CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A Clay County man will not be sentenced to death, after he was found guilty for killing and raping a veterinary technician.
“I respect the jury, and their decision,” Amber Cochlin said.
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Her sister, Andrea Boyer, was murdered and sexually assaulted in 2007, while working at an Orange Park animal clinic. Michael Renard Jackson was convicted for the 25-year-old’s rape and murder in 2010.
Two years later, Jackson was granted a re-trial, after the Supreme Court ruled that a videotaped interrogation tainted the jury.
READ: Jury does not recommend death for Michael Renard Jackson, man found guilty of murdering vet tech
Supreme Court documents from 2021 state, “We find that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the videotaped interrogation at trial because the probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.”
Jackson was also recommended for the death penalty, but that was back when the jury’s decision did not have to be unanimous. He was granted a new trial as a result.
READ: For a second time, Michael Renard Jackson is guilty of first-degree murder
Action News Jax told you Saturday, a Clay County jury found Jackson guilty for a second time on first-degree murder and sexual battery charges. His re-trial took six days.
Now, 16 years later, two trials and two penalty phases behind them, Cochlin said her family can start to move forward.
“I forgive him,” Cochlin said.
READ: Opening statements in retrial for Michael Renard Jackson, man convicted in 2007 killing of woman
The State Attorney’s Office and Jackson’s defense team argued whether he should receive the death penalty on Wednesday.
“We suggest that the mitigators that you consider that Michael was a victim of sexual abuse in early childhood and adolescent,” defense attorney, Gonzalo Andux, said. “I think that’s been proven beyond.”
The State argued Jackson’s crimes were heinous and cruel and asked for the death penalty.
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At one point during deliberations, the jury asked, “Was it right to argue that we would be killing him?” The judge and attorneys agreed not to comment and told jurors to continue deliberating.
Ultimately, the jury did not recommend the death penalty, after an hour and a half of deliberations.
“In the beginning—when it first happened to my sister—yes, I wanted him dead,” Cochlin said, after Wednesday’s hearing. “I wanted an eye for an eye, but that’s not who I am now. That’s not who my sister was, and I can’t put—I can’t put that on anybody else.”
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Cochlin said she recently received her credentials in victim’s advocacy and rape victim’s advocacy. She adds, her father was able to hear the jury’s verdict before passing away. He was recently suffering in the ICU.
“It’s always gonna be with me. It’s never gonna go away,” Cochlin said. “All I can do is help other victims in the days and years to come hopefully.”
The State Attorney’s Office had this to say about the decision:
“Michael Jackson has been convicted for the brutal murder and rape of Andrea Boyer. Her family and the Clay County community can finally rest in knowing that Jackson will never walk our streets again.”
Sentencing will take place on March 13.
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