GUILTY FL - Phoebe Jonchuck, 5, dropped from 60' bridge, St Petersburg, 8 Jan 2015

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So the jurors started deliberations about 9am local time? - so it's about 1:45pm there now...
 
Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 3m3 minutes ago
#JonchuckTrial - The jury finds John Jonchuck GUILTY (not legally insane) of the murder of his 5-year-old daughter Phoebe.

D4Su1j5UcAAsDzE.jpg
 
The Trial of John Jonchuck, Day 21: Jury says Jonchuck guilty of first-degree murder
April 16, 2019
LANE, JOSH AND ZACK (2:02 p.m.)
The judge calls Jonchuck and his lawyers to stand before her. Manuele asks to postpone sentencing for a week, because they have some issues to discuss. The judge wants to know why. The defense does not give a reason.

Helinger continues. “Mr. Jonchuck, it’s an automatic life sentence. I will adjudicate you guilty of murder in the first degree. I will sentence you to life in prison.”

He says slowly, “Yes, your honor.”

Prosecutors Doug Ellis and Paul Bolan walk out.

The deputy leads Jonchuck to get his fingerprints taken, pressing his right fingers, then his left, onto a pad of black ink. The public defenders watch.

A deputy leads Jonchuck out of the courtroom. The door closes behind him.

JOSH, LANE AND ZACK (2 p.m.)
The judge thanks the jury for their work. She reminds them no jurors can be forced to talk about any of the deliberations, except by a court.

“There’s no way I can express my appreciation for your service,” Helinger says. “I’ve never had a trial this long and I’ve been here about 12 years as a judge.”

Public Defender Jane McNeill pats Manuele’s back.

Manuele wipes her eyes.

Two jurors in the back row take a long look at Jonchuck before exiting the courtroom.

LANE, JOSH AND ZACK (1:58 p.m.)
Jonchuck turns to the jurors, his face flat, listening as the clerk polls the jurors. They all say yes, this is their veridct.

Public defender Jessica Manuele hugs Jonchuck with both arms. He pats her back. She rubs his. They sit, her stroking his shoulder, and whisper. He hugs her again, and seems to set his jaw.

ZACK, JOSH AND LANE (1:56 p.m.)
Jonchuck is guilty of first-degree murder.
 
The Trial of John Jonchuck, Day 21: Jury says Jonchuck guilty of first-degree murder
April 16, 2019
LANE (2:21 p.m.)
Deputies led the jurors out a side door of the courthouse and to the parking garage. One by one, they waved off a reporter, rolled up their windows and drove away.

JOSH (2:18 p.m.)
Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe watched on a live stream as the clerk read the verdict aloud.

“And I am satisfied that justice was done,” he said by phone immediately after the announcement. “My immediate reaction is killing children doesn’t make one a very sympathetic character.”

He said the time jurors deliberated, almost seven hours, suggests they took their job seriously.

Was he happy with the outcome?

“I don't know that I get happy or unhappy at verdicts,” he said. “I’m satisfied that the verdict represents justice in this case.”

Jonchuck’s defense team did not comment on their way out of the courtroom. Public Defender Bob Dillinger could not be immediately reached.

ZACK, LANE AND JOSH (2:14 p.m.)
No one from the Jonchuck family was here when the verdict was read. No relatives or friends spoke on behalf of Phoebe before sentencing, or for Jonchuck himself. The sentence was automatic: life in prison. Prosecutors had taken the death penalty off the table last year.
 
John Jonchuck's mother, Michele Jonchuck - said she’d like to thank the jurors “for making the decision you did.”
The Trial of John Jonchuck, Day 21: Guilty
April 16, 2019
LANE (2:51 p.m.)
Jonchuck’s mother got the news when her brother called. She said she was “kind of surprised” at the verdict, but glad the jurors ruled as they did.

“Only God knows if he did it on purpose, or if he’s just sick,” Michele Jonchuck said by phone, her voice breaking. “But if he did do that to my precious princess angel, he deserves to rot in f------ hell.”

At first, she said, she thought her son was just sick. “I hoped maybe he just needed more treatment,” she said. “Then he started playing his games again in court,” saying he was hallucinating and hearing voices. “I don’t believe that,” she said.

The verdict, she said, brings some justice to Phoebe, but doesn’t make her feel any better. “That little girl loved him very much,” she said. “I still blame myself for not taking her that night.”

She said she’d like to thank the jurors “for making the decision you did.”

In the four years since the murder, Michele Jonchuck has only seen her son twice -- once when she went to visit him in the mental health hospital, and in court three weeks ago when she testified during his trial. “He looked terrible,” she said, referring to all the weight he’s lost.

She said she wants to see her son again before he goes to prison for the rest of his life. “I want to tell him I love him, because he’s my son,” she said through tears. “But when it comes to what he’s done, I hate him. He took my sunshine away.”

JOSH (2:42 p.m.)
The Sixth Circuit Public Defender’s Office is not commenting on the verdict. But Craig Whisenhunt, a former public defender turned private attorney who consulted on the case, said afterward that as the verdict was read, Jonchuck’s mind was with his lawyers, public defenders Jessica Manuele and Jane McNeill. The trio embraced in the courtroom.

“John told his attorneys to take care of each other and expressed his concern for them.”

The defense is likely to appeal the case.
 
John Jonchuck guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 death of his daughter, Phoebe
Over more than four weeks, jurors heard a tangled narrative of Jonchuck’s mental history.
April 16, 2019
LARGO — John Jonchuck is guilty of first-degree murder, a jury ruled Tuesday, and should spend the rest of his life in prison for dropping his daughter, Phoebe, off a bridge into the chilly, dark waters of Tampa Bay.
[...]
Phoebe loved the color pink, angels and fluttering butterflies. She didn’t know how to swim. Her smiling face was burned into the area’s collective conscience; a makeshift memorial lingers at the edge of the bridge.

Since her death, the prevailing question has gone unanswered: Why?

In rendering a verdict, jurors gave their assumed answer: Evil.
[...]
 
I'm satisfied with the guilty verdict as I do believe Jonchuck is mentally ill but was not insane when he dropped Phoebe, who was terrified of water, off a 60 foot bridge to her death. I might have paused if he had claimed that Phoebe was a demon or that God told him to murder her but he did neither.

Hours before he murdered Phoebe he said "If I can't have her no one will." Those aren't the words of an insane person, they're the words of a vindictive, grudge-holding sociopath. He did to Phoebe what he did to his computer when he was told he had to use it to obtain his GED and not just play games on it - he threw it over the balcony where it was smashed beyond use. If he couldn't have his way then no one would be able to use it.

IMO he'll appeal the verdict and IMO he'll lose. Rest well Phoebe, he'll never hurt another child.
 
Was it wrong to let jurors talk to witnesses in the Jonchuck trial?
April 19, 2019
LARGO — Before the second day of testimony in the murder trial of John Jonchuck, a courtroom deputy approached the bench.

A juror had asked what to do if he had a question.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Chris Helinger tilted her head back. “Well, let’s have a discussion now,” she said.

“I have never invited questions,” the judge told the prosecutors and public defenders, who had worked toward this trial for years. She worried about slowing down the trial and had other concerns, which she did not explain in open court, about “issues that could be avoided.”

But now that a juror wanted to know, she said, she felt she had to explain the process — still relatively new but with specific rules.
[...]
Two attorneys from the Miami chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers wrote back then that a criminal trial should not be “a meandering quest for ‘the truth.’ ” “It is not the juror’s role to ‘solve the case.’ It is not the juror’s role to develop facts.”

Bruce Bartlett, who has spent 40 years in the State Attorney’s Office in Pinellas County, said most judges still only take jury questions during deliberations. He’s never been involved in a case where a judge allowed jurors to question witnesses.
[...]
Jonchuck’s lawyers said they are considering their appeals and were surprised the judge permitted “the questioning to be done outside the recommended procedure.”

“Verbal questions should not be allowed,” said public defender Greg Williams.

Judge Helinger, through a court spokesman, declined to comment.

In his 30 years of studying juries, Rice said he has never heard of jurors getting to ask follow-up questions directly to someone on the stand. He said, “That could be trouble.”
[...]
RULE 3.371. JUROR QUESTIONS OF WITNESSES
(a) Judicial Discretion. At the discretion of the presiding trial judge,
jurors may be allowed to submit questions of witnesses during the trial.
(b) Procedure. The trial judge shall utilize the following procedure if a juror indicates that the juror wishes to ask a question:
(1) the questions must be submitted in writing;
(2) the trial judge shall review the question outside the presence of the jury;
(3) counsel shall have an opportunity to object to the question outside the presence of the jury;
(4) counsel shall be allowed to ask follow up questions; and
(5) the jury must be advised that if a question submitted by a juror is not allowed for any reason, the juror must not discuss it with the other jurors and must not hold it against either party.
 
Exclusive: Paralegal Shares Emotional Memories of Phoebe's Last Day
PUBLISHED 3:44 PM EDT Apr. 19, 2019
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Kyrsten Malcom has been holding onto a simple crayon drawing for four years now.
"Well she wrote my name. I thought it was just the cutest thing. That's something that touched me," Malcom said. "It's not something that I felt like I could ever throw away."

The little girl who drew it was Phoebe Jonchuck, who Malcom said was smiling and happy on the very last day she ever saw her.
0419_bn9_phoebe_jonchuck_drawing

(Courtesy of Krysten Malcom)
 
John Jonchuck, convicted of daughter’s murder, asks for new trial
April 26, 2019
In a motion filed Friday, the father's public defenders outline 11 reasons why they think he deserves another chance.

Jonchuck Attorneys File Motion Calling for New Trial
UPDATED 9:10 PM ET Apr. 26, 2019
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Attorneys for John Jonchuck, who was convicted earlier this month of first-degree murder in the death of his daughter in 2015, filed a motion asking for a new trial.
[...]
The motion filed Friday argues that several decisions made by Judge Chris Helinger during the previous trial regarding evidence the jury should or should not have been allowed to hear were improper or unfair.
[...]
The motion for re-trial represents the first post-conviction act by attorneys on behalf on Jonchuck.
[...]

John Jonchuck requests new trial after first degree murder conviction
Updated: Apr 26, 2019 07:06 PM EDT
[...]
The document states the prosecutor committed misconduct by making statements and offering no evidence in support of the statements to the jury, among other things.
[...]

DOCUMENT LINK:
https://media.wfla.com/nxs-wflatv-media-us-east-1/document_dev/2019/04/26/Jonchuck New Trial_1556319829512_84529231_ver1.0.pdf
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA
5—00226-CF
SECTION
STATE OF FLORIDA
VS.
JOHN N. JONCHUCK, JR. Person ID: 1595820
MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL
The Defendant, by and through undersigned counsel, pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. Pro. 3.600(b)(5),
Fla. R. Crim. Pro. 3.600(b)(6), Fla. R. Crim. Pro 3.600(B)(7), and Fla. R. Crim‘ Pro 3.600(b)(8),
respectfully requests this Honorable Court enter its Order granting a new trial, and as grounds
therefor would show:
[...]
https://media.wfla.com/nxs-wflatv-m...k New Trial_1556319829512_84529231_ver1.0.pdf
 
Memorial Ride Held for Phoebe Jonchuck after Father's Conviction
PUBLISHED April 28, 2019 @3:45 PM
[...]
It's a yearly ritual for dozens of bikers to flood the Dick Misener Bridge in Pinellas County, then gather at the rest stop by the fishing pier for a moment of prayer and remembrance. They meet each spring to honor the 5-year-old who died after being thrown from the bridge in 2015.

"Phoebe did not deserve that," Michele Jonchuck said through tears. "She was always happy."
[...]

Bikers hold 5th annual memorial ride to remember Phoebe Jonchuck
Updated Apr 28 2019 06:16PM EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - For the fifth year in a row, dozens of local bikers dedicated their Sunday to honoring the memory of Phoebe Jonchuck- the 5-year-old girl whose death was a bitter end to a beautiful life.

The memorial ride started off at Mr. Joe’s Off The Beach in St. Pete, with over 50 bikers riding their motorcycles in solidarity across the Dick Meisner Bridge -- the same bridge where Phoebe’s father, John Jonchuck, was seen throwing his daughter over the edge to her death.
[...]
The organizers of the day’s event have also created a scholarship fund in Phoebe’s name for people who hope to pursue a degree in the social services field.
 
John Jonchuck - HEAD HAIR SHAVED!
It is my understanding all FL DOC males initially get their head/face shaved, and then must keep hair short. Rules for females are different. http://flrules.elaws.us/fac/33-602.101
And then there's this recent prison dilemma: Prison system must accommodate transgender inmate, judge emphatically orders

Offender Information Search
Inmate Population Information Detail
Corrections Offender Network
Inmate Population Information Detail
(This information was current as of 4/28/2019)
Y90393.jpg

DC Number: Y90393
Name: JONCHUCK, JOHN JR
Race: WHITE
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 11/28/1989
Initial Receipt Date: 04/23/2019
Current Facility: LAKE C.I.
Current Custody: PENDING
Current Release Date: SENTENCED TO LIFE
Current Prison Sentence History:
Offense Date Offense Sentence Date County Case No. Prison Sentence Length
01/07/2015 1ST DG MUR/PREMED. OR ATT. 04/16/2019 PINELLAS 1500226 SENTENCED TO LIFE
 
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