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Murderer's request for new trial denied after judge finds no jury misconduct

 
Harleme Larry, now 20, was convicted of killing a man in 2010 when he was 14 years old.
Harleme Larry, now 20, was convicted of killing a man in 2010 when he was 14 years old.
Published Jan. 16, 2016

NEW PORT RICHEY — Harleme Larry, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison, will not get a new trial, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa ruled Friday.

The issue at hand was whether, during deliberations, jurors had discussed details about Larry and the case that were not presented in court. Had Siracusa determined that those discussions took place — and if he thought they influenced the guilty verdict — he could have granted Larry a new trial.

"I don't feel there is any reasonable possibility tampering influenced the verdict," Siracusa said.

Larry, 20, was found guilty in 2013 of shooting 31-year-old Agustin Hernandez to death in Dade City in 2010, when Larry was only 14 years old. Authorities said the teen met Hernandez and three other men shortly before 2 a.m. one night, robbed them of $4 and shot Hernandez.

Larry originally was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of early release after 25 years. But his sentence was reduced after the Florida Supreme Court ruled last March that juveniles with life sentences should be granted hearings to determine whether their sentences were appropriate. Larry still has the chance to be released after 25 years.

About six months after the trial, in January 2014, a juror wrote Siracusa an anonymous letter outlining the alleged misconduct. The juror, later identified as Loretta Boydston, found out when Larry was resentenced last year that the court had disregarded her letter because it wasn't signed. So Boydston called Siracusa and appeared in court in November to testify under oath.

She brought along another juror, Laurie Chapman, who also testified. Both women asserted that misconduct took place, though neither said the information influenced their decisions to convict Larry.

Their testimony was enough to compel Siracusa to subpoena the remaining jurors, none of whom corroborated Boydston and Chapman's claim of misconduct.

Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 909-4613 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15.