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Highlands Today

Nine Out Of 12 Jurors Want Death For Trooper's Killer

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Joshua Altersberger stands with his attorneys as the jury re-enters the courtroom after more than two hours of deliberation. The jury, on a 9-3 majority, recommended the death penalty.

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Brad Dickerson

Published: April 2, 2009

Updated: 04/02/2009 06:03 pm

BARTOW - A Polk County jury, on a 9-3 majority, recommended the death penalty for Joshua Lee Altersberger.

Altersberger pleaded guilty on March 13 to shooting and killing Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Nicholas Sottile during a Jan. 12, 2007 traffic stop in Highlands County. The jury was chosen last week to hear testimony and make a recommendation to Judge J. Michael Hunter of a punishment of either life in prison or death.

As Hunter read the recommendation, tears from members of Sottile's family who were seated in the audience could be heard. At least one of the jurors was also visibly emotional.

The defendant stared blankly at the defense table, while his mother, Rosalie Altersberger, sat in the audience and grasped the hand of her youngest daughter.

"Justice is served," said Jimmy Sottile, Nick's younger brother. "He got his just punishment. Now is the waiting game for him to find another reason to waste more taxpayers' dollars. You admit that you did it. What are you going to argue?"

Closing arguments and jury instructions were finished shortly after 1 p.m., and the jury retired to a room to decide on a suitable punishment. At 2:30 p.m., it appeared a decision was reached. The courtroom door was unlocked and family members of both Sottile and Altersberger went back inside, along with all the attorneys.

Hunter appeared and informed counsel that the jurors were asking if they could get a transcript of Quintin Kinder's Monday testimony. The judge said they did not have a hard copy to give them and asked the attorneys if he could simply ask the jury to rely on their own memory. Both sides agreed, the order was written and delivered and deliberations continued.

At 3:15, the jury announced to bailiffs they'd reached a decision. A May 8 hearing has been scheduled in Polk County. Attorneys for both sides were asked by Hunter to prepare a sentencing memorandum before then.

Altersberger will be transferred back to Highlands County to be closer to his family until the May hearing.

Thursday's closing arguments and deliberations capped three previous days of testimony that included family memories and expert witnesses.

"If Nicholas Sottile were not a law enforcement officer, engaged in the performance of his official duties, he would still be here today," said Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace, co-prosecutor along with fellow Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin.

Wallace told jurors that this circumstance deserved a tremendous amount of value and weight.

The jury was also asked to look at whether the crime was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner.

Previous testimony from an eyewitness revealed that Altersberger put his hands up in the air as Sottile approached the defendant's car. The trooper kept his hand near his weapon until he felt safe. Once Sottile relaxed his hand, Altersberger dropped his and brought them back up with a gun in hand and shot the victim.

"The defendant's intentions, his evil nature, which you can see in his mind and in his actions, shows that this was cold, that it was calculated and that it was premeditated," Wallace said.

The prosecutor also devoted some of his closing recounting the testimony of Rosalie Altersberger, Joshua's mother, who told of a family history filled with bad parenting decisions and bad role models for the defendant and his two sisters.

"The question becomes, 'How does that relate to the decision that he made to slay the police officer?'" Wallace asked.

In her closing, defense attorney Debra Goins asked jurors to make a "reasoned decision in the face of emotion."

"Choosing life for Joshua Altersberger does not diminish the life of trooper Sottile," Goins said. "Josh has never been on an even playing field. What he did he has admitted to, and it's a horrible thing, and he will live with that for the rest of his life."

She began her closing by quoting a portion of President Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address, given on the eve of the Civil War, which asked that conflict not overrun reason.

"He called upon the better angels of our nature and he felt that surely the better angels of our nature would lead the country to unity," Goins said. "You actually are being asked to look to the better angels of your nature, to utilize those in making this decision."

Goins said Joshua's dysfunctional home life had a negative impact on his psychological development and are the reasons why he is who he is today.

"It's not surprising how he got there and it's so sad that the kind of intervention that was needed could not have been put in place," Goins said.

During the closing arguments, Altersberger repeatedly looked into the audience, where his two younger sisters were sitting, smiled and blew them kisses.

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