Opinion ID: 2523730
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Court's Judgment and Findings

Text: On March 9, 2004, the court sentenced defendant to death. In an oral ruling, the court first reviewed the evidence it found in mitigation. It noted that defendant's father had been abusive toward defendant and his mother and had introduced defendant to drugs sometime between the ages of four and six. It also noted that defendant had concerns at a very young age that his father had sold defendant's soul to the devil, which the court said introduced some bizarre feelings or thoughts on the defendant's part. However, the court also pointed out that defendant's father was out of his life by age seven. The court believed that defendant had been physically disciplined and abused by Victor Pasarro. The court also believed that defendant and his mother had been kidnapped by Pasarro and kept for several days until Pasarro's father discovered them. With respect to Genarro Rosas's other testimony, the court opined, this abuse, I believe, was exaggerated by Mr. Baez's brother Genarro. Specifically, the court noted that Genarro testified to me that Victor Pasarro never came to the defendant when he was a ward of the state of Michigan and did not participate at all in counseling with him. And he described brutal beatings of the defendant by Victor Pasarro. The court cited three reports of family therapy sessions and one report of a residential treatment program in which defendant's mother and Pasarro both participated. It also noted that defendant's own reports to staff were open and discussed being slapped and locked in his room by Pasarro and defendant's mother, but [e]ven though he discuss[ed] the abuse on several occasions, he never discuss[ed] anything approaching what Genarro Rosas said occurred to the defendant. The court also noted that, although several witnesses gave the impression that defendant's mother was not present, the records indicated otherwise. The court referred specifically to reports indicating that defendant's mother was truly interested in trying to support intervention into defendant's life and that she had tried to get defendant into drug treatment programs. The court found that defendant did have an antisocial personality disorder and a personality disorder not otherwise specified, and that he had those disorders at the time of the offense. However, the court also stated, I do not believe that they were so extreme. I do not believe that they were an extreme mental or emotional disturbance. In aggravation, the court noted defendant's long juvenile criminal history. With respect to defendant's several arrests for breaking into automotive shops and driving away vehicles, the court stated, I certainly don't believe he was breaking into these places to sleep in a car. The court also stated that the state of Michigan did everything they could to try to turn Mr. Baez's conduct around, but defendant's criminal acts continued. The court then noted that the record of defendant's juvenile hearings almost always indicated that his mother was present. The court also discussed defendant's adult criminal history, including felony theft, armed robbery, and unlawful use of weapons. With respect to defendant's psychosocial history, the court found that it showed defendant was intelligent and articulate but [could] manipulate to get his own way. The court further found that defendant was not psychotic, relying on defendant's lack of psychotic symptoms prior to his arrest. The court next noted that defendant had committed major violations while in jail. The court specifically discussed the stabbing of inmate Blackamore, referring to Heinrich's testimony that defendant had told him that he had stabbed Blackamore in the neck not because Mr. Blackamore had physically done anything to him but the defendant felt threatened because Mr. Blackamore was spreading a rumor that there was a price on Mr. Baez's head for the murders committed in this case. The court then recounted defendant's unprovoked striking of Officer Mitchell. It further noted that defendant has of course a significant history of criminality. The court also noted that defendant lacked remorse: All through the records that I reviewed, there are indications that Mr. Baez does not have remorse. With respect to the facts of the crimes in this case, the court stated, I have been a judge for almost 17 years and it is the most ghastly set of facts I have had to deal with. These young people had an agonizing and painful death and they did nothing to deserve it. Finally, the court turned to the sentence: The death penalty is to be imposed only on the most vicious of criminals, that it should not be lightly imposed. And in almost 17 years, I have never imposed the death penalty when it was my decision. And I asked myself in this case are there any mitigating factors sufficient to preclude the imposition of the death penalty and there was a resounding no. There are no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude the imposition of the death penalty. And so, Mr. Baez, for the murder of these two young people, the sentence of death is pronounced on you today.