azathoth777
09-27-2006, 07:37 PM
SANFORD, Fla. — Moments after a jury found her guilty of helping her boyfriend murder her father, a teenage girl acknowledged her guilt, but insisted her lover was innocent.
Courtney Schulhoff, 18, made the dramatic statement as a judge prepared to sentence her to life in prison without parole, the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder.
Asked by the judge if she wished to speak before sentencing, Schulhoff, who had maintained her innocence throughout the two-day trial, whispered with her lawyers for five minutes. She then sighed deeply and rose.
"Your honor, I would like to openly admit Michael Morin is not the person who killed my father. I was. So I accept full responsibility and I accept the verdict," Schulhoff told Seminole Circuit Court Judge O. H. Eaton.
Morin, 22, is to be tried next month for the 2004 baseball bat bludgeoning of Steve Schulhoff, 48. Prosecutors contend Morin wielded the bat, but Courtney Schulhoff, then 16, urged him to kill her father, who forbade their relationship. They claimed Schulhoff provided Morin with the murder weapon.
After the sentencing, defense attorney Tim Caudill said Schulhoff now says that it was she, not Morin, who swung the bat. Asked if his client was lying in an attempt to save Morin from conviction, Caudill replied, "Some people might say that, but I'm not going to comment."
Assistant State's Attorney Jim Carter, who prosecuted Schulhoff and will also try Morin's case, acknowledged that her statement would have an impact on the next case.
"I have an ethical obligation to disclose this to Mr. Morin's attorney and I will," he said.
Schulhoff is listed as a witness for Morin's trial. Asked if Schulhoff might testify during his trial that she acted alone, Carter said, "Of course, she could."
Her lawyers opted not to give an opening statement or call any witnesses on her behalf. In summations, they argued that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, but stopped short of saying Morin acted alone. In tape-recorded interviews with police shortly after the murder, Schulhoff said Morin killed her father over her objections. He has told police he blacked out during the attack but came to holding the bloody bat.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated three hours before returning the guilty verdict. Schulhoff, dressed in a pinstripe blazer and shackled at the waist, showed no emotion as a clerk read the verdict.
Neither her mother, who was divorced from her father, or any family members attended the trial. Her father's relatives live out of state and were unable to travel to Florida for the proceeding.
Steve Schulhoff's girlfriend, Elaine Bouck, who had been dating him for four months at the time of the murder, told the judge that the victim "was one of the most wonderful people I've ever met."
"He deserves to be remembered," she said.
At the defense table, Schulhoff appeared to wipe away tears. A moment later, she resumed her stony demeanor. When the prosecutor reminded the judge to give her credit for time served in the county jail, a formality with her life sentence, she rolled her eyes.
Courtney Schulhoff, 18, made the dramatic statement as a judge prepared to sentence her to life in prison without parole, the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder.
Asked by the judge if she wished to speak before sentencing, Schulhoff, who had maintained her innocence throughout the two-day trial, whispered with her lawyers for five minutes. She then sighed deeply and rose.
"Your honor, I would like to openly admit Michael Morin is not the person who killed my father. I was. So I accept full responsibility and I accept the verdict," Schulhoff told Seminole Circuit Court Judge O. H. Eaton.
Morin, 22, is to be tried next month for the 2004 baseball bat bludgeoning of Steve Schulhoff, 48. Prosecutors contend Morin wielded the bat, but Courtney Schulhoff, then 16, urged him to kill her father, who forbade their relationship. They claimed Schulhoff provided Morin with the murder weapon.
After the sentencing, defense attorney Tim Caudill said Schulhoff now says that it was she, not Morin, who swung the bat. Asked if his client was lying in an attempt to save Morin from conviction, Caudill replied, "Some people might say that, but I'm not going to comment."
Assistant State's Attorney Jim Carter, who prosecuted Schulhoff and will also try Morin's case, acknowledged that her statement would have an impact on the next case.
"I have an ethical obligation to disclose this to Mr. Morin's attorney and I will," he said.
Schulhoff is listed as a witness for Morin's trial. Asked if Schulhoff might testify during his trial that she acted alone, Carter said, "Of course, she could."
Her lawyers opted not to give an opening statement or call any witnesses on her behalf. In summations, they argued that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, but stopped short of saying Morin acted alone. In tape-recorded interviews with police shortly after the murder, Schulhoff said Morin killed her father over her objections. He has told police he blacked out during the attack but came to holding the bloody bat.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated three hours before returning the guilty verdict. Schulhoff, dressed in a pinstripe blazer and shackled at the waist, showed no emotion as a clerk read the verdict.
Neither her mother, who was divorced from her father, or any family members attended the trial. Her father's relatives live out of state and were unable to travel to Florida for the proceeding.
Steve Schulhoff's girlfriend, Elaine Bouck, who had been dating him for four months at the time of the murder, told the judge that the victim "was one of the most wonderful people I've ever met."
"He deserves to be remembered," she said.
At the defense table, Schulhoff appeared to wipe away tears. A moment later, she resumed her stony demeanor. When the prosecutor reminded the judge to give her credit for time served in the county jail, a formality with her life sentence, she rolled her eyes.