Wayne Treacy Guilty of Attempted Murder

A Broward jury delivered a guilty verdict Monday for 17-year-old Wayne Treacy, who was charged with attempted first-degree murder with a weapon for nearly killing Josie Lou Ratley when he kicked her in the head repeatedly while wearing steel-toed boots in March 2010. According to the jury, the brutal beating of Josie Lou Ratley was not the act of an insane person, but the calculated crime of an angry young man intent on murder. The jurors took four hours to deliberate and return a guilty verdict. The Jury rejected the insanity defense of Wayne Treacy, who faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. Although Treacy’s family is upset with the verdict, Ratley’s family issued a statement through an attorney expressing gratitude to jurors and prosecutors. Defense Attorney Russell Williams said he plans to appeal the verdict because his client’s defense was hampered by Broward Circuit Judge David A. Haimes’s ruling that the jury could not watch and hear a two-hour interrogation video of Treacy conducted in the hours following the attack. The Court advised that Treacy’s comments on the video were self serving hearsay and therefore inadmissible. After Monday’s verdict a statement was made that Ratley’s family wanted Treacy to serve 30 years in prison for his crime. Judge Haimes said he will sentence Treacy within 90 days, after a pre-sentencing investigation. He scheduled a status conference for Aug. 29. Do you think Treacy is guilty of attempted first degree murder? For more information go to the Miami Herald.