Dec 8, 2007 12:19 pm US/Eastern
Plea Deals Reached In Near-Fatal Beating
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Plea deals are reached for some of the suspects accused in a Patterson Park beating that put the victim in a coma.
Kathryn Brown reports, three of the four defendants pleaded guilty to the robbery and beating of Zachery Sowers.
Eric Price, 17, 17-year-old Arthur Jeter, and 18-year-old Wilburt Martin will not sit before a jury.
As the trial for all four of the accused began, attorneys for three hashed out a plea deal.
They'll testify against the fourth, 16-year-old Trayvon Ramos who is actually accused of kicking and stomping Sowers in Patterson Park while the others stood by and watched.
"I do want people to remember that he is in a coma, and nothing's changed," said a friend of the victim.
According to the plea deal, the three teens will serve an 8-year jail sentence plus five years of supervised probation in exchange for their testimony against the fourth suspect.
The deal also says if Sowers, who is in a coma, should die, they will not face felony murder charges.
"This case is just an awful, heinous attack, so the state has to weigh what happened, what the allegations are against what obviously the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt in court," said Joe Sviatko from the State's Attorney's Office.
A trial for the fourth suspect is scheduled for Monday morning, and both sides say there are talks of a plea deal in the works.
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