Briton Escapes Death Sentence for U.S. Killing

Mar 27, 2002

By Jim Loney

MIAMI  - A British millionaire convicted in the 1986 murders of two business rivals escaped the death penalty on Wednesday when a Florida judge sentenced him to life in prison in a case that stirred angry protests from British legislators and death penalty foes.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jerald Bagley sentenced Krishna Maharaj, who has spent most of the last 15 years on Florida's death row, to life in prison for the murder of Duane Moo Young in a Miami hotel room.

 Maharaj, a former banana importer who once owned a stable of racehorses and a fleet of Rolls Royces, was convicted in 1987 in the shooting deaths of Jamaican businessmen Duane Moo Young and his father, Derrick Moo Young. He was originally sentenced to death for killing the son and life in prison for killing the father.

 The Florida Supreme Court (news - web sites) upheld the convictions but overturned the death penalty, citing irregularities in the original trial, and ordered a resentencing trial.

 After listening to three days of testimony, a 12-member Florida jury voted 11-1 on Wednesday to recommend life in prison. Bagley said he saw no reason to override the jury's recommendation and imposed a life prison term to be served after Maharaj finishes serving the original life term.

 Under that sentence, Maharaj, a 63-year-old British citizen born in Trinidad, would not be eligible for parole for more than 50 years.

 "What happened today doesn't make any difference to someone who is innocent," defense lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith said. "He is very glad to have this behind him."

 The case was clouded by allegations that the Moo Youngs had ties to Caribbean money laundering and drug trafficking, and by irregularities during the original trial when the presiding judge was arrested four days into testimony for bribery in another case.

 Prosecutors have said they have overwhelming evidence tying Maharaj to the Moo Young murders. But Maharaj's lawyers have said they can present at least six witnesses who can place him in Fort Lauderdale, 25 miles north of Miami, at the time of the killings.

 His lawyers welcomed the life sentence, saying it paved the way for an immediate appeal to federal courts to overturn Maharaj's conviction.

 "We'll tell the federal court that the guy's innocent," Stafford-Smith said. "There's a whole series of grounds including the issue with the judge and the state suppressing evidence."

 A death sentence would have meant lengthy appeals to Florida state courts, keeping Maharaj in prison for years to come.

 Maharaj's case prompted outrage among British legislators, more than 300 of whom signed a petition calling for his release.

 Conservative Member of Parliament Peter Bottomley, who met Maharaj on Florida's death row and testified via satellite as a character witness for him on Monday, called on the U.S. and British governments on Wednesday to intervene "to prevent a serious miscarriage of justice."

 "We are at the end of a long legal process in Florida which has failed to deliver justice for Krishna," Bottomley said in a news release. "The time has now come for the British and U.S. governments ... to ensure that the facts of this case are fully aired in a free and fair trial."