Felon again sentenced to life for slaying on I-95

It’s a murder case where the accused killer was good friends with the victim. But over the years, two juries agreed Christopher Dean is responsible for the death of his accomplice, Eric Flint during a 2005 burglary.

The Florida Supreme Court last year upheld a 2014 seconddegree murder conviction of Dean, but still ordered him to be resentenced. The court found that a factor behind Dean’s life

sentence — after his retrial four years ago — was not justified with proper paperwork.

That situation was cleared up Thursday, and Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Karen Miller again punished Dean, 38, with a life term.

Before receiving his sentence, Dean called Flint “a brother in

every aspect of the word” and he asked the court “to be given another chance.”

Even Flint’s mother appeared on a video to say that Dean had paid his debt to society and should have a chance to leave prison and spend time with his three kids and grandchild.

But the new life sentence was essentially a formality.

Prosecutor Aleathea McRoberts provided proof that Dean was released from prison a few months before the Jan. 12, 2005 killing. He had been serving

an 18-month sentence on a charge of fleeing and eluding police.

The proof that Dean was a prison release re-offender, which was lacking before, made the life sentence mandatory as an enhanced penalty, Miller said.

Dean and Flint were partners in crime who broke into the apartment of Gregory Marlow, according to court testimony. They were caught off guard

when Marlow and his girlfriend came home.

Dean drove away in a Nissan Maxima with some stolen items, leaving Flint behind. Marlow then jumped into his SUV and followed Dean in a highspeed chase, ending up on southbound Interstate 95, near Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, prosecutors said. Marlow continued the chase after a 911 operator repeatedly told him to stop.

Flint ran from Marlow’s place and jumped over a fence separating the West

Palm Beach apartment complex from the highway. Dean abruptly pulled over to the side of the highway to pick up Flint. Then Marlow, trailing Dean, noticed Flint.

Marlow testified he thought Flint was holding a gun, ducked below the wheel and kept driving. He said he briefly stopped, looked in his rear view mirror and didn’t see anything, then headed back to his apartment.

But Marlow had run over and killed Flint, 23. Dean was charged; Marlow wasn’t.

Dean was prosecuted under Florida’s felony murder rule.

This means a murder charge may be filed against a defendant committing a felony if a person dies during the crime — even if the accused didn’t actually cause the death.

In 2008, Dean was found guilty of second-degree felony murder and sentenced to life. But the Fourth District Court of Appeal ordered a new trial, after finding that the jury did not get the correct instruction on a related burglary charge that resulted in a 15-year sentence.

During the 2014 retrial, Dean’s attorney accused Marlow of intentionally plowing into Flint, making

him the only person responsible for the man’s death.

The defense also insisted there was a lack of evidence to prove Dean had committed a burglary.

But after less than an hour of deliberations, the six-member jury convicted Dean of both second-degree felony murder and burglary.

In Dean’s appeal, his lawyers from the public defender’s office argued that the jury should have been given the option of considering the lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.