OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Take the death penalty off the table. Limit how the word “murder” can be used in court. Prevent prosecutors from challenging certain prospective jurors.
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Those were three of 52 different requests attorneys for Stephan Sterns filed since last Thursday, amounting to 345 pages the judge, his staff and prosecutors will have to sit through as they prepare for the death penalty case.
Sterns is accused of killing the 13-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, Madeline Soto, at the family’s home last winter.
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Prosecutors say he strangled Soto to death sometime after celebrating the girl’s birthday before she went to school that Monday morning. They say the killing was intended to cover up his years-long sexual abuse of the girl.
While many of the requests filed in court appeared to be routine and a sign the public defenders were doing a thorough job, some of the motions stood out.
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One request was to shut the public out of any trial proceedings until it was time to seat a jury.
“At every court proceeding, however minor or inconsequential, there has been extensive coverage by the press as well as social media users on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter (now called X) and Facebook,” the filing said. “These motions will require testimony and discussion of the evidence in this case prior to trial. In some instances, this could involve evidence which may later be found to be inadmissible… Public dissemination of these items of evidence will prevent Mr. Sterns from receiving a fair trial.”
Attorney Thomas Feiter said it was not unusual to have upwards of 100 motions filed ahead of a death penalty case, but he was astounded at the number filed just days apart.
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“It could mean that they want to move for a speedy trial, or it’s just that, hey, they’ve knocked them out, so just file them,” Feiter mused. “It could be that [the public defender] knows that [the prosecutor’s] office is understaffed at the moment… so they’re using this as a tactic to try to overwhelm the office into giving them a better plea deal.”
Feiter described the public defender assigned to the case, 25-year veteran Beth Bourdon, as one of the best in the Ninth Circuit, and noted she had a team working under her.
“It’s going to be a case that generates a lot of media coverage, and that’s why I think they want to make sure they’re doing an extra good job on this one,” he said. “I just hope that they’re putting as much effort into all their cases and not just the ones that get media attention.”
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