk is not a defense against an intent crime, then it will have to do so during its closing argument.

Hanlon continued his opening, telling jurors the prosecution will argue they should believe some of what Steele said --- not all of it.

"The state is going to have to tell you .. that you can believe Mr. Steele when he says 'I shot,' " Hanlon said. "But you can't believe him when he says 'I didn't mean to hurt anybody.' "

"All I ask you to do is do your best. I don't tell you what to do. That is your job. I just put on the facts. Y'all make that decision."

-- JAMAL THALJI

Finally, Steele defense makes its case

DADE CITY -- Alfredie Steele Jr.'s defense finally showed its hand Tuesday afternoon.

Steele never intended to kill anyone, his attorneys argued. Steele never intended to shoot Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrsion dead on June 1, 2003. And intent is the key element of first-degree murder, for which Steele could face the death penalty if convicted.

The state rested its case in the murder trial after the break. Before the jury returned, Assistant Public Defender Jason Bavol asked Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach for a judgment of acquittal on the first-degree murder charge only.

Bavol then parsed Steele's own recorded confessions to show the lack of intent.

"It has repeatedly come out from Steele's own mouth that he did not mean to hurt anybody," Bavol said, "that he was trying to scare somebody, that there wasn't any intent at all to hurt anyone, let alone premeditation to kill Bo Harrison or whoever was in that police cruiser."

Bavol also told the judge: "The state, in order to prove premeditation in this case, is relying totally, completely and without any other basis on circumstantial evidence."

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe recounted the state's case: Steele was upset over the deaths of his friends, particularly Michael Reed; he went to the cook shed and fired the rifle before shooting at Harrison's car; he wanted to scare somebody; he told cousin Nathaniel Vanzant that he saw a head inside the sheriff's cruiser; the crime scene reconstruction shows a clear view of the car; and the four shots that hit the cruiser were fired in a close pattern from a semi-automatic rifle.

"But the dominant statement over and over again he makes is 'I didn't mean to shoot that man ...,' " McCabe said. "I think it goes without saying that he did not intend to kill Lt. Harrison, but he did intend to kill whoever was in that car.

"He just did not know what it was Lt. Harrison in that car."

Then the judge told the defense to forget it. That isn't just circumstantial evidence, Beach said, but "direct and intentional evidence."

"In this case there is evidence for the jury to consider that he was angry at the loss of his friends," the judge said. "That he had a few drinks to fortify his courage. That he took the gun and fired it off ...

"Those are the matters that the jury could use to find premeditation. The motion is denied."

The jury is brought back into the courtroom. It's time for Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon to give the defense's opening.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Ballistics expert: bullet fragmets match

DADE CITY -- Day three of the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial is unfolding like CSI day; a day of scientific evidence to prove the state's case.

First the medical examiner told jurors how Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison was gunned down that June 1, 2003, night.

Then FBI laboratory analyst Steve Casper, a ballistics expert, used bullet fragments to corroborate Steele's own damaging statements: that he twice went shooting that night, the first time at a cook shed in the Withlacoochee State Forest, then when he took aim at Harrison's cruiser outside a Trilacoochee nightclub.

Casper examined a 7.62x39mm bullet jacket recovered from the cook shed and two bullet fragments taken from Harrison's body. He compared the distinctive microscopic markings left on each slug as they were launched through a gun barrel.

"It led me to believe that the bullet fired into Officer Harrison was the same as the bullet fired into the cook shed," Casper said.

Both were likely fired from an SKS semi-automatic rifle, the expert said, which is the weapon jurors heard Steele himself tell detectives he used to kill Harrison. Casper said he also tested the 13 shell casings left behind at the crime scene.

"They were all fired from ... the same firearm," he said.

"Is that with a reasonable degree of scientific certainty?" asked Assistant State Attorney Bob Lewis.

"That is correct," Casper said.

"Can you tell if these cartridges were fired from an SKS or not?" Lewis asked.

"They could have been fired from an SKS," Casper said.

But under cross examination, he did not rule out the bullets having come from another common rifle: the AK-47.

The trial then broke for lunch.

-- JAMAL THALJI

AUDIO ONLINE: Two days after the slaying of Pasco Sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison, Alfredie Steele Jr., with the help of his cousin Nathaniel Vanzant, recorded an apology to Harrison's family. Warning: This unedited, four-minute recording contains profanity and offensive language. Click to listen.

Medical examiner takes stand

DADE CITY -- Medical examiner Dr. Noel Palma said with a scientist's certainty Wednesday morning what may be the most-known fact about the killing of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison: that he died of gunshot wounds to his back.

As the state winds up its first-degree murder case against Alfredie Steele Jr., Palma took the stand and testified about the two bullets that prosecutors say ripped into the trunk of the deputy's cruiser as he patrolled a Trilacoochee nightclub early on June 1, 2003. Palma said one bullet struck Harrison in the mid-back, perforating his abdominal aorta and causing blood to pour into his abdomen. It was an injury, Palma said, that typically kills within minutes.

The second bullet hit just two inches away. It pierced Harrison's spine and lodged in his spinal cord, paralyzing his legs. Palma said there is no way to know which bullet hit Harrison first.

At the start of court, Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach heard about a disturbance in the parking lot after court adjourned Tuesday. Pasco sheriff's Lt. Tom Bailey said he witnessed arguing among Harrison's family members, and said two jurors walked past while the yelling was going on.

Beach warned people in the audience about their conduct, using words like "mistrial" and "contempt of court."

"It's extremely important that you do nothing, say nothing in the presence of these jurors that may taint this case," Beach said.

-- MOLLY MOORHEAD

Day two ends with a commotion

DADE CITY -- Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach sent the jury in the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial home early Tuesday afternoon after a long and grueling day listening to the defendant's own words used against him.

Nerves were definitely frayed, however. A shouting match in the courthouse parking lot between family members of slain Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison sent bailiffs running outside. It was a minor incident, however. But bailiffs will be keeping a closer eye on jurors from now on to shield them from any more distractions.

And it turns out the courtroom is the wrong place to be if there's an outstanding warrant for your arrest.

One of the bailiffs noticed that spectator Johnny Peyton, a former Pasco High football standout, had just such a warrant out for him. They called Dade City police. Captain David Duff said officers came over to the courthouse and arrested Peyton, 21, on an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor violation of probation charge for trespassing on school grounds.

Peyton played wide receiver for two years at the University of South Florida until February 2006, when the school said it dismissed him for violating team policy. But Peyton told the Times it was his decision to leave. His younger brother, Jonaey Peyton, was acquitted of an attempted murder charge by a Dade City jury in December.

The Steele trial will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday. To read more coverage of the Steele Trial, click here.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Steele: "Wasn't nobody with me."

DADE CITY -- Every time the prosecution presses "play," the defense's job gets harder and harder.

The state played another damaging recording for the jury in the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial on Tuesday afternoon.

This time it's a tape-recording of a collect call Steele made from the Sumter County jail to his mother, Regina Clemmons. It was made June 15, 2003 at 9:03 p.m -- two weeks after the murder of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison.

Steele asked about "Nate" -- presumably his cousin Nathaniel Vanzant who became a key state witness against him. Further into the conversation, without getting specific, Steele said he acted alone.

"He wasn't with me," Steele told his mother. "Wasn't nobody with me."

Then, silence.

"Oh boy," Clemmons said. "I don't even know what to say."

-- JAMAL THALJI

The second videotape is played

DADE CITY -- His voice is soft and sad.

His words are tragic and incriminating.

"I didn't mean to kill that man," Alfredie Steele Jr. told detectives as the video camera watched in 2003.

Then, Steele broke down in tears.

"I didn't mean to kill Mr. BoBo ...," Steele cried. "Sorry Mr. BoBo."

It is the third recorded confession introduced in the murder trial of Steele, accused of killing Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in 2003.

More than 50 have packed into Courtroom D on the trial's second day, the most who have come to see the proceedings. Any levity leftover from the ongoing technical woes was wiped away by the power of the videotape.

There were no emotional moments in the audience, as there was when an audio-taped confession was played on Monday. Perhaps the audiotape prepared everyone for what was to come, or maybe the videotape had just been played too many times as the technical issues were ironed out.

A forensic investigator for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office then took the stand, and told jurors about the physical evidence she recovered from the Lacoochee cook shed to bolster Steeele's statement that he went shooting in the forest before he shot Harrison.

The defense tried something, anything, to fix the damage. Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon grilled Pasco sheriff's Detective James Medley, who took the confession in 2003.

"Is there any reason you just didn't say 'Fredie, why don't you just tell us what happened?' " Hanlon asked, "and just sit there quietly and let it come out of his mouth?"

"It did come out of his mouth," Medley said.

"All the facts that were given (in Harrison's murder) to you had already been circulated in the press, right?" Hanlon said.

"No, absolutely not" the detective said.

"The death of Lt. Harrison, was it in all the newspapers?" Hanlon asked.

"Sure," Medley said, "But not all the facts."

-- JAMAL THALJI

"What does that thing do?"

DADE CITY -- Courthouse personnel wheeled a cart with a large flat screen TV, a VCR and stereo speakers into Courtroom D. The initial test of Alfredie Steele Jr.'s second videotaped confession seemed to pass muster. The sound was much clearer and was even audible from the courtroom pews.

For the record, Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe wielded the remote control.

Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach ordered the jury be brought back into the courtroom.

But first, he pointed to the flat screen TV mounted on the courtroom wall and asked:

"What does that thing do?"

The tape was then played for the jury a third time on Tuesday.

Still, you wouldn't want the State Attorney's Office in charge of your Super Bowl party. To read past stories on the Steele Case, click here.

-- JAMAL THALJI

A new witness for the defense?

DADE CITY -- The Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial resumed Tuesday afternoon with the defense demanding a delay so it can question a new witness: federal prisoner Andrew Jackson.

It all goes back to the photo of Steele with an SKS rifle -- similar to the weapon used to murder Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in 2003 -- introduced in the morning. Jackson is the other man in the picture, sitting on the sofa with Steele, who is holding the rifle.

The defense wants the chance to go up to Georgia to interview Jackson, to ask him if it's his rifle in the picture. Assistant Public Defender Jason Bavol even used the word "mistrial." But State Attorney Bernie McCabe said it wasn't necessary to question Jackson.

"We haven't contended that this is the SKS he used," McCabe said of Steele. "We are contending that Alfredie Steele Jr. was in possession of such an SKS and that an SKS was used in the murder."

Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach told the defense if they can find some way to question Jackson before the end of the trial, fine. But he would not delay the trial so they can question a witness about a photo they had nearly four years to realize could be entered into evidence.

"Your requirement is to be prepared for any eventuality," the judge said, "particularly in a homicide case."

Not all the trial's technical woes were solved, either. The jurors are still having trouble hearing the entire videotape of the second purported confession.

-- JAMAL THALJI

This is the law, not the A.V. club

DADE CITY -- Do you know how to work a VCR? Do you have a working VCR?

Please come to the Pasco County Courthouse immediately. You are badly needed.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office tried to introduce perhaps its strongest piece of evidence yet against Alfredie Steele Jr. in the 2003 slaying of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison: a second videotaped confession of Steele purportedly admitting to the crime.

Just one problem: most of the jurors couldn't understand the audio track on the videotape -- once the video picture stopped jumping, that is.

Jurors leaned forward, straining to understand the garbled voices emanating from the television's tinny speakers. Finally Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach had enough:

"Can anyone understand what you're listening too?" the judge asked.

"We can't hear the words," one female juror volunteered.

A show of hands revealed 12 jurors couldn't understand the tape. Only two said they could. Courtroom spectators shook their heads and smirked.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe said there was a better working VCR in their offices upstairs that can render the tape understandable.

Of course, this all begs the question: who still uses VHS?

There's a plasma flat-screen television mounted on the wall of the courtroom, ceiling speakers everywhere, a fancy new digital court reporting system and other audo-visual equipment in the courtroom.

But for some reason, in perhaps the most important trial in Pasco County history, the authorities are still relying on videotape. Now back in 2003 that's how the confession was originally recorded. But couldn't it have been (legally) transferred to a DVD or another format?

Just wondering. The judge decided to break for lunch at 12:15 p.m. Then McCabe wheeled in a much smaller TV from upstairs. Sigh.

Maybe we'll reach the 20th century after lunch.

-- JAMAL THALJI

The first videotape is played

DADE CITY -- The first videotape detectives made of Alfredie Steele Jr. was played for the jury late Tuesday morning. It was on a VHS tape, played on a VCR on a TV situated right in front of the jury box. Only they, the judge and the attorneys got to watch. Courtroom spectators were out of luck.

In it, Steele talks about firing an SKS rifle at the cook shed in the Withlacoochee State Forest, about the pain he felt over the deaths of his friends, how he went drinking at Rumor's nightclub in Trilacoochee the date of the murder and how he saw a patrol car parked across the highway.

His voice cracks as he recalls what happened.

"I ain't intend to hurt nobody or nothing," Steele says in the video.

The detectives ask if Steele fired the weapon. He says yes, and the tape cuts off. Steele invoked his rights and left the interview with detectives.

Detective James Medley is the next witness called. Soon the jury will hear the second videotaped confession Steele made to detectives, perhaps the strongest piece of evidence against Steele.

The photo of Steele with an SKS semi-automatic rifle, similar to the weapon used in the slaying of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison, is also introduced into evidence. Despite the defense's efforts to suppress it earlier Tuesday morning, the jury will see it.

-- MOLLY MOORHEAD, JAMAL THALJI

A picture tells ... what exactly?

DADE CITY -- It didn't take long for controversy to stall day two of the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial. The defense fought tooth and nail Tuesday morning to keep the jury from learning what is depicted in what could be a damaging photo: the defendant holding an SKS rifle.

The photo shows Steele sitting on a sofa, semi-automatic rifle in hand, next to an acquaintance. Pasco sheriff's Detective Christopher Starnes testified the photo was seized during an April 4, 2003 drug raid on Stewart Road in Lacoochee. An SKS rifle was also seized in the raid, the same type of gun Steele was recorded saying he used to shoot Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison on June 1, 2003.

Steele's lawyers wanted the photo suppressed for obvious reasons. And remember, the murder weapon has never been found.

"They cannot show that this gun has any tie to this case," Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon said. "What this picture is offered for is to show Steele has a propensity to have guns, to try and make the jury believe he did this based on that he had this gun."

Countered Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe: "Judge, it corroborates (Steele's) statements, showing him with the same or similar weapon that he says he used."

Soon all the lawyers jumped in on the issue. Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach admonished Hanlon to tone it down even as he leaned toward the defense. Then the judge quickly went the other way.

"It shows familiarity and accessibility to a weapon involved in the case in hand," the judge said.

The judge allowed the photo in. The jury was let back into Courtroom D. They heard the detective testify about the rifle in the photo, but they never saw the photo or heard that Steele was the one holding it.

Then Hanlon went on damage control.

"There's no way (the rifle) could have been used in the killing of Lt. Harrison, correct?" the lawyer asked.

"No way," Starnes said.

If the jury will see the photo in the future, or how the state intends to use the photo against Steele, remains to be seen.

Detective Jeffrey Bousquet is the next witness called. The first videotaped confession Steele gave is about to be played for the jury. To read past stories about the Steele case, click here

-- JAMAL THALJI

State ends strong; the defense's dilemma

DADE CITY -- The prosecution played for the jury the audiotape of Alfredie Steele Jr. admitting to -- and apologizing for -- the murder of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison. After a slow build-up, it was a dramatic and emotional end Monday to day one of the Steele murder trial.

In the courtyard outside, Michelle Harrison clutched her older sister Sandy, comforting her. They couldn't bear to hear Steele's tear-filled words -- "I didn't mean to kill that man." -- a second time.

All the jurors looked down, reading a transcript as the tape was played. So did Steele and his lead attorney, Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon. Charles Harrison Jr. remained inside the courtroom, the only one of the victim's children to do so.

Nathaniel Vanzant, the cousin who recorded Steele's confession soon after the deputy's 2003 death, helped the state introduce its strongest evidence yet. And the videotaped confessions to detectives haven't even been introduced yet.

The defense hasn't said how its going to defend Steele yet. But their dilemma is clear:

Fighting the intent issue -- the state must prove Steele intended to kill for him to face the death penalty -- would mean admitting Steele was the shooter, just as he says in the tape.

But if defense lawyers say Steele wasn't the shooter, then they can't fight intent. The lawyers not only risk the death penalty, but also put themselves in the difficult position of explaining away their client's own incriminating words.

That's why it was interesting listening to Hanlon's cross-examination of Vanzant. The attorney kept implying Vanzant had something to hide -- but without crossing the line, without endangering the intent defense.

"Now when the police were first looking to see who may have been involved, you were the first person they looked at, correct?" Hanlon asked.

"To my knowledge, yeah," Vanzant said.

"And you were worried that they might kill you?" the lawyer asked.

"Yes sir," Vanzant said.

Vanzant said Steele told him Vanzant should clear his name in the shooting. Hanlon asked Vanzant why he was so nervous. Vanzant said he had good reason to be.

"If you didn't do anything why would you have to clear your name?" the attorney asked.

"When that many people come with rifles," Vanzant said. "I didn't know you need that many rifles to talk to anyone anyway."

Hanlon even implied that Vanzant might have been admitting to committing a crime at a certain point on the tape. Assistant State Attorney Jim Hellickson didn't let that go anywhere.

"You weren't saying you committed any kind of crime, were you?" the prosecutor asked.

"No I wasn't," Vanzant said.

Before the tape was played, Hanlon played it cool. He seemed unafraid of what the jury was about to hear. That just seems like bravado now.

The state will continue its case 9 a.m. Tuesday.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Vanzant takes the stand

DADE CITY -- The voice on the audiotape belonged to Alfredie Steele Jr.

What he said nearly four years ago drove the family of slain Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison to tears Monday afternoon.

"To Mr. BoBo's family, I don't really know what I can say to you all," Steele told his cousin, Nathaniel Vanzant, soon after the beloved deputy was slain. "I didn't mean to kill that man."

Lydia Harrison, the lieutenant's former wife, hugged their daughter Sandy as she wept openly.

Their daughter Michelle burst out of the court pews in tears and tried to leave. Her older brother Charles Jr. wrapped his sister in his arms and tried to comfort her.

Sobs can be heard all over the courtroom, and heads are bowed all over.

Vanzant took the stand Monday afternoon as a state witness, and he prepared the way for the prosecution to introduce one of its strongest pieces of evidence: Steele confessing to killing Harrison in June 2003.

The jury wasn't in the room when the tape was first played. Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach asked any spectators who could not contain their emotions to please leave the coutroom when it was played a second time, for the jury to hear.

Most of the Harrison family quickly left. Charles Harrison Jr. stayed behind to listen to the voice of the man accused of killing his father.

-- JAMAL THALJI

Defense keeps it close to the vest

DADE CITY -- Well that wasn't so bad.

The last time Assistant Public Defender Jason Bavol faced Pasco sheriff's forensic investigator Denice Weigand earlier this month, he tore into her and the Sheriff's Office over a lost metal fragment, possibly a bullet fragment, from slain officer Charles "Bo" Harrison's bloody uniform shirt.

Bavol made the same point, emphasizing how the investigator and the agency mishandled the evidence. But this time, with a jury watching, he wasn't nearly as antagonistic. He was polite but firm.

But what does it all add up to for Alfredie Steele Jr.'s defense? Lead attorney Tom Hanlon reserved the right Monday morning to make his opening statement when the defense begins its case. Thus we don't know what strategy the defense will employ. So far, all the defense has done is needle the state's expert forensic witnesses, trying to make a point, any point, while the prosecution presents its case.

One good example came during the questioning of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement fingerprint expert. Bavol was quizzing her about fingerprints that had been taken from evidence in the case. They discussed an intact bullet that was taken from Steele's vehicle the night of the fatal shooting, a caliber that could be used in the rifle the defendant said he used.

"Where's the fingerprint on the bullet?" Bavol asked.

"I didn't process the bullet for fingerprints," the expert said.

Bavol suddenly rested, as if it emphasize a point. The state questioned the expert again to show the jury there was no point: it wasn't the expert's job to perform that specific task.

And so it goes Monday afternoon at the Steele trial.

-- JAMAL THALJI

The state makes its point(s)

DADE CITY -- Assistant State Attorney Bob Lewis delivered the prosecution's opening for Monday morning's start of the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial. He made a point of stressing some assertions to the jury, assertions courtroom observers should consider during the afternoon break as well:

* The SKS semi-automatic rifle that Steele purportedly confessed he used to slay Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in 2003 can be deadly with just one squeeze of the trigger, Lewis told jurors.

The prosecutor could be preparing jurors for an argument about premeditation. It is the key element of first-degree murder, for which Steele could be put to death for if convicted of. Florida is unique in the country in that it is one of the few states where premeditation need only be proved to exist for a split-second.

* Lewis told the jury the murder weapon has never been found -- but the state said it has several ways of linking Steele to the rifle. Not only did Steele describe the SKS rifle in videotaped statements, the state says there's physical evidence to corroborate his story. There's also a photo of Steele holding what the state says is an SKS rifle with a 30-round banana-shaped magazine. Lewis wanted to show the photo to jurors during his opening, but Assistant Public Defender Tom Hanlon objected.

"They can't determine that SKS, if it is an SKS, was the one used in that crime," Hanlon said. "They can't tell me the exact date it was taken. They can't even tell me if it's a correct picture of it."

Lewis didn't use it during the opening, but he described it for jurors, so they'll likely get to see the photo anyway.

* Lewis stressed that the SKS can only fire one type of bullet: a 7.62x39mm caliber round. Then he told jurors about the "cook shed," the stony chimney in the Withlacoochee State Forest where Steele said he went shooting hours before Harrison's death. Forensic examiners found the cook shed shot up, the prosecutor said, and recovered a bullet fragment.

"The expert will tell you the bullet found from the cook shed and one of the bullets removed from Lt. Harrison ...," Lewis said, "were fired from the same barrel."

* Lewis connected two prosecution facts for the jury. First, that Steele didn't leave East Pasco for Daytona Beach until 22 hours after Harrison's death. Second, that there were 13 spent shell casings found at the scene of Harrison's slaying -- but none found at the cook shed.

It was night, however, when Steele said he went shooting at the cook shed.

"Interestingly enough, at the cook shed, they didn't find any casings," Lewis said. "Somebody had policed up the brass."

-- JAMAL THALJI

The first witnesses, and damage control

DADE CITY -- The state opened its case with testimony from the deputies who first discovered slain Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison in distress in his cruiser, and the paramedics who tried vainly to revive him.

Then a forensic investigator showed jurors the layout of the crime scene and the physical evidence recovered there, including shell casings and Harrison's bloody uniform shirt.

More than three dozen spectators -- including large contingents representing Harrison, the victim, and defendant Alfredie Steele Jr. -- filled Courtroom D in the Pasco County Courthouse as the trial got under way late Monday morning.

The prosecution not only began laying the foundation of its first-degree murder case against Steele, but also engaged in some damage control. A metal fragment recovered from Harrison's shirt -- possibly a bullet fragment -- that went missing days after his 2003 murder and has never been found.

At a court hearing earlier this month, the defense hammered the agency in charge of the evidence, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, and the person who first reported it missing, forensic investigator Denice Weigand.

So this time the state made sure it explained the mistake fully to the jury, and tried to demolish any suspicision that it might have been anything but a mistake.

"Did you intentionally lose that piece of metal?" asked Assistant State Attorney Jim Hellickson.

"No sir," Weigand said.

"Have you ever lost a piece of evidence before?" the prosecutor asked.

"No sir," she said, not in 21 years with the agency.

The defense would get to cross-examine Weigand after lunch.

-- JAMAL THALJI

The prosecution begins, and so does Steele trial

DADE CITY – The bullets were fired from 120 feet behind Pasco sheriff Lt. Charles “Bo” Harrison’s cruiser while he staked out Rumors nightclub in Trilacoochee.

It was June 3, 2003, the night Harrison died.

“One bullet severed his spine, rendering him paralyzed,” Assistant State Attorney Bob Lewis told the jury. “The second bullet struck his aorta, and he would die within minutes.”

Harrison’s family sobbed as they sat in the front courtroom pews. It was 9:30 a.m. Monday, the long-awaited start of opening arguments in the first-degree murder trial of Alfredie Steele Jr. at the Pasco County Courthouse.