Ashley McArthur Trial Verdict & Sentencing

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Circuit quarters reconvene. You may be seated. Maintain order. [00:00:08] Speaker 2: All right, we're back on the record. State of Florida versus Ashley MacArthur, 17 CF 5844. Defendant is present with counsel. Assistant state attorney is present. My understanding is we have a verdict. Anything from the state? Anything, Mr. Berry Barosset? No, Your Honor. John Barosset? [00:00:26] Speaker 1: No, ma'am. [00:00:27] Speaker 2: Okay. Let me talk to everybody in the audience. Somebody out there is going to be unhappy. I don't know what the verdict is. But if there are people here, I know there are some family members and friends for Ms. MacArthur and presume that there are family members and friends for Taylor Wright. And I don't know, as I said, we're going to know in five minutes or less what the verdict is. But let's talk about your reactions. There should not, you may not be happy, but it's not a complete surprise, whatever the verdict is. If there is anyone who is going to audibly react, then you need to go ahead and quietly step out now. You need to assume that it's the verdict you need to assume that it's the verdict you do not want. And if you think you would react, you need to step out now. I do not want this jury who has been, as far as I can tell, a tremendous jury as far as attention and their willingness to serve and being on time to feel any pressure from reactions from people in the crowd. Not to mention, I have the power of contempt over you. And that's not my goal today, is to hold people in contempt. But I do not want you reacting. Once you hear the verdict, if you decide you might be getting emotional, then you can quietly get up and quietly leave. Don't slam any doors, don't outburst right outside the door. Does everybody understand the rules? This is very important. Okay. Having said that, let's bring the jury in. Do you have a pen, Renee? [00:02:29] Speaker 3: There is a debauch around. [00:02:32] Speaker 2: All right. And for the, everybody may have a seat. And for the record, defendant is present with counsel, assistant state attorney is present. Are you Mr. No. Who's my foreperson? Who's got the, Mr. Okay. Thank you, sir. Mr. Were y'all able to reach a verdict? Okay. All I want you to do is to hand it to court security. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to hand it to the clerk to publish. Yes. [00:03:15] Speaker 4: In the circuit court and in Forrest Gambia County, Florida, State of Florida versus Ashley Britt MacArthur, case number 1717 CF005844A, verdict as to the charge. In count one, we, the jury, find the defendant, Ashley MacArthur, guilty of first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm as charged in the indictment. Associate we all, David A. Faust, four-person dated August 30th, 2019. [00:03:43] Speaker 2: Mr. Barry Barossa, do you want the clerk to poll the jury? All right. Renee's going to ask y'all each a question, okay? [00:03:56] Speaker 4: Is this your individual verdict as well as the verdict of the jury as a whole? [00:03:59] Speaker 5: Yes, it is. [00:04:01] Speaker 4: Is this your verdict? Yes, it is. Is this your verdict? Yes, it is. Is this your verdict? Yes, it is. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to, I always thank my juries, but I've been praising you all week, and that's sincere. [00:04:31] Speaker 2: I made a big deal on Monday about jury duty being serviced to your country, and it really is. Y'all came in on Monday, thought you might or might not be picked. The next thing you know, Monday afternoon, you're in a five-day trial. I appreciate the fact that you all took notes and paid close attention. When I asked you one night if we could stay past six, you were willing to do it so that we could stay on track. And I appreciate the case, and I appreciate the case, and I appreciate the careful deliberation you gave to the case. So you really have been an outstanding jury, and your participation does you credit. I mean, like I said, this is civil service, this is serving your country, and it's one of, I've said, two most important duties that you can perform in peacetime, and we couldn't have done it without you. It's been a difficult case, and y'all kept a good attitude throughout. A couple things, and I'm going to let y'all go. Jury court security is going to see y'all to your cars. This does count as your jury service for at least a year. So if we call you or write you, and it's been less than a year, then you can call back and say you were with me and remind them, and you don't have to be here. Let's talk about some of the right that you have not to talk about the case. No one can make you talk about this case or your thoughts and impressions or what you said or anything. You're free now to go home, and you're free now if you want to talk about the case, you can. If you want to go to live streaming sites or Google anything, you're released from all of that. That's up to you. If you choose, that's your choice, but no one can make you. And if you choose to say nothing, that's fine. I do always reintroduce the attorneys because I occasionally, when I was a practicing attorney, would have a juror call me. And I found what they had to say helpful. If you want to, if you should bump into the attorneys somewhere out in public, they would never come to you other than they might wave or something. But they would never come up to you and try to ask you questions or put you under pressure. But if you want to reach out, you can. Bridget Jensen works for Bill Eddins, your elected state attorney. Bill Eddins' number is in the blue pages. Barry Barossett works for, or is the name person in Barossett and Keene. They have a big house on 9th Avenue that's their business. John Barossett, his son, I believe is on Government Street, has his own law firm. So if you want to, you can. At any rate, thank you. And that's mostly what I can say. I told you I felt like you were my people. You have been my people. And I'm going to get y'all checked out. I want y'all to be safe out there and keep monitoring the storm if it should come into the Gulf. I hope that another day, another time, in a year or two, I might see one or two of you again on another case. But for today, you are free to go. Thank you. Everybody can have a seat. Ms. Jensen, any reason we cannot move to sentencing? No, Your Honor. Mr. Barry Barossett. No, Your Honor, there's only one sentence before we can vote. Okay. Ms. Jensen, anything you want to say before I'm post-sentence? [00:08:44] Speaker 1: Judge, I do have the aunt of Taylor Wright that would like to be heard before the court goes to sentence. I understand it's a mandatory sentence, but she would like to be heard. [00:08:52] Speaker 2: Sure. If you want to maybe turn the podium. And my understanding is we don't have to have a score sheet because there is only one sentence which can be imposed. Yes, ma'am. All right, ma'am. Let's start with this. Raise your right hand for me. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth? If so, say I do. [00:09:31] Speaker 3: I do. [00:09:32] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:09:33] Speaker 5: Will you say your name, please? [00:09:35] Speaker 3: Joan Goldstein Huskins-Parker. [00:09:37] Speaker 5: And Ms. Huskins-Parker, what was your relationship to Taylor Wright? [00:09:40] Speaker 3: I was Taylor's aunt. [00:09:41] Speaker 5: And is there something you want to say to the court before she imposes a sentence? [00:09:45] Speaker 3: Yes, I do want to say that and I know this is that I was there when Taylor came into this world. And I'm here today. And I just want you to know that our family has lost so much. A piece of our tree of life is gone. We will never get it back. For us, this is just closing some of the book for the legal. But it doesn't close the book for all the loss. For myself, her father, her stepmother, my husband, my children, my grandchildren, her son, everybody. And that Taylor was taken too early. And she was not taken through an act of God or through illness. She was taken through human behavior that was very cruel. And I could go on, but it's just such a tragic story. But I wanted to thank you. And I'm glad that we came to this decision today. Thank you. [00:10:55] Speaker 2: All right, Mr. Barry Barossett, do you or does Ms. MacArthur want to say anything before I impose sentence? [00:11:10] Speaker 1: Judge, the only thing I would offer in the court is just run this as concurrent with her other sentences. [00:11:16] Speaker 2: She's already been sentenced to a vaccine. Okay, I just need all of you to stand. And Ms. MacArthur, I'm going to ask you one question. Raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth? If so, say I do. Okay. Ms. MacArthur, I want to make sure that I ask you personally, do you want to say anything to the court? [00:11:38] Speaker 1: Okay. [00:11:39] Speaker 2: All right, then, Ashley MacArthur, having been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of your peers, a first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm, I am going to adjudicate you guilty. I'm going to sentence you to life with a mandatory minimum 25 years state prison for the firearm. That will be with credit for... [00:12:04] Speaker 4: 327 days. [00:12:09] Speaker 2: 327 days. That will run concurrent with any other sentence that you are serving. I assume it's $518 fines and costs. Are there any other fines and costs? And anything else to state other than the 30 days? All right. And you have 30 days. The 518 will be reduced to a lien. And you have 30 days to appeal the judgment and sentence of the court. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, one will be appointed for you. I wish you good luck. [00:12:41] Speaker ?: I wish you good luck. While they're fingerprinting, Ms. MacArthur, everybody who has remained has been cooperative. [00:13:02] Speaker 2: But as everyone is parting into the hallway, please, again, there's been enough upset and tragedy and horrible circumstances. Don't add to the situation by getting out in the hall and getting in some sort of back and forth with somebody on the other side of the case. Everybody just needs to go their own way and leave it at that. Okay. As soon as I sign the fingerprint card, then I'll be done. Anything else from the state? No, you're on. Barry Barosset. [00:13:49] Speaker 1: When do you expect to enter the judgment? We've got 30 days from the day that we're judging. [00:13:55] Speaker 2: Is it going to be entered today? [00:13:56] Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am. We can do it today. [00:14:00] Speaker 2: Do we need to do it today? [00:14:02] Speaker 1: We don't have to. [00:14:04] Speaker 2: We can do it Tuesday, then. I'll have them walk it up to me Tuesday or bring it to court Tuesday, and that way the clock starts running Tuesday, if that's better. Okay. That's what I'll do. [00:14:15] Speaker ?: Thank you. Thank you. [00:14:15] Speaker 2: Thank you. All right, and with that, all court business is finished. [00:14:55] Speaker ?: Thank you.