Opinion ID: 2299781
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Franklin Flowers Hudson

Text: On September 1, 1986, Franklin Flowers Hudson broke into a home through the basement window. When the homeowner walked down to the basement to do laundry, Hudson forced her at knife-point to the master bedroom, where he tied her up and gagged her. Hudson took a small amount of cash and jewelry. Hudson told her he wanted her boarder's money and car keys. The boarder, a sixty-year-old man, returned home shortly thereafter. Hudson told the woman to stay put, and he went downstairs to confront the boarder. The boarder offered his keys and money, but a struggle ensued. Hudson stabbed the boarder multiple times. The boarder ran up the stairs with Hudson following him. Hudson then kicked the boarder, causing him to fall. Hudson then hit the boarder over the head with a baseball bat. On November 16, 1986, four days before Hudson was sentenced, the boarder died from his injuries. Hudson took approximately $200 and the car keys. A witness spotted Hudson fleeing from the scene. After his arrest, Hudson admitted to everything except stealing the woman's jewelry. He also stated that he was under the influence of cocaine and beer at the time of the crime. Hudson pleaded guilty to felony murder. Charges of aggravated assault and burglary were dismissed. Hudson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole bar. The AOC classifies this case as having aggravating factor c(4)(g), contemporaneous felony, and mitigating factor c(5)(d), mental disease, defect or intoxication, and c(5)(h), the catch-all factor. Hudson was twenty-one years of age at the time of the killing. He was living with his mother, sisters and brother at the time of the offense. As noted above, Hudson was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol at the time of the crime. He had no history of mental illness. Prior to the crime, Hudson had worked as a groom at two race tracks and as a sanitation worker for a disposal company. Hudson had two prior convictions for aggravated assault.