Closing arguments begin in Hollywood penalty phase

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Closing arguments began Tuesday in the penalty phase of the kidnap-murder trial of Jesse James Hollywood, who faces a possible death sentence the killing of a 15-year-old boy over a drug debt owed by his half-brother.

Hollywood’s attorney James Blatt told The Associated Press a verdict could be reached by the end of the week. However, he said a gag order prevented him from further discussing the case.

Jurors must decide whether to recommend death or life in prison for Hollywood, a 29-year-old former marijuana dealer.

Hollywood was convicted last week of first-degree murder, kidnapping and special allegations in a crime that inspired the 2007 movie “Alpha Dog,” with Bruce Willis and Justin Timberlake.

In opening testimony on Monday, Hollywood’s mother and younger brother described him as a loving, peaceful role model.

“Jesse never even got into a fight, ever,” Laurie Haynes told jurors.

As a child, he was always home for dinner and loved animals, she said. After moving out, he would often visit his parents, she added.

Prosecutors presented testimony from the parents, stepsister and half-brother of Nicholas Markowitz, who was kidnapped from a San Fernando Valley street on Aug. 6, 2000.

Markowitz’s mother, Susan Markowitz, said her son had a driver’s permit posted on the refrigerator when he died about a month before his 16th birthday.

“Instead of a car, he has a coffin,” she said.

She recalled police officers notifying her of her son’s death.

“At that moment, I died,” she said.

Prosecutors said Hollywood took the boy because of an escalating feud with his half-brother, Ben Markowitz, who owed Hollywood money for drugs.

The boy was taken to Santa Barbara, where he drank and partied with his abductors. Hollywood ordered the boy shot three days after the abduction when he learned kidnapping can carry a life sentence, prosecutors said.

His body was later found in foothills near Santa Barbara.

Ben Markowitz fought back tears as he testified that his little brother looked up to him. He said he felt responsible for the death of Nicholas and had been asked by his father not to attend the funeral to avoid a possible argument.

“Pretty much, my family just cut me off” until about 2½ years ago, he said.

The defense screened photographs of Hollywood posing with a Little League baseball team and with his younger brother.

“He’s my role model. … I know he didn’t do it,” brother Joseph Hollywood, 21, told jurors.

Information from: Santa Barbara News-Press, www.newspress.com