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Lethal Injection Ordered In Rape, Murder

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

TAMPA - Charles Grover "Chuck" Brant, 42, will die by lethal injection, a circuit judge ruled Friday morning.

Brant pleaded guilty to raping and killing 21-year-old Sara Radfar in her Citrus Park duplex in May.
Judge William Fuente said the decision was "unenviable" and difficult.

Fuente said he took into account defense arguments that Brant was a good father, was remorseful, had cooperated with law enforcement officers and had an abusive childhood, as well as several other mitigating factors.

Regardless, he said, the heinous murder occurred after a brutal sexual battery.

After the judge passed sentence, Brant sat emotionless. In the front row of the courtroom gallery, Garrett Coleman, Brant's brother, broke down in tears. Outside, he hugged his mother, Crystal Coleman, who said she mourned for her son, Brant.

"He's always been a good child," she said. "I take a lot of the responsibility."

Shiva Radfar, Sara's mother, hugged and thanked Assistant State Attorney Jalal Harb. She said she was too emotional to say much to the media.

"Justice is served," she said before leaving the courtroom.

In August, Radfar's former fiance, Steven Ball, testified that he was living with Radfar until about a week before she was killed. He said Brant lived down the block. When something needed fixing, the landlord called Brant, Ball said.

Sheriff's deputies have said Brant was invited to Radfar's home to repair tile.

On July 2, 2004, Hillsborough County deputies found Radfar's body in her home. During routine interviews of neighbors, Brant told investigators he saw a man with long hair wearing a yellow raincoat leaving Radfar's home. Deputies later said he was describing himself.

Investigators found a raincoat in Brant's house, and he admitted to cutting his long hair shortly before deputies found the body.

Eventually, Brant confessed and pleaded guilty to Radfar's rape and murder.

Typically, when a murder defendant pleads guilty, it comes with the understanding that prosecutors will not continue to seek the death penalty. In a few rare cases, such as Brant's, a defendant will plead guilty even though the death penalty remains a possibility. In those cases, a jury hears all the evidence and votes to recommend life in prison or execution. The judge listens to the jury's recommendation, but makes the final decision.

In Brant's case, a jury never heard evidence and never made a recommendation to the judge. The judge threw out a pool of about 80 potential jurors after several made inappropriate comments suggesting that Brant be executed without a hearing.

Brant decided to waive his right to a jury hearing. Instead, the judge spent several days listening to evidence and made his decision without the aid of a jury.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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