"The Jury Sent a Message": WTVJ on the Danny Rolling Death Recommendation, Gainesville, 1994

Name: "The Jury Sent a Message": WTVJ on the Danny Rolling Death Recommendation, Gainesville, 1994
Uploaded: 2020-06-14T00:00:00Z
Duration: 9 min 40 s
Description: Miami's WTVJ Channel 4 reports live from Gainesville as a jury votes 12 to 0 for death on each of Danny Rolling's five murders, with the state attorney, a defense lawyer, the victims' families, a juror and University of Florida students.

Miami's WTVJ Channel 4 reports live from Gainesville as a jury votes 12 to 0 for death on each of Danny Rolling's five murders, with the state attorney, a defense lawyer, the victims' families, a juror and University of Florida students.

Subject: Danny Rolling
Recorded: March 24, 1994
Runtime: 9:40

Content warning: Concerns the murders of five college students; no graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview, and Danny Rolling does not speak in it. It is a segment of a WTVJ Channel 4 evening newscast from Miami in March 1994, on the day a Gainesville jury recommended that Rolling be sentenced to death. Three WTVJ reporters report live from Gainesville. Ari Odzer covers the recommendation itself, with the court clerk reading the jury's verdict form, State Attorney Rod Smith and defense attorney Rick Parker. Kerry Sanders reports on the victims' families and their written statement. A third reporter, introduced as Edwin O'Dell, speaks with a juror and University of Florida students. Asked whether Rolling said anything after the recommendation, Odzer replies, "He didn't say anything that we could see."

Historical Context

In late August 1990, over four days, five students were murdered in Gainesville: Sonja Larson, 18; Christina Powell, 17; Christa Hoyt, 18; Manny Taboada, 23; and Tracy Paules, 23. The killings caused panic in the city and at the University of Florida. Danny Rolling, a drifter from Shreveport, Louisiana, was later charged. On February 15, 1994, the day set for his trial, he pleaded guilty to all counts, and a penalty-phase jury was then asked to recommend life or death.

Circumstances of the Recording

The jury deliberated, as the anchor says, for about six hours over two days, and recommended death by 12 votes to 0 on each of the five murders. WTVJ, in Miami, sent three reporters and promoted a 7 p.m. special, "Student Murders: Case Closed." The reporters note that a further hearing was expected "perhaps Tuesday", at which Rolling planned to address the judge.

What the Interview Covers

Rod Smith says nothing in Rolling's background could outweigh "these kinds of crimes" and contrasts the case with the Menendez brothers. Rick Parker says the jurors tried hard but were influenced by "overbearing community pressure", and Odzer explains that the denial of a change of venue would be a ground of appeal. Relatives say the recommendation cannot bring their children back; Kerry Sanders reports that the families do not want Rolling turned into "some sort of celebrated serial killer", and their written statement calls the result "a shallow victory". One relative asks why the sentence cannot be carried out quickly. A juror describes being worn out after three weeks; students say they agree with the decision.

What Makes the Recording Significant

The segment preserves how a major Florida station covered the end of the jury phase of one of the state's most notorious cases, including the clerk's reading of the recommendation, the families' statement on the day, and the venue argument that was later raised on appeal.

Archival Importance

The segment survives through a third-party upload of Miami station material.

Important Caveats

Rolling is seen but not heard; do not present this as a Rolling recording. The uploader's title says "Sentencing", but this is the jury's recommendation day; Judge Stan R. Morris followed the recommendation and sentenced Rolling to death on April 20, 1994. The relatives, the juror and the students are not named on the audio, and the exact broadcast date is not verified. No captions exist for this video, so the transcript rests on a single machine pass.

Anchor Tony: [unclear: "Everyone" / "Evening, everyone"], the jury took about six hours over two days to reach its recommendations. Those recommendations were unanimous and identical. Jurors deciding 12 to nothing that Danny Rolling should die in the electric chair. We'll have reaction from the victims' families and the University of Florida campus in just a moment, but our team coverage begins with the decision and Channel 4's Ari Odzer. Ari?

Ari Odzer: Tony, even Rolling's lawyers admitted they had virtually no chance to squeeze any sympathy out of this jury for Danny Rolling. They said that Rolling fully expected to one day face a death sentence for the horrific crimes he committed here three and a half years ago. Danny Rolling said he killed five students to send a message to Gainesville. Today, the jury sent a message to Danny Rolling.

Court Clerk: The majority of the jury, by a vote of 12 to 0, [unclear: "advised" / "advise"] and recommend to the court that it impose the death penalty upon Danny Harold Rolling.

Ari Odzer: Unanimous death recommendations for each of Rolling's murders.

Rod Smith: Danny Rolling, for whatever reason, and it's far beyond what I'll ever understand, decided to visit horror on this town and on these students in ways that it's unimaginable.

Ari Odzer: Rolling terrorized his victims, Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Manny Taboada and Tracy Paules. The jury saw graphic evidence of Rolling's crimes, saw how Rolling planned his murders, saw [unclear: "that Danny Rolling, his victims saw" / "Danny Rolling as his victims saw him"]. The prosecutor says defense arguments that Rolling was mentally ill stood no chance when [unclear: "he weighed" / "weighed"] against Rolling's crimes.

Rod Smith: And there was not enough there in, I think, the view of the overwhelming number of people. There was just not enough there to overcome these kinds of crimes. You know, we might have been talking about a bad home life. Well, this wasn't the Menendez brothers being replayed, about some young boy who shoots Daddy or Mama or whatever. This is a man who'd been away from home, 36 years old, and killed strangers, and killed [unclear: "him" / "them"] in a brutal and terrifying fashion. And I don't think that there was much question which way this case was going to go unless we tripped and fell.

Ari Odzer: Rolling's lawyers said he knew his case was a long shot, especially with the jury he considers to have been unfair.

Rick Parker: It was an overbearing community pressure on any jurors in this community to return a death recommendation. To say that these individuals personally were not fair, that they didn't try hard, would just be wrong. It's certainly not true at all. But I do feel that they are influenced, as anyone would be, by the fact that this community has pretty uniformly indicated its belief that death was an appropriate penalty.

Ari Odzer: Now, both sides congratulated each other on a job well done. We're talking about the lawyers in this case. The defense simply had very little to work with, especially after Danny Rolling confessed the details of his crimes to fellow inmates in the Florida State Prison. Tony?

Anchor Tony: Let's talk about the appeal process for a moment, Ari. I know it's an automatic appeal, but if Danny Rolling wanted, could he waive that right of appeal?

Ari Odzer: I don't think he could, and I don't think he will. I think his lawyers are going to take care of that. I can tell you this, that what you heard Rick Parker say at the end of my piece just now about this jury not being fair is one of the grounds they will appeal on: that he wasn't granted that change of venue when he asked for it. And he says that a jury here in this community in Gainesville was just way too unfairly prejudiced after three and a half years of publicity, after living through the panic that engulfed this city back in August of 1990.

Anchor Tony: Did Rolling say anything after the recommendation today?

Ari Odzer: He didn't say anything that we could see. And his lawyer said he didn't really say anything to them either. He fully expected this to happen. He does, however, plan on, perhaps Tuesday, at a sentencing hearing, to say something to the judge, make some sort of statement.

Anchor Tony: Okay, Ari, thank you very much.

Anchor Jennifer: Now, even if the judge [unclear: "recommends" / "imposes"] death, Danny Rolling can appeal the decision for years. But the families of his victims, of course, [unclear: "can appeal" / "can't appeal"]. They're left with a lifetime of painful memories and a loss that they'll never be able to replace. Channel 4's Kerry Sanders joins us now with reaction to today's decision. Kerry, you spent the day with many of the family members. Do they seem to be healing a bit now?

Kerry Sanders: Yes, they seem to be clearing another hurdle in a very long process. One of the family members told me that they know it's human nature for people to want to know more about the person, about Danny Rolling, about the person who killed their loved ones. They say they just wish it weren't that way.

Court Clerk: [...] that it impose the death penalty upon Danny [...]

Kerry Sanders: As the television camera stayed on Danny Rolling, photographers clicked these photos of the families in the courtroom.

Court Clerk: [...] impose the death penalty upon Danny Harold Rolling.

Kerry Sanders: But those closest to the victims say Rolling's death recommendation doesn't give them what they want. It doesn't give back what he stole.

Victim'S Relative: We just miss her a lot. And we know that nothing we ever do can bring her back. If they kill Danny Rolling, [unclear: "they lock him up forever" / "if they lock him up forever"], Christi will never come back. And so that's hard. That's why this will never be over. [It'll] never be over for any of us.

Victim'S Relative: It was like, now I can start mourning. I can, you know, for Sonja. [inaudible] It was very important.

Kerry Sanders: The families say, when you think of what happened here, they don't want you to think of Danny Rolling. They don't want society to pervert his memory, turning him into some sort of celebrated serial killer. They wrote a statement that what they want everyone to remember is what Rolling took away.

Victims' Families' Statement: We know the last moments of our children's lives. We now know their killer. This is a shallow victory, though. Nothing will bring back Sonja, Christi, Christa, Manny, or Tracy. A sentence of death for us simply means that we will not live in fear that this killer will kill again.

Kerry Sanders: But for the families, as much as they'd like, this is not a day when everything finally ends. If Danny Rolling is like the 339 others now on death row, he'll sit there for more than nine years waiting for execution.

Victim'S Relative: It shouldn't take nine years for him to go to get the chair. It can't take 10 years for him to go to the chair. I mean, why can't the chair just be in the courtroom? I mean, the chair could be right there. I mean, this guy did, what they brought out [unclear: "of mistrial" / "in this trial"] was just monstrous, heinous, horrible things that it should not be tolerated.

Kerry Sanders: Now, some of the family members say that they will now actively lobby some state legislators. Among the things they would like to see lawmakers do is pass a law that when somebody is sentenced, that sentence is carried out swiftly. Jennifer?

Anchor Jennifer: Okay, and thank you, Kerry. Well, the men and women who decided Rolling's fate certainly won't soon forget what they heard and saw in that courtroom. They're back home with friends and family tonight after several grueling weeks in court. Channel 4's Edwin O'Dell now joins us live with their comments, plus student reaction. Edwin?

Edwin O'Dell: Tony, some of the jurors we spoke to indicated that there may have been some minor holdouts in the beginning, and the jury just had to make sure that they had a unanimous decision on the [unclear: "guilty verdict" / "death recommendation"]. Well, they got that. Some on the outside wondered why it took so long, and one juror we spoke to agreed with that criticism.

Juror: From all we had been put through the whole week, or the whole three weeks, but almost three weeks, you know, everybody was, some people wanted to take their time, some people wanted to just get it over. I was one of the ones that wanted to get it over. You know, I was tired. I didn't really want to stay there, you know, stayed too long, [unclear: "delivering" / "deliberating"]. Last night I wanted to take a break, as I believe almost everybody did, want to take a break, sleep on it, and come back in the morning and vote.

Edwin O'Dell: We spoke to one of three men who served with nine women on the jury. He said this was all much, too much, just too much. He wanted to get away from it, hug his wife and kids, and forget about it for a while. After the jurors left the courtroom, they rushed over to the hotel where they had been sequestered for the night, picked up their luggage, then went to the sheriff's department to pick up their cars and scattered to the far reaches of Alachua County. Many of them just didn't want to talk about it. [We] went to the University of Florida campus, where they agreed with the decision, but I asked them if they would have been able to come to the same conclusion if they had to serve on the jury. You saw no room for compassion for this guy?

University Of Florida Student: No, I don't think so. I mean, because it was just, what he did was just too traumatic, too violent, and I just don't think that he deserves to live after doing that.

Edwin O'Dell: What do you think of if you would have handled it, being on that jury, and making this decision?

University Of Florida Student: I think it would have been tough, to be truly honest. They say it's not fair that the trial was held in Gainesville, but if you go to any reasonable person and you tell them the circumstances under the murders that he did, I think anybody will feel the same way.

Edwin O'Dell: Now, Rod Smith, the state attorney, would agree with that student. One of the criticisms has been that this was [unclear: "not the wrong place" / "the wrong place"] to have the trial. Rod Smith says, as the students say, anywhere you take this trial, it was so heinous, so horrific that any jury anywhere would have come to the same conclusion. Tony?

Anchor Tony: Edwin, do the students there feel a sense of closure now?

Edwin O'Dell: Yes, they do, Tony. It's amazing. During this whole trial, a lot of students have come to get to know [unclear: "it" / "them"], come to get to know the families, and right now they're feeling like their school was harmed by this. They were personally harmed by it, so this brings some closure to it finally for them too.

Anchor Tony: Edwin O'Dell, live in Gainesville, thank you very much. Our extensive coverage of the jury's recommendation will continue in less than an hour. At seven o'clock tonight, please join us for "Student Murders: Case Closed." We'll take you back to the scene of those horrible crimes, the guilty plea, the sentencing hearing, plus a look at who Rolling will probably join on Florida's death row. That's tonight at seven o'clock. ---