Carruth Gets at Least 18 Years in Prison
Jan. 22, 2001 -- A North Carolina judge today refused to set aside the unanimous verdicts in the Rae Carruth trial and sentenced the former NFL wide receiver to at least 18 years in prison for conspiracy to kill his pregnant girlfriend.
Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm sentenced Carruth today to a minimum of 18 years, 11 months in prison and a maximum of 24 years and four months. He will get credit for the roughly 14 months he spent behind bars awaitingtrial.
The defense will appeal.
Carruth was acquitted on Friday of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend, but the jury convicted him on three other charges: discharging a firearm into occupied property, using an instrument to destroy an unborn child and of conspiracy to slay 24-year-old Cherica Adams in November 1999. Carruth avoided the possibility of the death penalty with the acquittal on the murder charge.
Carruth's attorneys sought to vacate the convictions, arguing the jury surrendered their reasonable doubt in order to reach a unanimous verdict.
"In our view, a compromise verdict violates the defendant'sstate and federal due process rights," defense attorney David Rudolf told the judge. "If they have a reasonable doubt, they should not give that up simply to reach a verdict."
But Lamm ruled there was ample evidence to support the verdicts and denied the defense motion to set aside the convictions.
The jurors returned the unanimous verdicts one day after telling the judge they were split on all four charges and were "at an impasse." They were ordered back to the jury room to deliberate further and returned with the verdicts the following afternoon.
Parents Make Pleas
Cherica Adams' parents today told the judge their daughter was abused emotionally and mentally by Carruth and in her death, Jeff Moonie said Carruth committed "the ultimate selfish act."
Saundra Adams said her slain daughter's son, Chancellor Adams, who was delivered by emergency caesarean section the night of the shooting, has cerebral palsey and is developmentally disabled. "Chancellor at 14 months old is not even doing the things that some 4-month-olds do," she said. "Chancellor can't pick up a spoon. … He has trouble even holding a rattle in his hand."
While Saundra Adams pleaded to Lamm to "sentence him [Carruth] to the greatest extent," Carruth's mother maintained her son's innocence.
"I still stand by my son. He is innocent," Theodry Carruth said this morning before the sentencing hearing on Good Morning America. "He still maintains his innocence, and where there's hope and prayer he'll continue to fight."
Carruth's mother also believes at least three members of the jury made up their minds prematurely.
"I don't believe those 12 people on the jury were impartial," she said. "There was one who slept, one who looked out into space the whole time and another who nodded and slept. Those three had made their minds up already."
"I hope the judge takes into account his character, the charitable things he's done and that my son did not in fact try to kill his own baby," said his mother, who helped lead authorities to her son in December 1999 when he fled North Carolina to avoid first-degree murder charges. (See sidebar.)
"I turned him in to protect him," she said. "I would have turned him in again because it was the right thing to do and Rae knew it was the right thing to do."
Dueling Arguments
Adams was eight months pregnant when she was shot four times in the neck and chest while sitting in her car. Before lapsing into a coma, Adams called 911 and told authorities Carruth had been at the scene in a car in front of her. Adams died one month after the attack.
Prosecutors maintained Carruth masterminded the plot to avoid paying Adams child support. Already the father of a son in California, Carruth had one year left on a four-year, $3.7 million contract with the Carolina Panthers and had suffered injuries that limited his playing time. The prosecution also contended Carruth had used his vehicle to block Adams' car the night of the shooting to set her up for the kill.
Defense attorneys argued Adams was a victim of a drug deal gone bad and that her 911 call was unreliable because Adams made the call in intense pain while suffering from severe bleeding.
Carruth and three others — including the admitted triggerman, Van Brett Watkins, who testified Carruth hired him for the contract killing — were charged with first-degree murder in the incident.
Carruth, who was stoic during the reading of the verdicts, did not take the stand in his defense.
Had a Once-Promising Football Career
Carruth was a standout at the University of Colorado, where he double-majored in education and English and earned academic All-Big 12 honors. His football career got off to a promising start but plummeted as he went from first-round draft pick to the first active NFL player ever charged with first-degree murder.
Picked 27th overall in 1997 NFL draft by Carolina, Carruth — whose legal name is Rae Lamar Wiggins — had an outstanding rookie season. He led all NFL rookies with 44 receptions for 545 yards that year, but injuries limited his playing time in the next two seasons.
The Panthers released Carruth from their roster one day after he fled Charlotte to avoid arrest. He was found hiding in the trunk of a car outside a motel in Tennessee.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.