Jolie Rouge

Hey, we can help with that ....

[b]Dad pleads guilty in 4 kids' deaths, wants to die
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MOBILE, Ala. – A man accused of tossing his four young children to their deaths from a coastal Alabama bridge pleaded guilty Thursday and told a state judge he wants to be put to death.

Lam Luong, 38, a Vietnamese refugee, entered the plea before Circuit Judge Charles Graddick at a hearing on a change of venue motion. Luong made the plea in a letter he wrote and gave to the judge. Under Alabama law, capital murder defendants must be tried before a jury even if they plead guilty. Luong's trial starts Monday.

Luong, who speaks Vietnamese, communicated with Graddick through an interpreter. Court-appointed defense attorneys have opposed his desire to plead guilty, which he had expressed previously.

Although the defendant has admitted guilt, the jury makes a recommendation of death or life in prison without parole. The judge is not bound by the recommendation.

Prosecutors claim Luong argued with his common-law wife, Kieu Ngoc Phan, 23, before he drove the family van to the top of the two-lane bridge on Jan. 7, 2008 and tossed the children into the cold Mississippi Sound 80 feet below.

The bodies of the four children — Hannah Luong, 2, Ryan Phan, 3, Lindsey Luong, 1, and Danny Luong, 4 months — were recovered from waters off the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana during a search that involved hundreds of volunteers in aircraft, boats and on foot.

Luong came to the U.S. from Vietnam when he was 14. The family was living near the fishing village of Bayou La Batre at the time of the deaths.

Kam Phengsisomboun, who has served as spokesman for the family of the mother, said they had no comment. But he told The Associated Press in an interview last week that the death penalty "would be too easy" for Luong.

"Let him suffer in prison for what he did to the kids," he said.

Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. has said he would recommend a death sentence if Luong is convicted. Tyson wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.

Defense attorneys also did not return a phone message.

U.S. immigration records indicate that Luong, the son of a Vietnamese woman and a U.S. serviceman, gained legal permanent residence status as a refugee, but never became a U.S. citizen.

Luong, a shrimp industry worker who had been arrested on cocaine possession charges in 1997 and 2000, moved his family to Hinesville, Ga., after Hurricane Katrina flooded the family's home in 2005. The family had returned to the bayou, moving into the home of the wife's mother, only a month before the bridge deaths.

Luong initially reported the children missing, saying he had given them to his girlfriend, living in a hotel In Gulfport, Miss., and that she failed to return them. Prosecutors said he later broke down and confessed when the story didn't add up, but Luong said he was harassed into making a false confession.

In a capital murder trial that follows a guilty plea, the prosecution presents its case for the jury, usually with little involvement by the defense. Capital murder convictions are automatically appealed for higher court review.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090305/...RwbGVhZHNndWk-

He lied about it - which acknowleges wrongdoing - then confesses - but that was coercied - and now he is pleading guilty and requesting the DP The DPO will now claim mental defect because he asked for the DP.

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Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

gmyers

I still can't believe he did that those were his kids and they were very young.

galeane29

I saw his ugly mug this morning on the news. They were saying that he would not get a fair trial in Mobile but they will not be trying him anywhere else.

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dv8grl

Just fry him, hang him throw him off a bridge. No sense in going to trial. He wants to die., give him what he wants.

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Jackie_Blu

I agree, but hopefully not quickly. The slowest most painful way possible. (but that is my answer for anyone who deserves execution..child molestors/abusers, murderers, animal abusers,etc.)

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One Big Ass Mistake, America!

dv8grl

Dad accused in 4 kids bridge deaths changes plea

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/...LUm1rJ4p5G2ocA

MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama man who is charged with tossing his four children to their deaths from a coastal bridge last year withdrew his guilty plea Wednesday while a jury was being selected to hear the case against him.

Officials said 38-year-old Lam Luong, who surprised the court last week with a guilty plea and a request for a death sentence, withdrew that plea when questioned further about it and instead pleaded not guilty.

The Vietnamese refugee, who speaks some English but has a court translator, apparently did not understand that Alabama law requires a trial in a capital murder case even when the defendant pleads guilty.

In his note last week, Luong wrote, "I am no longer want to live. But I don't know how to die."

If convicted for the Jan. 7, 2008, murders, Luong could be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. An appeal is automatic.

Attorneys could not be reached for comment on Luong's reversal because they were screening jurors for his Mobile County trial that starts when a jury is seated, possibly by Monday.

Judge Charles Graddick had accepted Luong's guilty plea last week. It was submitted in a letter that is now part of the court record, and prosecutors could use it at trial.

Graddick could have refused to allow Luong to withdraw the guilty plea, attorneys said, but the court is cautious in capital murder cases because of the automatic appeal.

Court officials didn't rule out the possibility that Luong could again change his plea after a jury is seated, but prosecutors still are required to prove their case.

Kam Phengsisomboun, of Irvington, who has served as spokesman for the family of the slain children's mother, said they had no comment on the latest plea development until a jury is seated.

The Rev. Phillip Vo, who has counseled the family, earlier said they were ready to get the trial over and move on with their lives.

Prosecutors claim Luong argued with his common-law wife, Kieu Ngoc Phan, 23, before he drove the family van to the top of the two-lane bridge and tossed the children into the cold Mississippi Sound 80 feet below.

The bodies of the four children — Hannah Luong, 2, Ryan Phan, 3, Lindsey Luong, 1, and Danny Luong, 4 months — were recovered from waters off the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana during a search that involved hundreds of volunteers in aircraft, boats and on foot.

Luong came to the U.S. from Vietnam when he was 14. The family was living near the fishing village of Bayou La Batre at the time of the deaths.

What a piece of sh!t. Now hes just wasting everyones time, just execute him already!

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