Lawyers make last pitch in FAU slaying
Prosecutors call suspect a mastermind; defense says he was threatened.
WEST PALM BEACH — Scott Skier said there was no way his client, Donovan Henry, was the mastermind behind a robbery turned fatal shooting last December in Boca Raton, like the prosecution has painted him during his first-degree murder trial.
Henry was threatened into going along with the plan and was extremely emotional after he witnessed the shooting, the defense attorney told jurors Wednesday afternoon. Skier pointed out his client wasn’t in a hoodie or a mask like the other four men arrested in the case.
“(He was) wearing a FAU T-shirt with flip flops and had no gas (in his car). The ringleader?” Skier asked the jury. “Runs out crying? The ringleader?”
Assistant State Attorney Brian Fernandes said Skier was right. On the surface, Henry didn’t appear violent.
“He doesn’t look like a tough guy. He looks like a wimp,” he said pointing to Henry. “(So instead of violence) you’re going to use your intelligence and get them to do the dirty work, so you can get what you want.”
The state and Henry’s defense attorneys made their closing statements in his trial Wednesday. Nicholas Acosta, a 19-year-old Florida Atlantic University student, was fatally shot Dec. 29, 2015, during the robbery-turned-slaying, according to Boca Raton police.
While Henry did not fire the gun, the st ate argues he was t h e mas t e r mi n d b e h i n d t h e plan because he knew Acosta and wanted his stash of marijuana. Skier argued the state presented no evidence to prove Henry planned the robbery and the testimony they were relying