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.

Prosecutors Seek To Import Zile Jury (8/28/96)
Zile Cases 'Wild' Cost Is Taxing The System (8/29/96)
Next Zile Jury To Remain In Bartow (8/31/96)
Zile Team Focuses On Reporter (9/13/96)
Reporter Maintains Silence On Interview With John Zile (9/18/96)
Reporter Enters Not Guilty Plea To Contempt Charge in Zile Case (9/20/96)
Prosecutor Lands Key Role (9/30/96)
Local (10/4/96)
Reporter Might Face Sentence For Contempt (10/4/96)
In Court (10/5/96)

PROSECUTORS SEEK TO IMPORT ZILE JURY
Sun-Sentinel
August 28, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Instead of taking John Zile's first-degree murder trial in the death of his stepdaughter back to Polk County, prosecutors are asking that a Polk County jury be brought to Palm Beach County.

At a hearing today, the State Attorney's Office will ask that Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Roger Colton consider using a recent law that allows an out-of-county jury to be imported in cases when local residents know too much about a case to be impartial.
Zile's attorneys could not be reached for comment late Tuesday on whether they would object to the request.

Zile's case was moved to Polk County, in central Florida, because of extensive publicity about the death of Christina Holt, including news coverage of a Palm Beach County jury's inability to reach a verdict in his first trial in May.

Christina, 7, first came to the public's attention when her mother, Pauline Zile, reported her daughter was abducted at the Swap Shop west of Fort Laudedale. Police later discovered the child died after a beating by her stepfather and had been secretly buried.

An attempt at a second trial for Zile earlier this month in Polk County failed when the entire pool of prospective jurors had to be dismissed because they heard improper comments made by Polk County's elected clerk of courts.

If Colton agrees to importing a jury, it could be the first time the law is used in the state, said Mike Edmondson, State Attorney's Office spokesman. "The court needs to weigh the service to the defendant, the [victim's) survivors, the cost to the county and the ability of the jury to relocate for what could be a lengthy trial," Edmondson said.

The trial is expected to last a month, and finding people willing to leave home for that length of time could make jury selection more difficult.

But, Edmondson said, housing and feeding a sequestered jury could be cheaper to county taxpayers than moving all the trial participants such as attorneys, witnesses and courtroom staff to Bartow, Polk County's seat.

Before the Polk County jury was dismissed, officials were estimating the Zile trial would cost taxpayers more than $300,000. "That will be an issue for the county to determine," Edmondson said. "On the face of it, it seems it would be."

ZILE CASE'S `WILD' COST IS TAXING THE SYSTEM
TRIAL COULD BECOME COUNTY'S MOST EXPENSIVE
Sun-Sentinel
August 29, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer
Staff Writer Sarah Ragland contributed to this story.

The price of justice in John Zile's murder case, currently at $183,000, could end up being the highest ever paid by taxpayers in Palm Beach County history.

Palm Beach County government on Wednesday joined in the prosecution's motion to import a Polk County jury to West Palm Beach for Zile's retrial in the death of his stepdaughter instead of moving the entire trial to Bartow, near Tampa.
County Administrator Bob Weisman said the climbing cost of putting Zile on trial could mean dipping into the county's contingency funds, which are set aside for unexpected costs such as paying electric bills for the poor.

"There is no kind of budget for this kind of wild expenditure for one case," Weisman said.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton said he will issue a written ruling on the matter. As of late Wednesday, he had not filed a ruling.

Zile's first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse trial for the death of his stepdaughter Christina Holt, 7, was moved to Polk County after the jury in his first trial in May could not reach a unanimous verdict.

His second trial, which began on Aug. 12, was aborted after a week of jury selection of 103 people because of comments made about large amounts of evidence in the case by Polk County's elected clerk of courts.

"Zile is poised to be the most expensive case, clearly, in Palm Beach County history for a number of factors: the notoriety and the fact it has to be prosecuted more than once," Assistant County Attorney Dan Hyndman said on Wednesday.

Transferring the jury instead of the entire trial would save "tens of thousands of dollars," Hyndman said. He could not be more specific.

Palm Beach County currently has $2.1 million budgeted to defend people facing the death penalty who are unable to pay for their own attorneys, Hyndman said. Of that, $250,000 is left for the rest of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The typical cost to taypayers in death penalty cases ranges from $50,000 to $100,000. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Zile is convicted.

Two defense attorneys are used in such cases, with one handling the guilt phase for $100 an hour and the second handling the penalty phase if there is a conviction, at $75 an hour.

Large legal bills to taxpayers in the past, Hyndman said, include $145,490 to defend Linda Cooney, who was acquitted of killing her ex-husband in 1993, and the cases of Vernon Amos and Leonard Spencer, who have been tried more than three times each for a shooting spree at a convenience store and pub near West Palm Beach.

Prosecutor Scott Cupp, who in the past has fought the defense on jury sequestration in Zile's case, on Wednesday said he would reluctantly agree to putting the jury up in hotels for the next trial, which is expected to take a month, if it means the trial will cost less.

A 1994 law that allows juries to be imported applies only in cases in which jurors are sequestered, Cupp said. "We feel realistically there is no other choice," he said. "We don't want to sequester the jury."

But, Cupp said he has never seen a case that has had as many problems in picking and keeping a jury.

"The number of (potential) jurors we have lost between the two trials is probably 200, either through jury misconduct or the misconduct of others," Cupp said.

Also, keeping the trial in Palm Beach County would give the trial judge more control, Cupp said.

"We don't have to worry about a different clerk of courts, different bailiffs, different procedures," Cupp said.

Craig Wilson, one of Zile's two taxpayer-financed attorneys who oppose the motion, said bringing an out-of-county jury to West Palm Beach would defeat the purpose of moving the trial out of South Florida in the first place.

"We're going to be right back in this frenzy," Wilson said.

But more importantly, Zile's life is at stake. "The state is seeking the death penalty against my client," Wilson said. "I don't think dollars and cents factor in the equation."

NEXT ZILE JURY TO REMAIN IN BARTOW
JUDGE SAYS NO WEST PALM MOVE
Sun-Sentinel
August 31, 1996
Author: SARAH LUNDY Staff Writer

Jurors for John Zile's murder trial will not be imported from Polk County, even though the proposal might have cut tens of thousands of dollars from the costly proceedings, a judge ruled on Friday.

Prosecutors had sought to import the jurors and sequester them in West Palm Beach for Zile's retrial on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Zile's 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt, died after he allegedly beat her in 1994.
Palm Beach County administrators argued that the proposal could slash thousands from the cost of what is shaping up to be the most expensive trial in county history.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton rejected the proposal but did not explain why in his ruling.

The ruling means that jury selection for Zile's next trial should start on Oct. 15 in Bartow, near Tampa, said Mike Edmondson, the State Attorney's Office spokesman.

The ruling does not prevent Zile's defense attorneys from filing another motion requesting that jurors in Bartow be sequestered for the next trial. But for now, Zile's attorneys are satisfied, said Craig Wilson, one of Zile's two court-appointed lawyers.

Because Zile is indigent, taxpayers will pick up the cost of his defense. Total trial costs stand at $183,000.

Palm Beach County administrators told Colton it would be cheaper to select a jury in Bartow, bring them back to West Palm Beach and sequester them in a local hotel during the trial than to sequester them in Bartow and move prosectors, public defenders, the judge, evidence and witnesses there.

Zile's first trial ended in a mistrial in May when jurors deadlocked 11-1 to convict. The second trial was moved to Bartow to ensure an impartial jury in the highly publicized case.

But that trial was aborted Aug. 19 after the Polk County clerk of courts made remarks that Colton decided could have prejudiced the jurors.

ZILE TEAM FOCUSES ON REPORTER
DEPOSITION SHOT DOWN; FOURTH SUBPOENA ISSUED
Sun-Sentinel
September 13, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Prosecutors on Thursday subpoenaed a newspaper reporter for the fourth time, after a judge ruled that they could not depose him about his jailhouse interview with accused murderer John Zile before Zile's trial.

The reporter, David Kidwell of The Miami Herald, has indicated that he won't talk about his November 1995 interview with Zile if called to testify, said Sandy Bohrer, an attorney for The Herald and Kidwell.

"The position he's taken is a journalist should not be a part of the process," Bohrer said outside court.
Without Kidwell, the prosecution could have difficulty proving that Zile made the statements in the article, such as beating his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, until she was "black and blue."

Zile also was quoted in the article as saying he and the child's mother, Pauline Zile, chose not to call paramedics when Christina lost consciousness because of bruises on her body from past beatings.

While Zile's statements to police and the newspaper interview are similar, the article went into more detail.

If Kidwell refuses to testify, a judge could send him to jail for contempt of court.

Prosecutors never called Kidwell to testify in Zile's first trial, which ended in a mistrial in May with a jury deadlocked 11-1 for a first-degree murder conviction. Zile is accused of beating his 7-year-old stepdaughter to death in September 1994.

Attorneys for The Herald and Zile persuaded a judge on Thursday to cancel the prosecution's afternoon deposition of Kidwell. In a deposition, attorneys for the state and defense are present to learn what the witness will testify to at trial.

Craig Wilson, one of Zile's court-appointed attorneys, argued that the prosecution cannot force its own witnesses to be deposed.

After the decision, prosecutors tried another tactic. They issued an investigative subpoena, which requires Kidwell to make a sworn statement. He is scheduled to make the statement next week.

If Kidwell refuses to respond to the latest subpoena, he could be jailed immediately rather than when he is called to testify at the trial.

In a sworn statement, defense attorneys are not present but receive a transcript of the proceedings to prepare for trial. Armed with the transcript, defense attorneys then can depose the state witness before trial.

REPORTER MAINTAINS SILENCE ON INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ZILE
Sun-Sentinel
September 18, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

A newspaper reporter refused to answer a prosecutor's questions about his jail house interview with child-killer suspect John Zile on Tuesday and faces possible contempt of court charges.

David Kidwell of The Miami Herald was scheduled to give a sworn statement about his November 1994 interview with Zile about the night Zile's stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7, died after a beating.
After Kidwell's refusal to give a statement, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Roger Colton signed an order requiring Kidwell to show in court and explain himself.

Prosecutors want Kidwell jailed for contempt of court if he continues to refuse. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

The state wants Kidwell's testimony at Zile's trial, scheduled for October in Bartow, to verify that Zile made the statements quoted in the article.

In the article, Zile was quoted as saying he beat the child until she was "black and blue."He said he and the child's mother, Pauline Zile, chose not to call paramedics when Christina lost consciousness, because of bruises on her body from past beatings.

Zile's attorneys contend that Kidwell did not explain to jail officials that he was a newspaper reporter when he visited, and used the same tactics in another high-profile murder case, in Broward County.

While Zile's statements to police and the newspaper interview are similar, the article went into more detail. Prosecutors never called Kidwell to testify in Zile's first trial, which ended in a mistrial in May with a jury deadlocked 11-1 for a first-degree murder conviction.

Zile is accused of beating his 7-year-old stepdaughter Christina to death in September 1994. Zile's attorneys have tried to prevent Kidwell's testimony and threatened to descredit discredit the reporter if he decides to become a state witness.

REPORTER ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEA TO CONTEMPT CHARGE IN ZILE CASE
Miami Herald, The (FL)
September 20, 1996
Author: MARTIN MERZER Herald Senior Writer

A Herald reporter pleaded not guilty Thursday to a contempt of court charge related to his refusal to answer questions about a jailhouse interview he conducted with accused child killer John Zile.
In a written motion, attorneys for reporter David Kidwell formally entered the plea and asked Palm Beach Circuit Judge Roger Colton to dismiss the charge.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1 in West Palm Beach.

Prosecutors have subpoenaed Kidwell, 35, to testify next month during the retrial of Zile, charged with first-degree murder in the October 1994 death of his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt.

Kidwell also was subpoenaed to attend a pretrial meeting with prosecutors this past Tuesday. During that meeting, Kidwell refused to discuss a Herald story based on his November 1994 interview with Zile, prosecutors said.

In response, prosecutors asked Colton to cite Kidwell for "indirect" contempt of court, meaning the alleged offense occurred outside the hearing of a judge.

Sanford Bohrer, Kidwell's attorney, said the reporter should not be compelled to testify in the case or answer attorneys' questions about his news-gathering efforts.

"He's not trying to protect John Zile or help the state, either," Bohrer said. "He just thinks he should not be a witness just because he talked to a defendant and the defendant talked back and he reported it."

In the motion filed Thursday, Bohrer said the second subpoena reflected "a desire to harass Kidwell" and "constitutes an unlawful attempt by the state to obtain testimony from its own witness."

Paul Zacks, chief assistant state attorney for Palm Beach County, refused comment on the Kidwell matter. "We will discuss our position in court," he said.

But in court documents, prosecutors said Kidwell "is believed to have personal knowledge of facts relevant to the prosecution" of the Zile case.

In the November 1994 story written by Kidwell and published in The Herald, Zile was quoted as saying he was "furious" with Christina, that he "popped her on the mouth," spanked her until "her butt was black and blue" and buried her body.

The Herald's attorneys have waged several unsuccessful battles to quash the subpoena requiring Kidwell to testify in the case.

If Colton ultimately holds Kidwell in contempt of court, the reporter could face fines or a jail term.

PROSECUTOR LANDS KEY ROLE
JILL ESTEY'S REPUTATION EARNS HER A PLACE ON STATE'S ZILE TEAM
Sun-Sentinel
September 30, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Assistant State Attorney Jill Estey, one of the prosecutors in John Zile's first-degree murder case, has decided to come clean about how she got her start at the office: old-fashioned patronage.
In 1984, when she was an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Florida, she got a part-time, minimum-wage job from then State Attorney David Bludworth answering telephones.

"My parents lived catty-corner to the Bludworths and I was friends with their daughter," said Estey, 31. "It was definitely nothing I earned."

But she has earned everything since then. From switchboard operator, she worked her way up to victim-witness counselor before departing for law school at Nova SoutheasternUniversity in Miami and returning as a full-time prosecutor in the office in 1991.

She went to work at the State Attorney's Office whenever she had a break in college in Gainesville, where she studied criminal justice. Even during law school, she worked as a certified legal intern. She scheduled classes for Tuesdays and Thursdays and handled misdemeanor cases on the other days.

"I quit asking if I could come. I would just show up," Estey said, smiling at the memory of her own chutzpah.

She remembers trying to get her work out of the way so she could sneak off to see the best in the office in the news-making murder trials of the day.

Now, she is the one being watched as a part of the team prosecuting John Zile, who is accused of murdering his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7, in one of the most-publicized cases in Palm Beach County history.

In August, Estey's last-minute substitution for homicide division chief Mary Ann Duggan for Zile's retrial raised eyebrows. Duggan and Scott Cupp, chief of the Crimes Against Children Unit, handled Zile's first trial in May, which ended in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Because of family obligations, Duggan said she could not be away a month in Bartow, near Tampa, where the case was moved for the second trial because of news saturation of the case locally.

Zile's attorneys, Craig Wilson and Ed O'Hara, didn't know Estey and were wary of an unknown opponent. "Who is she?" they asked about the prosecutor whose experience was in rape and child abuse, not murder cases.

Cupp said he and his bosses decided on Estey because of her knack at explaining DNA evidence to a jury. They also liked her toughness.

The prosecution contends that blood stains found on a mattress, a pair of child's jeans and two pillows seized from the Ziles' apartment in October 1994 matched the DNA makeup of Christina, indicating she was severely beaten.

"After we found out Mary Ann couldn't go, we looked at Jill. Jill has a reputation for being aggressive. She demonstrated that with the gang-rape case," Cupp said.

In April 1995, before four young men were scheduled to be tried together for the abduction and rape of a 17-year-old girl, a judge ordered four separate trials.

Estey announced she was ready.

"There were four co-defendants and she was prepared for four separate trials, to basically stand the defendants down," Cupp said. "They ended up pleading, which indicated a high degree of confidence in her ability. She only had to try one case and she won that."

Estey downplays her role on the prosecution team with Cupp, her boss, in the Zile case.

"I'm not taking Mary Ann's place. I'm doing a very small part of the case," Estey said. "I think Scott asked me to join him just because he needed someone to amuse him. Besides, I'm the only one in the office without a family who could be away for a month."

Estey credits Bludworth for giving her a chance and current State Attorney Barry Krischer for promoting her to the felony division. She prosecuted misdemeanors in Delray Beach for almost two years.

Criminal defense attorney Louise Jones, who once trained new lawyers for the Public Defender's Office, said she has been impressed with Estey ever since their first encounter on a misdemeanor domestic battery case.

"It was a knock down, drag out," Jones said. "She was a year out of law school and she was one of the best I've ever seen straight out of the box."

Yet, Estey is pragmatic, dismissing cases that have little chance of winning in court and selective in picking her battles, defense lawyers said.

"Jill Estey is an extremely ethical lawyer, an extremely practical prosecutor, who is able to recognize what is practical about a case," said criminal defense attorney Michael Salnick.

For instance, Estey made the potentially unpopular move of dropping the third-degree murder and child abuse case against Jacqueline Caruncho. A baby sitter, Caruncho was accused of killing a 4-month-old girl in her care by shaking the child. An autopsy by the Medical Examiner's Office said the child was shaken to death.

But other medical experts for the defense and the state had doubts about the original autopsy and concluded the child could have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

"It's an old saying, but it's true," Estey said. "The job of the prosecutor is to seek the truth, not win convictions."

Her parents, who live in Lake Worth, couldn't be more proud, she said.

"They love it. My mom's the type who was always reading true-crime novels so she just thinks it's great."

LOCAL
The Palm Beach Post
October 4, 1996

REPORTER AWAITS WORD ON CONTEMPT CHARGE
WEST PALM BEACH - David Kidwell, a reporter with The Miami Herald, stands near John Zile during a hearing in Palm Beach County Court Thursday. Kidwell was in court to see if a judge will force him to testify in Zile's murder trial. Kidwell interviewed Zile for a story on the death of Zile's stepdaughter, Christina Holt. The judge will decide on Monday whether to charge Kidwell with contempt for refusing to answer questions about his interview with Zile.

REPORTER MIGHT FACE SENTENCE FOR CONTEMPT
Miami Herald, The (FL)
October 4, 1996
Author: MARTIN MERZER Herald Senior Writer

A judge moved a step closer Thursday to holding a Herald reporter in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about a jailhouse interview he conducted with child-murder suspect John Zile.

Circuit Judge Roger Colton of West Palm Beach refused to dismiss the charge against reporter David Kidwell and ordered him to return to court Monday for a verdict and, if necessary, sentencing.
``I do not intend to delay,'' Colton said. ``If I rule that Mr. Kidwell is indeed in contempt of court, I will proceed to sentencing.''

If Colton finds Kidwell guilty, possible sentences include an indefinite jail term, probation and fines.

Kidwell, 35, has been subpoenaed to testify during Zile's retrial in Bartow, scheduled to begin on Oct. 15. Zile is charged with first-degree murder in the October 1994 death of his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt.

During a pretrial meeting with prosecutors last month, Kidwell refused to discuss a Herald story based on his November 1994 interview with Zile. In response, prosecutors charged Kidwell with indirect contempt of court, meaning that the alleged offense occurred outside the presence of a judge.

At one point Thursday, believing that Colton was on the brink of sending him immediately to jail, Kidwell kissed his wife goodbye. After the hearing, Kidwell again signaled that he would not submit to questions about the Zile interview or the news story that it produced.

``Out of respect to the court, I can't say what I will do,'' Kidwell said. ``But we have to be free to conduct these interviews without interference from the state, and if we can't do that, we might as well turn our pads and pencils over to the police and let them write the stories.''

After waging several unsuccessful legal battles on Kidwell's behalf, The Herald's attorneys and editors ultimately advised him to speak with prosecutors and defense attorneys and, if necessary, testify during the trial.

They said he was legally obligated to cooperate because the case in question did not involve confidential sources or unpublished information.

Executive Editor Doug Clifton said The Herald worked to ``exhaust every legal remedy because news gatherers should not be subpoenaed.

``But once we've had our day in court, if the ruling goes against us, we don't stand against the court,'' Clifton said.

Kidwell is defended by Sanford Bohrer of Miami, who represented The Herald in the case and now represents Kidwell privately.

Prosecutors want Kidwell to verify the substance of his article, which included incriminating statements by Zile, 34. Zile's first trial, in West Palm Beach, ended in May with a deadlocked jury. Zile was in court Thursday but did not utter a word.

Kidwell has worked at The Herald since 1990 and currently is assigned to its Fort Lauderdale office.

``He's David Kidwell, witness,'' prosecutor Scott Cupp told the judge Thursday. ``Not David Kidwell, Miami Herald reporter. Not David Kidwell, cloaked in the First Amendment . . .

``He's either got to talk or he's got to go to jail. There's no two ways about it.''

Kidwell's lawyer told the judge that prosecutors were forbidden by law to subpoena their own witness for a deposition.

``They're not entitled to a single word from Mr. Kidwell,'' Bohrer said.

The judge disagreed, quickly denying Bohrer's motion to dismiss the contempt of court charge. Bohrer said he was likely to appeal that ruling today.

IN COURT
The Palm Beach Post
October 5, 1996

WEST PALM BEACH - The attorney for David Kidwell, a Miami Herald reporter, asked the 4th District Court of Appeal to decide if a contempt charge should be dismissed against Kidwell. Circuit Judge Roger Colton refused to dismiss the contempt charge Thursday and ordered Kidwell to return to court Monday for judgment and sentencing. Kidwell has refused to answer questions about his interview with John Zile at the Palm Beach county jail. Zile faces the electric chair if convicted of killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt. Kidwell faces probation, a fine or jail if he is found guilty of contempt. The 4th DCA had not ruled on the appeal as of late Friday.