FLORIDA v. BOWEN: FLORIDA KILLING SPREE TRIAL

Updated May 27, 1999 from the COURT-TV web site.

Deliberations after Bowen claims she misled investigators out of fear of
boyfriend

TAMPA, Fla. (Court TV) — In perhaps her only chance to save herself from a
conviction, Bernice Bowen testified that she gave police a false name for her
boyfriend Hank Carr after the shooting death of her son because she feared he
would come after her or her daughter.

Bowen is on trial for accessory after the fact in the shooting deaths of her
son Joey and three police officers Prosecutors say she stalled police and tried
to help Carr cover-up his involvement in her son Joey's death and refused to
give investigators information that could have prevented the subsequent murder
of three officers. On May 19, 1998, Joey Bennett was shot to death while in
Carr's care. During interviews with police, investigators say, Carr identified
himself as Joseph Lee Bennett, Bowen's ex-husband and father of her two
children. Bowen repeatedly went along with the lie, police say.

After reenacting the killing for Tampa detectives Randy Bell and Ricky
Childers, Carr was handcuffed and about to be charged with manslaughter. But on
his way back to the police station, Carr produced a handcuff key, freed
himself, and killed the detectives. He hijacked a truck, killed another
officer, barricaded himself in a gas station and took a hostage before killing
himself.

Prosecutors say Bowen could have prevented the string of killings by being
honest with investigators from the beginning and revealing Carr's real identity
and that he carried handcuff keys with him.

But when Bowen took the stand Thursday, she said that she did not remember
witnessing her son's shooting. Bowen only remembered that she and Carr ran down
the stairs and searching for help. The defendant admitted giving police several
aliases for Carr before eventually telling them his real name. She told police
Carr was also known as "Boo" and "Joe Bennett".

Bowen insisted that she cooperated with police after learning that Carr had
killed Bell and Childers. She tearfully claimed that she did not immediately
tell police Carr's real name because he had been abusive to her, and she did
not know whether he would come after her and her daughter. Bowen also suggested
that she did not remember much about her various police interviews or the names
of the detectives because she was devastated by the loss of her son and the
events of that day. She suggested that she did not know that Carr escaped and
only knew she was on the eighth floor of the police station

During cross-examination, prosecutor Shirley Williams pointed out to Bowen that
even though she was upset on the day of the shooting, she was clear-minded
enough to give a false name for Carr and identify herself as "Bernice Bennett."
Williams also did not seem to believe that Bowen did not remember her son's
killing, focusing on the possibility that she and Carr left her dying, bleeding
son alone in their apartment after the shooting.

Williams also confronted Bowen with her alleged statements to previous
witnesses who claimed that she admitted witnessing her son's death and that she
would do anything to help Carr avoid arrest. Bowen denied making any statements
to anyone, particularly fellow former inmates Tracey Tucker and Dorothy
Singleton.

During re-direct examination, defense attorney John Kromholtz had Bowen admit
that the events of May 19, 1998 were traumatic. He showed Bowen pictures of her
son after the shooting, causing her to break down and sob uncontrollably into
her hands. Court was recessed early for lunch, and the wailing Bowen had to be
helped off the stand.

Before Bowen's testimony Thursday, prosecutors presented an acquaintance, Iris
Adams, who testified that the defendant had told her that she "would do
anything for her man." Adams also supported a prosecution claim that Bowen knew
Carr had a handcuff key by saying she had seen Carr wearing the key around his
neck.

During closing arguments, Williams focused on Bowen's lack of honesty with
police after her son's death. Bowen, she said, would have done anything for
Carr and repeatedly told others that she was glad that the officers were killed
because they had "messed with her man." Williams also stressed to jurors that
Bowen told a previous witness that she wished she had died along with Carr
because they could have "gone out in a blaze of glory."

Williams also downplayed Bowen's eventual cooperation with investigators,
saying that she stalled them. If Bowen had chosen to reveal more information
about Carr sooner, Williams argued, a police officer's life could have been
saved,

In the defense's closing arguments, Kromholtz stressed that his client was
distraught and should not be punished for not being able to remember parts of
her statements to police. Kromholtz focused on the chain of events that led to
the third officer's death, saying that Bowen did not know Carr had committed a
crime at the time of her initial statements. He stressed that Bowen cooperated
with police as soon as she learned about the first two officers' death.

Jurors began deliberating Thursday afternoon. If convicted, Bowen faces eight
to 13 years in prison.              — Bryan Robinson
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                                    --Steph