Hiccup Girl Jennifer Mee found guilty of first degree murder

By Curtis Krueger - TampaBay.com

September 20, 2013

LARGO — Some jurors cried as the verdict was read, but all 12 agreed on one thing Friday: Jennifer Mee, once known as the "Hiccup Girl," is guilty of first-degree murder.

Mee, 22, burst into anguished tears herself as Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Nancy Moate Ley gave her the only possible legal sentence: life in prison with no possibility of parole.

"It's a victory, but there are no winners," said Doug Bolden, cousin of the victim, Shannon Griffin. After waiting nearly three years, he said it felt "surreal" to hear the verdict.

Mee's mother, Rachel Robidoux, who attended virtually the whole trial, had no comment afterward.

Jurors spent about four hours deliberating.

Mee's notoriety began at age 15 when she had a case of hiccups that lasted weeks. In 2010, she was arrested along with two roommates and accused of murdering Griffin, 22, in St. Petersburg.

During more than an hour of closing arguments Friday, prosecutors Jan Olney and Christopher LaBruzzo circled back to the same phrase: She set it all up.

Mee herself said those words, when she had first gotten arrested and called her mother from the Pinellas County Jail. In the recorded call, she explained why she had been charged with murder even though she did not fire the shots that killed Griffin.

"Because I set everything up," Mee explained, close to crying. "It all went wrong, Mom. It just went downhill."

In fact, LaBruzzo began his closing by playing the recording for the jurors again. Mee's words were so powerful that prosecutor Olney said "Our star witness is Jennifer Mee."

Prosecutors did not claim Mee set out to kill someone. In fact, LaBruzzo said, "I'm sure she didn't intend for there to be murder in this case."

But under Florida law, if someone participates in a robbery and someone is killed as a result, they are just as guilty of murder as if they pulled a trigger.

After Griffin was killed and the three roommates arrested, police found his wallet, work ID and other items in an apartment where Mee and the others had gone to stay. Mee's fingerprint was found on Griffin's driver's license.

Defense attorney John Trevena said prosecutors were misinterpreting the words of "a frightened young girl."

Trevena said, "I don't think there was ever any plan or any intent to murder Shannon Griffin." And he asked:

"What is it that she set up?"

In her first interview with police, she claimed her roommate Laron Raiford killed Griffin because he thought there was a love triangle involving his girlfriend and Griffin.

Trevena said this account was backed up by other evidence: a condom wrapper with Raiford's DNA was found at the scene. Griffin's pants were pulled down. Before going out, Griffin had told a relative he was going out on a date, and put on cologne.

Prosecutor LaBruzzo said the condom wrapper could have been present because Raiford had a previous encounter there.

Trevena said his client wasn't the type who could orchestrate such a plan, saying, "We're not dealing with . . . a mastermind here."

But Olney said prosecutors never called Mee a mastermind. "Jennifer Mee participated and she participated in this fashion. . . . She was the bait that lured Shannon Griffin to a back alley that was dark where two of her cohorts waited."

She added: "And that is why Shannon Griffin is not with us any longer."

Earlier Friday, the jury heard from defense witness Jennifer Charron. She used to live with Mee and two other men, Raiford and Lamont Antonio Newton.

Of those four roommates, Charron is the only one not charged with murdering Griffin.

She also is the only one who could testify in this week's trial with what she said was firsthand knowledge of the events just before and just after the murder.

Charron said she had been working during the day and when she returned home, the four of them were planning to see the movie Paranormal Activity. But first, the others said they were going out to get some money. They eventually left.

Mee was the first to come back, out of breath, panicked, saying she had heard gunshots. Then Raiford came back to the apartment, distraught, looking like he had been in a fight, saying the other man — Newton — had been shot.

But he wasn't right. In a minute, Newton came back. He said someone else had been shot — the victim, Griffin.

Authorities said Mee lured Griffin to a spot in the 500 block of Seventh Street N ostensibly to sell him marijuana but really as part of a plan with Raiford and Newton to rob him.

Raiford has been convicted of murder in the case and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Newton is awaiting trial.

'Hiccup girl' weeps in court as she's found guilty of first-degree murder after jury deliberates for just four hours

• Jennifer Mee, 22, has been found guilty in the 2010 murder of Shannon Griffin

• She gained notoriety at 15 when she got hiccups for FIVE straight weeks

• Court hears: 'I didn't kill nobody. I set everything up. It all went wrong mom'

• Mee's co-defendant Laron Raiford was sentenced to life in prison in August

DailyMail.co.uk

September 21, 2013

A Florida woman who became famous for her uncontrollable hiccupping has been found guilty of first-degree murder.

A Pinellas County jury deliberated four hours Friday night before delivering the guilty verdict against 22-year-old Jennifer Mee.

Mee wept in the courtroom as the verdict was read.

Mee, 22, lured Wall-Mart worker Shannon Griffin to an abandoned home under the pretense of selling him marijuana in October of 2010. Once there, two of Mee's friends robbed him at gunpoint - but the victim struggled and was shot four times.

Mee, who found international fame in 2007 after developing a case of hiccups that lasted for five straight weeks, was charged with first-degree murder despite not pulling the trigger. She denies the charge.

Under Florida law, someone who participates in a robbery that leads to a death can still be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Earlier this week, the court heard a recording of the phone conversation she had with her mother hours after her arrest.

'I didn't kill nobody,' Mee said. '…I set everything up. It all went wrong, Mom. It [expletive] just went downhill after everything happened, Mom.'

On Wednesday, Mee's attorney told the court her client was a schizophrenic. The judge then ordered Mee to undergo psychological evaluation. It was later determined Mee is competent to stand trial.

Assistant State Attorney Christopher LaBruzzo admitted Mee wasn't the one who aimed the gun at Shannon Griffin in his opening address, but he said she was still guilty of first-degree murder because 'she set everything up.'

He told the jury the then-19-year-old used a social networking site through a cell phone to contact Griffin and offer to sell him marijuana but it was all a con.

'There was, in fact, no marijuana to be sold. In fact, instead of marijuana they had a loaded .38-special handgun with six shots in it,' LaBruzzo said, according to theTampa Bay Times.

He explained that the two men she lived with robbed the 22-year-old Griffin before they struggled over the gun and 'shot him... four times in the chest and they left him for death in a dark alleyway.'

The victim's wallet, keys were later found at Mee's apartment and her fingerprints were discovered on Griffin's driver's license, LaBruzzo said.

Mee's lawyer, John Trevena, used his opening statements to claim that Mee wasn't even at the home when Griffin was fatally shot.

'She is not at that scene but they want you to convict her of murder in the first-degree based on their theory that Ms Mee was setting up a marijuana deal that somehow went bad,' he told the jurors.

Trevena suggested Mee couldn't have been behind the disturbing plot because she didn't even own a cell phone, and therefore couldn't have planned the drug deal with the young man.

Also on Wednesday, Kurt Bradshaw, an officer with the St. Petersburg Police Department, showed the jury a photograph of the crime scene. A handgun and a pair of shoes can be seen on a sidewalk near a white fence.

The jury was selected on Tuesday in the murder trial of the woman who appeared on several national television programs as a teen because of her out-of-control hiccuping.

Judge Nancy Moate Ley told potential jurors in a Pinellas County courtroom that the trial would probably wrap up by the end of the week.

Miss Mee is one of three people accused in the 2010 killing of Walmart employee Shannon Griffin Jr during a burglary gone awry in St. Petersburg.

Judge Moate Ley said in court Tuesday that the prosecution and defense will have to choose a dozen jurors from a pool of about 70, The Tampa Tribune reported. Two prospective members of the panel were excused after explaining that they would not be able to be impartial.

Two other would-be jurors were also dismissed: one of them because Judge Moate Ley had presided over her husband's divorce case, and the other because she had to take care of her ailing mother.

The case has attracted widespread attention because Mee had gained notoriety in 2007 when she had a case of hiccups that wouldn't stop.

Videos of her hiccuping up to 50 times a minute gained her national attention, as did her attempts to quell the problem. She tried home remedies and consulted medical specialists, a hypnotist and an acupuncturist, until the hiccups finally stopped on their own.

Just over two weeks ago, Mee's co-defendant Laron Raiford, 23, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder.

Mr Raiford was the first of the three suspects to go to trial. If convicted of murder, Mee could face a life sentence.

At issue is whether Mee was a bystander or the person who planned the robbery — prosecutors say she played an active role in planning the robbery, which lead to Griffin's death.

Under Florida law, a person can be convicted of murder if he or she committed a serious felony crime — such as robbery — and someone was killed as a result.

Trevena, Mee's attorney, said his client suffered from Tourette's Syndrome, a neurological disorder that can cause involuntary movements and speech problems.

He said that the hiccups were one symptom of Tourette's and said Tuesday that he will mention that during the trial.

'It won't be used as a direct cause for what occurred but it might help explain her errors in judgment and her often thoughtless response to law enforcement,' said Trevena, who said Mee did not participate in the robbery.

Trevena said Mee has been in jail pending trial since her October 2010 arrest — much of that time in isolation because detention deputies say she is a high profile inmate.

Mee has experienced periodic bouts of hiccups while in jail, said Trevena, and she is being treated with a drug called thorazine.

'It controls the hiccups,' he said.

When Mee was 15 years old, she became known as 'hiccup girl' when she began hiccuping 50 times a minute. Her condition left doctors baffled and earned her international publicity.

Three years later, she appeared in the news again - this time charged with first-degree felony murder after police claimed she acted as bait to lure Shannon Griffin, 22, into a robbery.

Mee is not accused of firing the gun, but under Florida law a defendant can be charged with murder if they willingly take part in a felony which then leads to someone's death.

She has been held in Pinellas County jail ever since she was charged. Talking from the prison, she told NBC's Amy Robach in 2011 she cannot bear to think about the possibility she could spend the rest of her life behind bars.

She said: 'I’m scared. I want to go home; I can tell you that. My sisters are growing up, my mom is missing me'.

The teenager said at the time she thinks about Mr Griffin's death every day.

Prosecutors claim Mee plotted with her boyfriend, Lamont Newton, and his friend, Laron Raiford, to rob Mr Griffin. Newton is still awaiting trial for first degree murder.

She is accused of using a social networking site to lure the 22-year-old on October 23, 2010, to a dark alley in St Petersburg, where the two men robbed then shot him, getting away with $50.

Initially Mee told police the shooting happened because Raiford found out Mr Griffin had been romantically involved with his girlfriend in the past.

But later she changed her story and allegedly confessed she lured Mr Griffin to his death.

Mee left home at 17, two years after she became known as 'hiccup girl'. She claims her short-lived celebrity 'went to her head' and made her go off the rails.

Months of incessant hiccups left her temporarily unable to attend school as she disrupted other students.

She tried home remedies and consulted medical specialists, a hypnotist, a chiropractor, and an acupuncturist, until the hiccups finally just stopped on their own a few weeks later.

Her lawyer, Trevena, said: 'If you really believe her story, she’s really not guilty of anything except poor judgement of who she associated with.'

Jurors Hear 'Hiccup Girl' Jennifer Mee's Jailhouse Confession in Murder Trial

By Linsey Davis - ABCNews.go.com

September 20, 2013

Prosecutors played a jailhouse call in the murder trial of Jennifer Mee, known as the "Hiccup Girl," where she is heard telling her mother that she "didn't kill nobody" but she "set everything up."

Mee, 22, who gained national fame when she was 15 years old because her hiccups lasted for five straight weeks, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2010 death of Shannon Griffin.

On Thursday, prosecutors played a jailhouse recording for the jury where Mee's mother asks her why she has been arrested and charged.

"I didn't kill nobody," Mee said. "…I set everything up. It all went wrong, Mom. It [expletive] just went downhill after everything happened, Mom."

Prosecutors allege that in 2010, Mee met Griffin and lured him to a home in home in St. Petersburg, Fla., to be robbed. Griffin struggled with two accomplices who then shot him four times in the chest, according to prosecutors.

At issue is whether Mee was a bystander or if she planned the robbery that ended in Griffin's death.

Police had previously said they did not believe Mee pulled the trigger. However, under Florida law her involvement in a robbery that led to a homicide makes her subject to a first-degree murder charge.

Although Mee pleaded not guilty, prosecutors previously turned down her lawyer's plea deal of a 15-year prison sentence.

On Wednesday, Mee's attorney told the court her client was a schizophrenic. The judge then ordered Mee to undergo psychological evaluation. It was later determined Mee is competent to stand trial.

Experts also testified that Mee's DNA was found on the victim's shirt. Though, the defense argued it could have been transferred to the shirt by another person, and a crime lab DNA expert agreed.

One alleged accomplice, LaRon Raiford, was convicted and sentenced in August to life in prison, while another co-defendant, Lamont Newton, has not yet gone to trial.

Mee made national headlines in 2007 when she hiccupped virtually non-stop for more than a month, up to 50 times a minute. The hiccups ultimately stopped, her family has said, because she was treated with drugs used to treat Tourette syndrome.

ABC News' Alyssa Newcomb contributed to this report.

Psychologist Finds 'Hiccup Girl' Competent to Stand Trial For Murder

By Alyssa Newcomb - ABCNews.go.com

September 18, 2013

The murder trial of Jennifer Mee, known as "Hiccup Girl," began today after a brief delay in which a psychologist evaluated the Florida woman and deemed her competent to stand trial.

The judge ordered the evaluation for Mee today after the 22-year-old's attorney said he recently discovered she was schizophrenic, according to the Associated Press.

After the evaluation was complete, the trial kicked off with prosecutors laying the groundwork for their case against Mee, who is charged with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors allege that in 2010, Mee lured a young man she met online to a home in St. Petersburg to be robbed. When the victim, Shannon Griffin, 22, resisted Mee and her two accomplices, prosecutors said he was shot multiple times.

At issue is whether Mee was a bystander or if she planned the robbery that ended in Griffin's death.

Police had previously said they did not believe Mee pulled the trigger. However, under Florida law her involvement in a robbery that led to a homicide makes her subject to a first-degree murder charge.

One alleged accomplice, LaRon Raiford, was convicted and sentenced in August to life in prison, while another co-defendant, Lamont Newton, has not yet gone to trial.

Mee made national headlines in 2007 when she hiccupped virtually non-stop for more than a month, up to 50 times a minute. The hiccups ultimately stopped, her family has said, because she was treated with drugs used to treat Tourette syndrome.

ABC News' Russell Goldman contributed to this report.

Hiccup Girl's Murder Defense: She Has Tourette's, Says Lawyer