Page 40 - John Sutton News Today

That christopher was behind it all. >> raise your right hand. she will administer the oath. >> reporter: for starters, this man once worked with christopher, was an occasional pot customer too, but was shocked he said when christopher asked him a certain question. >> what did the defendant ask you? >> he asked me if i knew of any hit men that would kill his parents. >> what reason or explanation did he give you? >> he said his parents were -- worth about $500,000 to $1 million. >> reporter: a lo...

>> he was banking on getting out when he turned 18. but we also learned that john sutton, being a lawyer, had an order signed by a judge that said when you turn 18, if you havent completed the course you are going to stay. which infuriated christopher sutton. >> reporter: why did you decide to keep him there when he turned 18? >> we had concerns he wasnt ready to return. he had not "graduated the program." >> reporter: how did he feel about that? >> he was quite upset. >> reporter: he wanted to ...

You know, im just frying to do the best i can. then i go in and memorize the citations and let them decide if i know what im doing. >> reporter: lately he has been busier than ever. recently won a $9 million judgment for one of his clients. >> the blindness, i just couldnt even imagine. i dont even, i cant even try to think what that would be like. >> reporter: memorizing things and going into court, what is that -- a pretty determined guy. >> yeah, i agree. >> reporter: but adapting, even succe...

Coming up -- accused of murdering his mother, and blinding his father, a son sheds tears on the stand for himself. >> that was when they called, in denial. >> do you need a break? >> yeah. >> reporter: when "blind justice" continues.

Funding we can get, how many scientists we can put behind the problem to solve it. >> reporter: sutton told the doctors he would somehow help make it happen. he wrote checks. he joined the board of directors. >> john sutton. >> reporter: he offered himself as a voice of hope for desperate patients. >> reporter: even though it may never help him, as long as he lives. he is okay with that? >> there is a chance that -- that we may not be able to restore his vision. there is a chance -- on the other...

And john sutton got busy. he had a mission, two, in fact. one to seek justice no matter what that might mean for his son. and the other, perhaps even more impossible, to simply see again. coming up -- garrett kopp avenue confession should be enough to put him behind bars. but did prosecutors have enough to convict christopher sutton? >> this was a circumstantial case, extremely circumstantial. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. really based on motive. keith morrison: when dateline continues...

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What were they saying, garrett, garrett. >> something like that. >> you need to tell us, something, garrett. because theyre going to fry your ass in the electric chair. >> excuse me. >> mr. fleisher. >> is that an objection? >> yes that is an objection. >> the question is, is that what they said to you? >> something like that. im going down for murder. >> youre going down for murder. >> im going to get the death penalty. >> you are going to get the death penalty. what finally made you give them ...

>> christopher made comments that his parents are going to pay for sending him, taking years out of his life. >> reporter: when they took a closer look at christophers more recent history. they could easily see his improved behavior wasnt exactly lasting. even girlfriend juliettes influence couldnt keep christopher from slipping up. yes he went back to college after he returned from samoa, but soon dropped out. he did form a company. but the company folded. >> he didnt seem to be motivated. >> r...

>> from the day we are born we >> reporter: summertime in miami. pounding heat. unavoidable sun. unavoidable except of course inside. >> all rise, please. >> reporter: six years inside a cell in the county jail had produced a doughy christopher sutton by the time his trial finally began. it was july 2010. the son charged with hiring the hit man who murdered his mother, blinded his father. and here he sat apparently confident, highly prepared, ignoring most of the time the surviving members of hi...