From our media partners at WOOD TV:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — More than two decades after he murdered a fellow teen and desecrated his body, Federico “Kiko” Cruz is getting another shot at possibly a different prison sentence.
On Wednesday, an appeals court ruled Cruz, who was resentenced in November, should be resentenced again. Erin Van Campen with the Michigan Appellate Defender Office says the court determined the original judge who heard the case, Kent County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Leiber, improperly denied the defense’s request to pay for expert consultations.
Campen said the appeals court judge determined expert opinions played a crucial role in determining Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison without parole, and blocking funding for experts violated Cruz’s due process rights.
Cruz was 16 years old when he beat 17-year-old David Crawford to death in the Sparta area in 1996. After the murder, Cruz dissected Crawford’s heart and spine then cut off his head and recorded himself mutilating it.
The video was so disturbing it wasn’t shown to the jury that convicted him of murder. Leiber said that upon rewatching it, Cruz once said the only thing he regretted was his choice of background music.
There's more to read - click HERE!