Andres v. State, SC15-1095

• Decision Date: 20 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. SC15-1095,SC15-1095
• Citation: 254 So.3d 283
• Parties: Rafael ANDRES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

254 So.3d 283

Rafael ANDRES, Appellant,

v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC15-1095

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 20, 2018

Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Andrew Stanton, Assistant Public Defender, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami, Florida, for Appellant

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, and Melissa R. Shaw, Assistant Attorney General, Miami, Florida, for Appellee

PER CURIAM.

Rafael Andres was convicted of one count of first-degree murder, one count of armed burglary with assault or battery, one count of first-degree arson, and one count of armed robbery for crimes that resulted in the death of Ivette Farinas, who was the occupant of an efficiency apartment in Miami where Andres was hired to perform renovation work. After the penalty phase, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of nine to three. Following the jury's recommendation, the trial court imposed a sentence of death. This is Andres' direct appeal. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm Andres' conviction for first-degree murder but vacate his death sentence because we cannot conclude that the Hurst¹ error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we remand his case to the trial court for a new penalty phase.

FACTS

The evidence introduced at trial during the guilt phase established the following facts. On January 24, 2005, the day of the murder, Hazel Vaughn, the victim's neighbor, dropped her son off at school and returned home by 8:40 a.m. Vaughn was doing chores outside when she heard a female moan coming from the victim's efficiency. Later, while standing by her kitchen sink, Vaughn saw a male close the door to the victim's efficiency, using the top of the door instead of the doorknob, as he left the efficiency. Vaughn then saw the same male return to the efficiency and leave once more carrying a red container as he walked to a van. Shortly after the male left, Vaughn noticed thick smoke coming from the victim's efficiency and called 911 at approximately 12:50 p.m. In a photographic line up, Vaughn later identified Andres as the male she saw coming and going from the victim's efficiency the day of the murder.

Firefighters responded to Vaughn's 911 call and arrived at the efficiency at 12:52 p.m. Upon entering the efficiency, Lieutenant Nelson Pagnacci saw flames and smoke coming from a bedroom to the left of the entryway. In front of him, in the kitchen area, Pagnacci saw the victim's body, which he dragged out of the burning efficiency. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and homicide detectives were called to respond.

The victim and her boyfriend, Alberto Ruiz, had lived together for approximately three years. For the first two years, the couple lived with Ruiz's parents at SW 74th Avenue and 16th Terrace in Miami. In April 2004, they moved about four blocks away to the efficiency at 1131 SW 74th Avenue.

The house on the property where the efficiency was located had been sold in November 2004, and the new owners, Zuzel Rodriguez and Jose Perez, began a series of renovations in early December, including electrical work, plumbing, painting, moving an air conditioning unit, plastering, and other repairs. They hired Andres to perform this work. When Andres came to work in the mornings, Rodriguez would give him the keys to the property, including the main house and the efficiency. The owners also moved the door to the efficiency, from the back of the house to a side alleyway; as a result, Andres had to move the outlet to the refrigerator and the refrigerator itself.

Ruiz drove a milk delivery truck every day except Wednesday and Sunday. On Wednesdays, Ruiz worked buying cars at auction. As a result, he would have between $200 and $2,000 in cash in the efficiency. The victim worked the afternoon shift at the La Carreta restaurant at Miami International Airport, returning home around 11 p.m. The victim brought home cash tips each night.

On the day of the murder, Ruiz left for work at 4 a.m. Andres arrived between 7 a.m. and 7:15 a.m., and Rodriguez gave him the keys. Rodriguez then left for work. Andres was scheduled to complete a full day of work solely in the main house.

That same day, the victim and her sister, Lisbeth Farinas, planned to run errands together. The victim was to pick up Lisbeth at their parents' house between 9 and 9:15 a.m., so Lisbeth anticipated that her sister would leave the efficiency no later than 9 a.m. By 9:30 a.m., Lisbeth, worried, began calling the victim. She continued calling the victim until noon without any answer. Lisbeth also tried calling Ruiz, finally reaching him at approximately 2 p.m. Ruiz also tried calling the victim but got no answer.

At 3:05 p.m., Ruiz's brother called Ruiz and told him that the area around the efficiency was blocked off and television cameras were there. Ruiz arrived at the scene around 5 p.m., and he was brought immediately to Miami-Dade Detective Enrique Chavary. Detective Chavary took Ruiz to a police station, questioned him, took a DNA sample, and obtained consent to search the efficiency. At 6 p.m., the police called Lisbeth, and she went to the efficiency.

Not knowing that a fire or murder had occurred, Perez received a voicemail from Andres that afternoon. Although the voicemail was recorded at 12:47 p.m., Andres stated it was "12:15 p.m." and he was leaving Perez's house to finish some work at another home but would return to the Perez house later that afternoon. Perez never saw Andres again.

Angie Gonzalez, Perez's cousin, testified that she hired Andres to redo the flooring in her new home after meeting him through Perez. On January 20, 2005, four days before the murder, Gonzalez wrote Andres a check for $1,860, which constituted half of his fee for the project. On the day of the murder, Gonzalez went to her home and waited for Andres to arrive as scheduled, but he never arrived. Gonzalez called Andres three times to inquire about his absence; Andres returned her calls later that night to say he did not make it to her home due to a problem at the Perez house. Gonzalez called Andres three more times the next day, but he never returned her call. Gonzalez never saw Andres again, even though he left expensive tools and equipment at her home.

On the day of the murder, police called Andres, who agreed to meet with them at the police station the next morning. However, Andres did not appear as agreed and could not be found. On January 30, 2005, detectives located Andres near a shopping mall on a public street in Miami. Police subsequently found Andres' van in a rural area with an empty red gasoline container inside.

An autopsy was performed on the victim's body at the medical examiner's office the day after the murder. The victim's cause of death was determined to be stab wounds

to the chest and ligature strangulation. The victim's face and chin had large bruises and possibly an abrasion or scrape on the left side of her lower lip, consistent with being punched. The victim's chest had three stab wounds, which penetrated the chest cavity and right and left lungs, causing hemorrhaging. The victim's thighs were covered in a trail of blood, which changed directions as it ran down her legs, indicating the victim was upright when she sustained stab wounds to the chest but subsequently went to a kneeling position. The bruises and abrasions on the victim's left knee were also consistent with being forced to her knees. Ligature marks on the victim's neck and hemorrhages in her eyes confirmed that an object had been placed around her neck, and she struggled to defend herself while being asphyxiated.

The lack of carbon monoxide in the victim's body indicated that she died before the fire started. The medical examiner estimated that the victim suffered for up to thirty minutes before dying.

Crime scene officers and detectives discovered that the front door knob of the efficiency had been forcibly removed, and there was evidence of tampering with the lock. An arson investigator from the Miami-Dade Fire Department determined that the fire was started with an ignitable liquid and an open flame on the bed in the bedroom. Crime scene officers impounded several pieces of evidence, including a bloody dishcloth found near the victim's body, which was confirmed to contain the presence of a mixture of the victim's and Andres' DNA. Police later obtained footage of Andres using the victim's debit card at several places, including Home Depot and Advance Auto Parts, on the day of and days following the murder. After a jury trial, Andres was found guilty as charged on all counts and adjudicated guilty consistent with the jury verdicts.

During the penalty phase proceedings, Detective Bruce Roberson, a former homicide detective for the City of Miami Police Department, testified that he interviewed Andres regarding his involvement in the 1987 second-degree murder of Linda Azcarretta. In that interview, Andres gave multiple accounts of how Azcarretta died but ultimately confessed that he stabbed her while they were both intoxicated from rock cocaine and later disposed of the knife.

Defense counsel presented several mitigation witnesses. Detective Roberson and Andres' 1987 attorney testified that Andres was remorseful when he confessed to killing Azcarretta. Other testimony from corrections officers, inmates, and family members indicated that Andres served as a prison trustee and informant, understood the Bible, shared his food, taught others how to read, and was a good brother and father figure.

After the penalty phase, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of nine to three. The trial court followed the jury's recommendation and imposed a death sentence.² This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

Andres raises twelve claims on appeal.³ We address the guilt phase claims first, followed by the sufficiency of the evidence and Andres' claim for relief pursuant to Hurst v. Florida , ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 616, 193...