Carpenter v. State

• Decision Date: 01 March 2001
• Docket Number: No. SC90349.,SC90349.
• Citation: 785 So.2d 1182
• Parties: David Charles CARPENTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

785 So.2d 1182

David Charles CARPENTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC90349.

Supreme Court of Florida.

March 1, 2001.

Rehearing Denied May 18, 2001.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Robert F. Moeller, Assistant Public Defender, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Bartow, FL, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Carol M. Dittmar, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the judgment and sentence of the trial court imposing a death sentence on David C. Carpenter. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. As more fully explained below, we reverse Carpenter's conviction and remand for a new trial because the trial court prohibited Carpenter from presenting certain evidence to the jury during the guilt phase of the trial.

I. BACKGROUND

Shortly before midnight on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1994, two law enforcement officers in Clearwater, Florida, investigated a blue 1989 Ford Taurus sedan parked in a field near the Pinellas County Trail. The officers discovered that the interior of the vehicle had been burned; two Molotov cocktails, each comprised of a 16-ounce juice bottle with a rag for a wick, rested in the back seat of the vehicle. A check of the vehicle's license plate revealed the registered owner to be Ann Powell, a sixty-two year old female resident of nearby Dunedin.

Upon discovering that the vehicle had been burned, additional law enforcement officers responded to the scene to conduct a further investigation. In the trunk of the vehicle, officers discovered a "white bedspread type blanket," upon which there was some light sooting. When the blanket was lifted, officers found a small "white person's body." At that point, law enforcement personnel transported the vehicle to a secured police facility and attempted to locate Ann Powell.

At Ann Powell's residence, officers identified a red notebook in which Powell recorded miscellaneous notes. Many of the entries in the notebook were dated, and one of the entries read "5:33" next to "Dave." This notebook entry was later matched with a telephone message from Powell's answering machine, which was left at 5:33 p.m. on November 23, 1994. The content of the recorded message was as follows: "Hi Ann, this is Dave. Are you there? I just want to know if we're still on for tonight. I'll check back at about a quarter 'til. Thank you." There also was one earlier message from "Dave" left at 1:17 p.m. on November 22, 1994: "Hi. Ann, this [is] Dave. How about dinner tonight, dinner and dance? If you want to, you can meet me here at—or by the—it's the same place where I met you, at 6:00 o'clock, and I'll call you back later."

At the secured police facility, the medical examiner and various law enforcement officers investigated the vehicle and Powell's body. After unwrapping Powell's body from the white blanket, it was clear that her head had been wrapped in a white towel, which was bloody on the top. Powell had been "hog-tied" with her arms and legs behind her back. Specifically, ropes had been wrapped around her neck and hands several times and then connected with twine that bound Powell's feet. Further, a bra had been wrapped around Powell's neck and across her mouth as a gag. The bra gag had been tightened to the extent that it caused Powell's tongue to protrude from her mouth and produced blood-filled blisters on her neck. Additionally, there were five cord wrappings below the level of the bra gag and two cord wrappings above the level of the gag. Powell was naked except for the bra gag and knee-high hosiery still on her feet.

The cause of Powell's death, as ascertained by the medical examiner, was "homicidal violence, including neck compression and blunt trauma to the head and neck." As to the "neck compression," the hyoid bone in Powell's neck was not fractured, and the cause of Powell's death was not consistent with either a hanging or garroting type of strangulation. Instead, the "neck compression" was consistent with the occlusion of blood vessels in Powell's neck. If a force of at least eight pounds were applied continually to the blood vessels on either side of Powell's neck to cause the vessels to become totally occluded, she could have become unconscious in ten to fifteen seconds. However, to cause the death of a person by this method of neck compression, the medical examiner opined that "the pressure must be kept up for a period of several minutes." According to the medical examiner, the bindings around Powell's neck could have caused the neck compression, and the bra gag could have partially occluded Powell's blood flow by pushing Powell's jaw downward.

Powell's injuries, as noted at the autopsy, included (1) a bruise to the left eye, consistent with having been struck with a blunt object; (2) a laceration to the gum inside the lip; (3) a bruise on the tongue consistent with a biting down on the tongue; (4) left cheek discoloration; (5) a cyst or canker sore under the tongue, possibly caused by the bindings; (6) a bruise behind the left ear; (7) indentations and scrapes on the neck cause by the bindings; (8) several bruises to the side of the head; (9) a small forearm scrape; (10) a bruise and scrape on the elbow; (11) a bruise on the right leg; (12) small contusions and a laceration¹ to the anal and vaginal areas; (13) four subgaleal bruises located between skull and scalp; and (14) another bruise under her right ear cartilage. Most of these injuries were consistent with having occurred prior to death, although the bindings on Powell's body were consistent with having been placed after death. No defensive wounds were noted. According to the medical examiner, it was "within the realm of possibility" that Powell's vaginal injuries were the result of consensual sex, as those injuries were "merely an indication of the degree of force of penetration." The medical examiner testified, however, that the vaginal injuries could have been consistent with a forcible rape, depending upon Powell's sexual history. Further, Powell had blood on her fingers, but there was no injury to that area of her body. At the time of the autopsy, Powell's stomach contained "about a half a cup of tan, opaque fluid and you could see identifiable fragments of potato and a green vegetable," and a sample taken from Powell's vagina failed to show any trace of semen.

On Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend, Robert Joseph Penn III—who lived in Dunedin at the opposite end of a triplex where Carpenter resided—had a conversation with Carpenter. At the time, Carpenter was thirty-two years old, approximately six feet four inches tall, and weighed approximately 210 pounds. Penn was coming home from work, and Carpenter, who was on his own porch, called Penn over. During the conversation, Carpenter asked Penn if he had seen the news, and Penn indicated that he had not. Carpenter then told Penn that he (Carpenter) might be in trouble because someone for whom he had arranged a date might have been involved in some problems. Specifically, Carpenter had seen on the news that the person's car had been burned. Although Carpenter did not mention the name of the person to whom he had introduced the woman, Penn said he knew it was an individual named Neilan Pailing because "there was only one child molester on the block and he left for Alaska that week." Penn noted that when Carpenter was talking to him, Carpenter talked normally and appeared to be a little nervous and agitated, but that was normal for Carpenter. Carpenter stated that he thought he should leave town because "he thought something bad had happened to her [Powell]," and when Carpenter asked for Penn's opinion, Penn advised Carpenter that if he had not been involved, he should inform the police immediately; if he was involved, he should consult an attorney. Penn testified that he remembered seeing the car in question in Carpenter's driveway on the evening before Thanksgiving. Specifically, the car was in Carpenter's driveway when Penn came home from work between 5 and 6 p.m., and it was still there when Penn left at approximately 8:30 p.m. Further, Penn did not hear any unusual noises while he was home during that time period.

At 6:44 p.m. on Tuesday, November 29, 1994—the day after the conversation between Penn and Carpenter—the Clearwater Police Department Communications Division received a telephone call from a person identifying himself as Carpenter. Carpenter indicated that he "did some work on that car they pulled today. They found that person in it, in the trunk of the car." The communications officer asked whether Carpenter was referring to the woman from Dunedin, and Carpenter responded affirmatively and indicated that he lived in Dunedin as well. Upon being asked when he had worked on the car Carpenter indicated that he had worked on the vehicle the preceding week. Carpenter then left a telephone number at which he could be contacted.

After Carpenter's initial communication with the police, Detective James Steffens (Detective Steffens) called the number left by Carpenter. Detective Steffens spoke with Carpenter, who indicated that he had been with the victim on November 23 and had worked on her car, which he had seen on television. Carpenter described the victim as having frosty strawberry colored hair, five feet six inches to five feet eight inches tall, and in her forties to fifties. Carpenter characterized himself as a handyman and a mechanic, and he stated that he replaced the fuse for a light in the trunk of the victim's car. Also during the phone conversation, Carpenter explained that he and his friend, Neil Pailing, had engaged in a "threesome" sexual encounter with the victim. Carpenter said that Pailing was a violent person and he feared that the woman may have come to harm with Pailing, but Pailing and Powell left Carpenter's house after dinner, and Carpenter did not know where they had gone. At the conclusion...