KIDNAPPER'S LIFE SENTENCE ALLOWS PAROLE.Byline: Marianne McCarthy Special to the Daily News SANTA BARBARA Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. - A 22-year-old man convicted of kidnapping 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in five years, after a judge denied his request for probation. Defense Attorney Michael Carty argued that his client, Jesse Taylor Rugge, was a ``willing and able candidate for probation'' because he was acquitted of murdering the West Hills teen in August 2000, and has been a model inmate since his incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. in Santa Barbara County Jail. But Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge William L. Gordon said Rugge deserved a prison sentence because of his involvement in Markowitz's abduction Abduction Balfour, David expecting inheritance, kidnapped by uncle. [Br. Lit.: Kidnapped] Bertram, Henry kidnapped at age five; taken from Scotland. [Br. Lit. . ``I can't overlook what happened here,'' Gordon said. ``He failed to use opportunities to help (Nick), and then proceeded to cover things up.'' Nick's parents, Susan and Jeff Markowitz, expressed relief outside the courtroom that Rugge's request for probation was denied. ``The judge has a clear view of what took place,'' Jeff Markowitz said. ``It gives me solace to see our own feelings and beliefs come to light.'' Rugge showed little emotion in the courtroom, but told his family he loved them as he was led out by sheriff's deputies. Prosecutors said Markowitz was abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point by friends of his older brother over a drug debt the older brother owed one of them. The alleged mastermind of the plot, Jesse James Hollywood Jesse James Hollywood (born January 28, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) was a drug dealer and fugitive. He allegedly kidnapped and ordered the murder of Nicholas Markowitz. , remains a fugitive who authorities believe to be in Canada. Ryan James Hoyt, who actually fired the shots that killed Markowitz in the hillsides above Santa Barbara, was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances special circumstances n. in criminal cases, particularly homicides, actions of the accused or the situation under which the crime was committed for which state statutes allow or require imposition of a more severe punishment. . A jury recommended the death penalty, and Hoyt is awaiting formal sentencing. William Skidmore, 22, of Simi Valley pleaded guilty last month to kidnapping and robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. Another co-defendant, Graham Pressley, 19, was acquitted of murdering Markowitz, but a jury deadlocked on a kidnapping charge. He remains free on $50,000 bail pending his retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) next month. |
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