VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla.,None — The convicted ringleader in the murder of six people over an Xbox is trying to get his death sentence overturned.
On Wednesday, Troy Victorino was in court in Volusia County claiming that his lawyer didn't properly handle his original trial.
It's been five years since Victorino's conviction for murdering six people in Deltona. On Wednesday, he appeared in court for an appeal and is trying to get a new trial.
Victorino is on death row for brutally beating the six victims in this home on Telford Lane. He was the so- called ringleader who went with three other men to settle a score over a stolen Xbox.
A public defender brought Victorino's cousin to testify in his favor. His cousin said she did not observe any disturbing behavior from Victorino.
But the defense's main argument is that his private attorneys were ineffective during his original 2006 trial, and that he did not get a constitutional trial.
The public defender argued that the attorneys didn't object at crucial moments during the trial, but the state said that the Victorino's defense team did everything it could.
Victorino did not testify, but before the hearing, we wrote him a letter in October requesting an interview with him in prison.
He declined, but said why in a handwritten letter. He said, "One-sided or edited interviews only serve to inflame the passions of viewers and encourage the revenge mindset, which resulted in my current sentences."
And of course that sentence is death.
The judge said he'll be looking at evidence and the arguments from both sides. He could decide early next year whether Victorino gets a new trial.
WFTV
