Alexander v. State

• Decision Date: 20 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. 4D99-2410.,4D99-2410.
• Parties: James Reno ALEXANDER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

778 So.2d 1017

James Reno ALEXANDER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 4D99-2410.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

December 20, 2000.

Rehearing Denied February 1, 2001.

H. Dohn Williams, Jr. of H. Dohn Williams, Jr., P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Frank J. Ingrassia, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

WARNER, C.J.

In this appeal from his conviction for first degree murder and kidnapping, for which appellant was sentenced to life in prison, appellant makes two challenges to evidence admitted which appellant claims is inadmissible hearsay. The first statement related to appellant's participation in another crime which the state claimed provided evidence of appellant's motive to participate in the murder. The second series of statements were made by a co-conspirator and admitted under that exception to the hearsay rule. Appellant also raises as error the trial court's failure to answer a jury question prior to the jury arriving at its verdict. On all issues, we affirm.

The victim, Louis Gordon, was last seen alive on September 11, 1996. Two days later the victim's friends notified police that he was missing. Upon arriving at the victim's condominium, the police noticed that his vehicle was gone and that the light fixture above his parking space had recently been broken. The police began an investigation that eventually led to appellant being indicted for first degree murder and kidnapping. Gordon's body was discovered three months later, contained in a 55 gallon drum, wrapped in a garbage bag, and encased in concrete. The drum was recovered from a canal in Palm Beach County.

The state's theory of appellant's involvement in this crime was based upon a series of dealings between appellant, co-defendant Ron Tramontano, the victim, and the state's chief witness David Swartz. On May 31, 1996, Greg Mill's red Chevrolet Corvette was stolen at gun point by appellant and Ron Tramontano. Appellant admitted in a later statement to the police that he had participated in the carjacking for the purpose of selling the car to Gordon. In his statement, appellant also acknowledged that while the relationship between Tramontano and Gordon was fine in June of 1996, it later deteriorated because there was a dispute about payment for the stolen Corvette, and Tramontano suspected Gordon of stealing or vandalizing his motorcycle.

David Swartz was a hairdresser in Deerfield Beach and was acquainted with both appellant and Tramontano. On September 10, 1996, Swartz met the two for lunch to plan the abduction of Gordon. Tramontano asked Swartz to rent a small van that would fit inside Gordon's garage. Swartz told Tramontano that Gordon had weights and furniture that belonged to Swartz, and Tramontano promised to get all of Swartz's property back. As a result of the meeting, the three men drove to a car rental agency where Swartz tried unsuccessfully to rent a van. After that, appellant returned to work, and Swartz and Tramontano went to another car agency and rented a van. Later that afternoon, appellant rejoined the two at Swartz's house. They discussed where to dispose of Gordon's body, and the three of them, along with Swartz's wife, Mandy, went to look for a canal. She testified at trial that Tramontano stated, in the presence of appellant, that they were going for a ride to look for a lake in which to dump a body.

Mandy testified that after they returned from the drive, Tramontano told Swartz that they would pick him up the following morning, September 11, to stake out Gordon's home. The next morning, appellant and Tramontano arrived with a truck. As the three walked out of the house, Swartz testified that Tramontano stated that Gordon would have to be killed. Swartz followed appellant and Tramontano to a paint store where all three men purchased painter's masks. A store clerk testified that he had sold such masks to three men on that date, but he could not identify the men. After purchasing the masks the trio went to Gordon's condominium and waited for Gordon. Swartz left to go to work before Gordon arrived, but later Tramontano and appellant found Swartz and told him to come along, as they had abducted Gordon. Appellant was driving the van, and Tramontano was sitting on Gordon, who was handcuffed and bloody. Swartz drove the truck and followed the van out to the west. At that point, Gordon got out of the van and into the truck, and Swartz drove away in the van. Swartz never saw Gordon again.

Swartz returned to work at the salon, and Mandy took the van back to the car rental agency, noticing spots of blood in the van. When she got back, both appellant and Tramontano were present, and both had cement dust and spots of blood on their clothing. The owner of the salon also testified that she saw appellant and Tramontano at the salon that afternoon.

Mandy also testified that appellant and Tramontano brought a duffel bag containing money, jewelry, certificates of deposit, and a street sweeper gun. Later that evening they arrived at the Swartz home in a red Corvette. The next day, September 12, appellant and Tramontano again arrived at Swartz's home requiring him to accompany them in the truck, in the back of which was a 55 gallon drum cement barrel with ten to fourteen bags of empty cement. Appellant told Swartz that Gordon's body had been placed in the barrel. The three drove to the Hillsboro canal, where the drum was dumped.

The owner of the truck rental agency testified that on September 13, appellant returned the truck. It had a powdery dust and a cement type mix in it. Forensic examination also revealed that the truck had human blood in it. Also on that date, Tramontano and Swartz drove to the driver's license bureau where Swartz obtained a driver's license in Gordon's name, using false documents. Using the fake driver's license, they intended to cash the certificates of deposit belonging to Gordon. Appellant's girlfriend testified that a couple of days prior to September 13, he had asked her how Swartz could cash some certificates of deposit. She told him that an identification was needed.

Swartz was arrested as a result of attempting to secure the driver's license. Ultimately, he was suspected in Gordon's disappearance. The prosecutor granted him immunity, and his testimony was a significant part of the state's case against appellant. However, in addition to Swartz's testimony and that of his wife, Mandy, and appellant's girlfriend, the state offered other incriminating evidence at trial, including one witness who saw appellant displaying a gun similar to the one Gordon owned. There was also evidence that appellant told Swartz to keep his wife from talking because he had made one person disappear and someone else could just as easily disappear.

Appellant testified and admitted his involvement in the carjacking of the Corvette but denied that he had anything to do with Gordon's abduction and murder. He stated that he did not have lunch with Tramontano and Swartz that day. He admitted renting a truck that evening but testified that he was using it to move furniture for his two sisters the next day. Both sisters testified and confirmed his alibi. However, appellant's girlfriend testified that she was present on that occasion, and it did not occur on either September 11, 12, or 13, 1996. Further, appellant testified that he returned the truck on September 12, even though the owner of the agency testified that the truck was returned the following morning.

Appellant was charged with kidnapping and first degree murder. The jury found him guilty of both counts. After adjudicating appellant guilty, the court sentenced appellant to life in prison without parole for first degree...