One of the youngest defendants ever to face an adult murder trial in Florida has a novel defense in the beating death of a six-year-old family friend: Pro wrestling made me do it.
Nobody disputes that then 12-year-old Lionel Tate smashed in Tiffany Eunick's skull. But the boy's attorney contends it was an accident that resulted from an intellectually immature youth imitating the wrestlers he watched on television.
The World Wrestling Federation is suing the lawyer for libel.
Tiffany's death was one of at least four cases in 1999 in which pro wrestling was blamed when one child killed another.
Opening statements are scheduled Tuesday in Lionel's first-degree murder trial. If the boy, now 13, is convicted of first-degree murder he faces life behind bars without the possibility of parole until he is 38. Jurors also could convict him on a lesser charge.
Prosecutors offered a plea deal that would have sent Lionel to a juvenile facility for three years followed by 10 years' probation. But he rejected it on the advice of his attorney, Jim Lewis, who said his client isn't guilty of any crime.
"This was a horrible accident," Lewis said.
Lionel, who despite his age weighed 77kg when Tiffany died, has the intelligence of an eight-year-old, Lewis said. He says the boy didn't understand that professional wrestling is staged, and thought that if he body-slammed someone they would walk away unhurt, just like on TV.
Lewis tried to force such wrestling stars as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea and Steve "Sting" Borden to testify about how their moves are staged, but Judge Joel Lazarus quashed their subpoenas.
Prosecutor Ked Padowitz wrote in court documents that Lionel never told anyone he was imitating wrestlers until a month after the girl's death.
Instead, Lionel originally told detectives that he and Tiffany were playing tag and watching cartoons at his home in suburban Pembroke Park. He said he picked her up and accidentally hit her head on a coffee table.
Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for the WWF, said the wrestling defense is Lewis' fabrication.
"This defense would be just a joke but for the tragic consequences of his client's actions," McDevitt said.
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