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Florida Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence

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The Associated Press

Published: January 31, 2009

BARTOW - The Florida Supreme Court on Friday overturned the conviction and sentence of a former male model accused of fatally stabbing a friend and office worker in 2003.

In an 80-page opinion, the court said a taped confession from Thomas Rigterink could not be included in his retrial.

The court ruling also said that a Miranda rights-waiver form to ensure the admissibility of his statements was defective. The form advised Rigterink of his right to counsel "prior to" questioning but not "during."

Rigterink received two death sentences in 2005 for the slayings of Allison Sousa, 23, and Jeremy Jarvis, 24 after a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder.

Rigterink originally confessed, but told jurors he cracked after hours of aggressive interrogation and wasn't guilty.

"Despite the fact that there is circumstantial evidence demonstrating that he committed these murders, we cannot say that the erroneously admitted videotape did not 'contribute to' his convictions," the court said in the ruling.

Prosecutors said Rigterink wanted to steal Jarvis' marijuana because he was broke. Jarvis put up a fight and ended up being stabbed, they said. Sousa was killed when she tried to help.

Chip Thullbery, a spokesman with the State Attorney's Office in Bartow, told The Ledger they did intend to put Rigterink on trial again.

The language of the Miranda waiver has caused problems for other departments. The Tampa Police Department last year revised its form advising suspects of their Miranda rights after a weapons conviction was challenged over the same language.

The court eventually held, in a 6-1 ruling, that the old form was flawed and overturned the conviction.

Tampa detectives anticipated the ruling would affect only a small number of cases because the Miranda issue would have had to be raised at trial, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin and information from the Tribune archives contributed to this report.

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