Christina's Story: Newspaper Articles

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Christina's Story - Newspaper Articles

The following links take you to various articles in Christina's story as it appeared in the South Florida media.

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*In Loving Memory Of* Christina Diane Holt May 23, 1987 - September 16, 1994 "Beautiful Child who has found love from the angels...RIP..."	(Not her actual headstone)
These pages contain all of the articles from the Palm Beach Post and The Sun-Sentinel throughout the years.

Angry At Rogue Juror? Courts Can Handle It (5/18/96)
Zile Prosecutors Should Persevere, Seek Maximum Penalty In New Trial (5/18/96)
Angry Zile Jurors Look Outside Court For Roots of Mistrial (5/18/96)
Lawyers Trade Quiet Work For High-Profile Zile Trial (5/18/96)
Zile Defense Needs 'True Believer' Juror (5/19/96)
Zile Retrial Is July 15 (5/30/96)
In Court (5/31/96)
Zile Lawyers Want County To Foot Bill For Trial (5/31/96)
Zile Juror Offers Prosecutors Tips For Retrial (6/4/96)
In Court (6/5/96)

ANGRY AT ROGUE JUROR? COURTS CAN HANDLE IT
The Palm Beach Post
May 18, 1996

Last year, John Zile's wife, Pauline, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for her part in the 1994 beating death of her daughter, Christina Holt.

A jury convicted Pauline Zile even though it was John Zile who was beating the 7-year-old child when she died. So it's no wonder that this week's failure of a jury to convict John Zile of first-degree murder has caused consternation. If what John Zile did wasn't first-degree murder, how could Pauline Zile be guilty of first-degree murder for letting him do it? Maybe, some say, there's a kind of sexism at work. Pauline Zile was Christina's natural mother, while John Zile was her stepfather. S o society judged the mother more harshly for failing to protect her daughter.
That possibility is just part of the general shock that John Zile wasn't convicted. The tension was felt first in the jury room, where by the second day of deliberations 11 jurors were ready to find him guilty of first-degree murder. When the 12th juror, Alison Boyden, held out for conviction on the lesser crime of second-degree murder, other members of the panel resorted to yelling at her.

It's inevitable, given the emotions surrounding the Zile case, that plenty of people who weren't on the jury will be equally upset with Ms. Boyden. People who remember the way the Ziles faked Christina's abduction, the brutal treatment of the girl while she was alive and the horrific treatment of her body after she died won't see this as a case of Twelve Angry Men. It seems more like one willful woman.

But it's way too early to say the justice system has failed in the Zile case. The defendant was not acquitted. The Zile jury deadlocked, but not even Ms. Boyden was ready to find John Zile blameless. She felt, as the defense had argued, that accidental circumstances might have contributed to Christina's death. Even if no one else finds that contention plausible, Ms. Boyden did, and it was her duty as a juror to hold out. It's why we have jurors - plural - decide, not a judge.

That kind of Civics 101 viewpoint seems naive, and it often is frustrating. But that basic philosophy can be embraced because the system it underpins is sophisticated enough to deal with jurors such as Ms. Boyden.

John Zile hasn't been freed. He will face another jury soon. This was a mistrial, not a miscarriage of justice.

ZILE PROSECUTORS SHOULD PERSEVERE, SEEK MAXIMUM PENALTY IN NEW TRIAL
Sun-Sentinel
May 18, 1996

Attorneys for accused murderer John Zile argued unsuccessfully last year that massive publicity would make it impossible for their client to receive a fair trial in Palm Beach County.

Questions of fairness aside, the defense did manage to achieve a mistrial when a single juror refused to agree with her 11 colleagues that Zile should be found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1994 death of his seven-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt
Circuit Judge Roger Colton determined that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked Thursday. Zile probably will be retried later this year on the same charges: One count of first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Post-trial interviews indicated there was consensus among jurors that Zile had brought about the death of his stepdaughter on Sept. 16, 1994, by beating her and causing her to experience convulsions which resulted in asphyxiation. In a taped confession, Zile described burying the child in a wooded area in Tequesta before he and his wife, Christina's mother Pauline, concocted a story about the girl being abducted from a Broward County flea market.

Pauline Zile was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in a separate trial last year and is currently serving a life sentence in prison with no possibility of parole.

While jurors agreed that John Zile had committed both child abuse and murder, they differed on the extent of his guilt. A single holdout for a conviction of second-degree murder, which would have spared Zile the death penalty, was sufficient to create the impasse.

This frustrating and dismaying result highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of the jury system. Outside observers who have followed the sensational case undoubtedly will have a difficult time reconciling the outcome with the evidence.

Almost certainly, the Zile mistrial will be cited by advocates of judicial reform who argue that an overwhelming majority vote - instead of strict unanimity - should become the legal standard for conviction in first-degree murder cases.

Zile may have won a temporary reprieve Thursday, but he is not yet off the hook. Prosecutors should be encouraged to seek the maximum penalty with renewed vigor and determination when his inevitable second day in court arrives.

ANGRY ZILE JURORS LOOK OUTSIDE COURT FOR ROOTS OF MISTRIAL
Sun-Sentinel
May 18, 1996
Author: SCOTT GOLD Staff Writer
Staff Writer Mike Folks contributed to this report.

A faction of John Zile's jury claims the juror who refused to convict Zile of first-degree murder was swayed by outside influences, contributing to an exasperating deadlock that forced a mistrial on Thursday
Devastated by the sudden mistrial, which followed almost three weeks of testimony, several jurors say an otherwise convincing prosecution was derailed in the trial's waning days by chaos and obstinance among jurors, some of whom simply refused to continue deliberating.

Eleven of 12 jurors agreed Zile was guilty of first-degree murder. One juror, Alison Boyden, 47, accepted the defense's argument that the September 1994 death of Zile's stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7, was an accident and held out for second-degree murder.

Jurors accused Boyden, who couldn't be reached at her home west of Boca Raton, of weighing factors outside the courtroom in her decision. The most egregious example: jurors accused her of discounting testimony about Christina's autopsy because county officials have questioned Palm Beach County Medical Examiner James Benz's credibility and have recommended that county commissioners look for a replacement for Benz.

Other jurors also may have struggled with objectivity. During deliberations, according to several accounts, some of them held desperately onto first-degree murder because they couldn't bear to give Zile a lesser sentence than his wife, Pauline Zile, who was given a life sentence last year.

From his Loxahatchee home on Friday, juror Tracy Alan Atkinson said he accused Boyden of buckling from outside influence during deliberations. She denied it, he said.

"The system didn't work," Atkinson said. "Justice has not been done."

It's a precious principle of this country's justice system: that an impartial jury will carefully weigh only the facts and evidence presented during a trial before reaching a verdict. That principle, some jurors say, was violated several times during Zile's murder and child abuse trial, leading to the hopeless deadlock that prompted the mistrial.

"Extraneous happenings within the community ... should not be considered by a jury that has a case presented to them, and they are told specifically not to," said Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton, at the joint request of prosecutors and defense attorneys, declared a mistrial after the jury announced it was hopelessly deadlocked.

Zile will face another trial, but he avoided, for now, a conviction that could have brought him the death penalty.

If these jurors have their way, Zile's trial will be handled differently the second time.

In a letter that will be written to Colton - who could not be reached on Friday - jurors apparently will recommend that their successors be sequestered throughout the trial. During Zile's first trial, jurors were sequestered only after they began deliberations - which is standard practice - but were allowed home, unsupervised but under daily admonishment from Colton to remain objective and untainted during the trial, Edmondson said.

When jurors are sequestered - which is rare for an entire trial - they are considered in the custody of sheriff's deputies. All contact with the outside world - telephone calls, television viewing, access to broadcast and print media - are regulated.

Juror Lorraine Stroud of Loxahatchee is part of the group preparing the letter, said her husband, Chris. He said his wife, like most jurors, is not discussing the case with the media.

Chris Stroud said it remained unclear who would write the letter or when it would be sent, but he said it was being written because some jurors thought the justice system had collapsed.

"They are afraid that some outside information may have convinced that juror," he said. "They are afraid that something might have corrupted her. ... They want to do what they can for the next jury to make sure it gets done right the next time." Atkinson hadn't heard about the letter, but said he wanted to sign it when it was ready.

"They should have sequestered us," he said. "For two nights I was sequestered, and it was not very fun. If a person cannot go in there and keep his mind open through the end of the trial and give an honest conviction without any influence from the outside, then the system hasn't worked."

Ed O'Hara, one of Zile's attorneys, said they had requested that the jury be sequestered throughout Zile's trial, but Colton denied that motion.

Keeping a jury objective, Edmondson said, "is an issue that is dealt with not only once, it is dealt with repeatedly. A judge will admonish the jury to consider only the facts that are presented to the court."

That didn't happen this week, jurors said - but they added that it was part of the chaotic deliberations.

In a series of interviews on Friday, jurors also said that Colton buckled to attorneys' requests for a mistrial and that the jury could have reached a verdict had it been forced to deliberate for another day.

But close to 5 p.m. Thursday, some jurors reportedly refused to continue deliberating for another night. Some were frustrated, some missed their families and some complained about missing work for three weeks.

"It got down to 5 p.m., and you had jurors all crying the blues," Atkinson said. "We were a small family. We all made the comment about how we all fit together like a glove. But it was getting heated. We were all tired. ... They had families they wanted to get home to. They were too selfish to want to see justice done. Some of them said they wouldn't stay another night."

Brenda Blount Lee, an alternate juror who reviewed all testimony but was not present for deliberations, said she was disturbed at the mistrial.

"I was really amazed at the outcome," she said. "I couldn't believe it. It just knocked me off my feet. I feel like the prosecution did their job. I can't imagine what happened.

LAWYERS TRADE QUIET WORK FOR HIGH-PROFILE ZILE TRIAL
Sun-Sentinel
May 18, 1996
Author: MIKE FOLKS Staff Writer

It's been a long haul for John Zile's attorneys, Ed O'Hara and Craig Wilson.

About a year ago they picked up one of Palm Beach County's most vilified fathers as a client, and they have had to fight the tide of negative - frequently virulent - public sentiment
But they doggedly stuck with it from depositions through jury selection, right down to finally reaping kudos of sorts - considering that a guilty verdict of first-degree murder, at least in the beginning of the trial, was generally expected: A mistrial was declared on Thursday, and John Zile, for the moment, has dodged a death sentence.

But none of it has been easy. Especially for two attorneys who usually maintain a low profile and prefer to get the job done quietly, inconspicuously.

One of the first orders of business for Wilson and O'Hara was to "gag" flamboyant Miami lawyer Ellis Rubin, who defended Zile's wife, Pauline.

After Pauline Zile's conviction in April 1995, Rubin became increasingly vocal that John Zile had killed Christina Holt, 7.

"Rubin picked that up and made our client the villain," O'Hara said on Friday. "It helped make our client more menacing and disliked by the community."

It wasn't until Rubin was scheduled to appear on a WJNO radio talk show, though, that Wilson and O'Hara knew they had to do something.

The defense team asked Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp to issue a gag order. Rapp agreed that Rubin should be gagged.

Although Rubin's courtroom finesse ended with a first-degree murder conviction for Pauline Zile, he's not giving up any praise to John Zile's defense team for getting a mistrial. On Friday, Rubin said the fact that Zile's attorneys raised the issue that Christina could have died of a seizure was a strategy that clearly failed.

"It made no difference at all because 11 people voted for first-degree murder. That says it all," he said. About the gag order, Rubin said: "They were concerned that I was going to go on radio shows and blast John Zile, which is something I would never do when a co-defendant is involved."

With the gag order in mind, O'Hara and Wilson built their defense with precision and limited their contact with the media. Colleagues who have seen Wilson and O'Hara do battle in court say that media-shy attitude is in line with their courtroom demeanor and years of trial experience.

Wilson, 55, who could not be reached for comment, at one time worked for the Palm Beach County Solicitor's Office, while O'Hara, 54, was a public defender. Eventually they both opened private practices. Several years ago, the two shared office space together.

"[Wilson) is always low key. He's a very effective and intelligent lawyer," West Palm Beach attorney Jim Eisenberg said. "This case needed a lawyer that could take the emotion out of it."

West Palm Beach defense lawyer Evelyn Ziegler fondly remembered working with Wilson as a public defender.

Noting Wilson's generally quiet manner in court, Ziegler said she was surprised when the judge admonished Wilson during John Zile's trial when he used the word g-----out of the jury's presence. "That told me Craig was in there fighting hard."

O'Hara said the defense team likely will seek another change of venue for the upcoming trial. The highest hurdle for O'Hara and Wilson to jump is the coverup, which had Pauline Zile reporting Christina was kidnapped from the Swap Shop west of Fort Lauderdale more than a month after John Zile buried her behind a Kmart in Tequesta.

"That's something that won't go away," O'Hara said.

ZILE DEFENSE NEEDS `TRUE BELIEVER' JUROR
Sun-Sentinel
May 19, 1996
Author: GARY STEIN

Defense attorneys are going to have a real challenge when they get ready for the second murder trial of John Zile.

True, they have to be a tad pleased right now, after getting a mistrial in Zile's trial in the murder of his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt.

"[Zile) is no monster," said Palm Beach Assistant Public Defender Iola Mosely.

Some may argue the point, but let's give Mosely the benefit of the doubt
But I don't think that will help Zile at his next trial.

Eleven jurors thought Zile was guilty of first-degree murder, and one holdout, Alison Boyden, wanted second degree, but no worse. After a lot of reported bickering, there was a mistrial.

It only takes one juror, of course, to give somebody like John Zile some hope of being a free man some day.

The defense team now has to find one more juror like that.

It won't be easy.

Can they forget about this?

I suggest the defense take out a "Help Wanted" ad, reading like this: "Wanted - Juror to help John Zile avoid first-degree murder conviction.

"The type of person we are looking for:

-- "Will not be repelled when prosecutors describe how John Zile used his stepdaughter `as a punching bag.'

-- "Must not give much credence to how Zile hit Christina about the face before she died.

-- "Should put aside the fact that Palm Beach County Medical Examiner James Benz testified that Christina died of asphyxiation due to multiple head trauma.

-- "Can't give a great deal of weight to the bruises found on Christina's left eyebrow, left cheek, left lower jaw, and right cheek.

-- "Can't worry about bruises found on both arms, right leg, knee, thigh and on her buttocks.

-- "Must forget about the cut inside her mouth.

-- "Can't even think about the blood-stained pillow and twin-bed mattress and box springs that were taken from John and Pauline Zile's Riviera Beach apartment.

-- "Should pretty much disregard testimony that Zile had been physically abusing Christina for weeks, forcing her to stay home from school to hide her injuries.

-- "Shouldn't think much about the fact Benz said Christina had not been diagnosed as having a seizure disorder, or the fact she was not on seizure medicine."<

True believer needed

"In addition, we are looking for a person who can be convinced:

-- "That somehow all this was just a spanking from a loving stepfather, and then something went wrong and Christina died.

-- "The death of this obviously terrified little girl was possibly caused by a seizure, no matter what the medical examiner says.

-- "That John Zile had some measure of sincerity when he says `I wanted to find a decent place for her to make a decent burial' - a hole behind a Kmart in Tequesta.

-- "That all this was just an `accident' that occurred `during the administration of discipline,' as defense co-counsel Ed O'Hara insisted."

As I said, this is going to be a tough challenge for the defense.

Finding one person to accept much of their case was hard.

Finding any more than that is asking an awful lot.

Local columnist Gary Stein is published on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

ZILE RETRIAL IS JULY 15
Sun-Sentinel
May 30, 1996
Author: Staff Reports

John Zile will return to court on July 15 for his retrial on first-degree murder and child-abuse charges in the death of his stepdaughter, Christina Holt.

A Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge declared a mistrial in the Zile case on May 16 after the jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction on the first-degree murder charges.

Christina, 7, died in September 1994.

Prosecutors in the first trial told jurors that Zile, 34, beat Christina, sending her into convulsions, during which she choked on her own vomit.

Zile's attorneys countered that Christina suffered a seizure while she was being disciplined and then asphyxiated _ or Zile may have accidentally asphyxiated the girl while he was trying to resuscitate her.

Pauline Zile, 25, who watched as her child died, was convicted last year of aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder for failing to protect her child. She is serving a life sentence.

IN COURT
The Palm Beach Post
May 31, 1996

WEST PALM BEACH - One of the attorneys for John Zile, whose murder trial ended with a hung jury two weeks ago, has billed Palm Beach County $112,360 in legal fees. The bill from attorney Craig Wilson is part of a total tab of $246,574 for Zile's defense, according to figures court administration officials provided Thursday. Wilson's fee request will be reviewed by other defense attorneys before county officials agree to pay it, assistant county attorney Dan Hyndman said Thursday. The total includes the fee of Zile's other attorney, Ed O'Hara, who billed the county for a total $63,593 in fees, about $21,800 of which have already been paid. Zile faces a new trial in the 1994 death of his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt.

ZILE LAWYERS WANT COUNTY TO FOOT BILL FOR TRIAL
ATTORNEYS SEEKING $200,000 FOR LEGAL FEES
Sun-Sentinel
May 31, 1996
Author: MIKE FOLKS and SARAH RAGLAND Staff Writers

John Zile's court-appointed attorneys on Thursday asked taxpayers to reimburse them for more than $200,000 in legal bills.

Assistant County Attorney Dan Hyndman said his office received the bills from Craig Wilson and Ed O'Hara, who defended Zile against first-degree murder and child-abuse charges in a three-week trial that ended in a mistrial earlier this month.

"I'm going to closely scrutinize the bills to look for any unnecessary or exorbitant costs," Hyndman said. "It was an extraordinarily high bill, but this was an extraordinary case.
Zile, 34, is accused of killing his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7. His retrial is scheduled for July.

Wilson is requesting $112,360 for legal fees. O'Hara, who already has received supplemental legal fee payments of $21,877, is seeking $41,568 more for his work.

Zile's defense attorneys still have not submitted bills for some of their expenses, such as payment for expert witnesses and for the administrative costs associated with taking depositions.

Hyndman said a panel of defense attorneys will review the bills at no cost to the county.

O'Hara said on Thursday that he expected the County Attorney's Office to find ways to lower their payments.

"But I don't think they're extraordinarily high, given the amount of work we put into the case," he said.

Zile's retrial probably will be less expensive because much of the work used to build the defense was done during the first trial, Hyndman said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have received a point-by-point critique of their performance in Zile's trial in an unsigned letter from a person purporting to be a juror.

The two-page, handwritten letter to Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp offers specific suggestions on how prosecutors can avoid another mistrial when Zile is retried.

"Mr. Cupp, 11 of us tried so hard to put this man where he belongs," the letter said. "Please, please, please get justice for this poor little girl so she can rest in peace."

The advice in the letter included pinning down inconsistencies in Zile's statements and emphasizing, in particular, that Zile held his hand over Christina's mouth while she cried because all but one juror thought that this caused Christina to breathe in her own vomit and die.

"It's not unusual to get comment from a juror after a lengthy trial," said Paul Zacks, a chief assistant Palm Beach County state attorney. "We will, of course, take everything that the juror said into consideration and make sure the next jury at the retrial is clear on all those issues."

Brenda Blount Lee, an alternate juror, said she did not think prosecutors needed to work too hard to hone their case.

"They proved their case in the first place," she said. "I don't care where they take the case or what happens; John Zile will be found guilty because he is.

ZILE JUROR OFFERS PROSECUTORS TIPS FOR RETRIAL
The Palm Beach Post
June 4, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A juror who heard the murder case against John Zile has written prosecutors a letter that offers tips on how to improve their chances of winning a conviction at Zile's second trial.

"Please tighten your case against Zile," the letter, written to prosecutor Scott Cupp, begins. "There were several gray areas and some people only see things in black and white."
The letter, which is not signed, lists 13 issues that the letter-writer says were confusing or unclear at Zile's first trial. That trial ended May 16 with a hung jury after one woman refused to side with the 11 other jurors and vote to convict Zile of first-degree murder.

Zile will be tried again on charges that he murdered his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt, in 1994.

One tip offered in the letter: Put Judith Holt, Christina's paternal grandmother, on the witness stand "to testify as to whether or not Christina had seizures," when the girl lived in Maryland before moving here.

Zile's defense was that Christina died of a seizure.

The letter also advises prosecutors to "MAKE SURE" jurors at Zile's retrial hear his October 1994 statement to police in which Zile said he put his hand over Christina's mouth to prevent her from crying after he began spanking her moments before her death.

According to medical testimony, Christina vomited, then inhaled the vomit.

The letter concludes, "Please, please, please get justice for this poor little girl so she can rest in peace."

IN COURT
The Palm Beach Post
June 5, 1996

WEST PALM BEACH - Jury selection for John Zile's second murder trial is scheduled to begin July 15 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, prosecutors said Tuesday. Zile's first trial ended in a mistrial last month when jurors could not agree on a verdict. Zile, 34, is charged with killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt, in 1994 in their Singer Island apartment. He faces the death penalty if convicted. Zile told jurors at his first trial that Christina died as the result of a seizure.