Flats
Killer Sentenced to 15 Years to Life
by
Michael L. McCray
Whether
it was racism, alcohol, meanness, stupidity, pride, or some other reason of the
moment, Armando Farago is dead, his
bride a widow, two are stabbed, and Anthony Mitchell is serving 15 years to life
in prison.
There
is a point in the story where Anthony Mitchell and his accusers agree:
he was panhandling in the establishment and was asked to leave.
He refused to leave.
Prosecutors
claim a conflict arose, and he fled. He
was chased by a group who were beating him, arrested, and then arrived at the
hospital with a broken leg. The
murder weapon, a knife, was found the next day without Mitchell’s fingerprints
on it.
A
witness testified that Mitchell was making a stabbing motion.
Mitchell claimed he was trying to ward his attackers off with a
screwdriver and had no knife.
Mitchell's
lawyer stated the judge would not allow him to file a charge of self-defense.
The
prosecutors had 19 witnesses to testify against him, while Mitchell was his only
witness.
Assistant
County Prosecutor Edward Walsh stated the whole thing could have been avoided if
Mitchell had just left. He said
some panhandlers can be “very aggressive.”
Walsh also speculated that the jury panel might have believed
Mitchell’s claim that one of the men, Marcello Cetra, “was somewhat
aggressive.”
Hunger
and alcohol can make men aggressive and make them do stupid things.
Many complain about the panhandling in the flats, however, they sanction
the larger alcohol problem because it makes money.
Most
violent crimes have some involvement with drug or alcohol abuse.
It
is doubtful that justice cares much for people like Anthony Mitchell.
The poor make easy targets in situations like this regardless of their
guilt or innocence. They are
handicapped from the beginning. Those
who can afford the flats have much more freedom to be obnoxious than any
panhandler can expect.
No
one should be permitted to take another human life, nor injure another because
of racism, alcohol,