Cruse v. State, 74656

• Citation: 588 So.2d 983
• Decision Date: 24 October 1991
• Docket Number: No. 74656,74656
• Parties: 16 Fla. L. Weekly S701 William Bryan CRUSE, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Florida

Page 983

588 So.2d 983

16 Fla. L. Weekly S701

William Bryan CRUSE, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 74656.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Oct. 24, 1991.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 13, 1992.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender and James R. Wulchak, Chief, Appellate Div., Asst. Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Robert J. Krauss, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

William Bryan Cruse, Jr., appeals his convictions for six counts of first-degree murder and numerous lesser offenses and the sentences of death imposed for two of the murders. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution.

On April 23, 1987, fifty-nine-year-old Cruse, having previously procured a semiautomatic assault rifle and one hundred and eighty rounds of ammunition, loaded the assault rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol into his car and began driving toward the Palm Bay Center, a shopping area. He stopped at the driveway of his neighbor, opened his car window, and fired the shotgun at John Rich, IV, a fourteen-year-old boy who was playing basketball in the driveway. Rich was struck by a single shot of birdshot. Cruse also fired at Rich's father and brother, who had pulled into the driveway just before Cruse arrived, and at Rich's mother, who had come out of the house when she heard the commotion.

Cruse then drove to the Publix grocery store at Palm Bay Center and exited his vehicle with the assault rifle, the pistol, and a backpack containing ammunition. Using the assault rifle, he shot and killed two shoppers, Nabil Al-Hameli and Emad Al-Tawakuly, who had just exited the store, and wounded their companion, Faisel Al-Mutairi. He then turned and repeatedly fired at Douglas Pollack as Pollack ran along the walkway of the shopping center. Cruse also shot Eric Messerbauer, who was in front of the K-Mart store in the center, and shot and killed Ruth Green as she pulled her car into the driveway in front of Publix. Cruse then approached his first two victims, who were lying on the ground, and shot them again.

After sirens were heard approaching, Cruse got back into his car and drove across the street to the Sabal Palm Square shopping center. He stopped at the driveway area in front of the Winn Dixie grocery store, where he again exited his vehicle and began firing shots with the assault rifle. Officer Ronald Grogan approached in his police car. Cruse turned, inserted a new clip into his rifle, and fired numerous times into the car, killing Officer Grogan.

Officer Gerald Johnson entered the parking lot just behind Officer Grogan and exited his car. Cruse shot at Johnson, wounding him in the leg. Cruse then proceeded into the parking lot, searching for Johnson, and upon finding him fired several more shots, killing him. As a rescue team tried to move Officer Grogan's car out of Cruse's line of fire, Cruse fired several shots at them.

Cruse then entered the Winn Dixie store. He went to the back of the store, where people were trying to exit through a rear door, and began firing at people as they attempted to escape through a ditch that separated the center from the backyards of a neighborhood. At this time, Cruse wounded numerous people and killed Lester Watson by shooting him in the back.

Cruse then found two women, Judy Larson and Robin Brown, hiding in the women's restroom in the store. He sent Larson out to tell the police to turn off the lights in the store, keeping Brown, a Winn Dixie employee, as a hostage. Cruse attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate with the police to bring his car around back and allow him to drive out of Brevard County, where he would then allow police to kill him. Several hours later, Cruse allowed Brown to leave. The police then fired tear gas and stun grenades into the store, forcing Cruse to exit the store, where he was then apprehended. Before he was captured, Cruse had killed six people and injured ten others.

Venue for the trial was moved to Polk County. Cruse was found guilty of six counts of first-degree murder, twenty-two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of kidnapping. The jury recommended death on all six counts of first-degree murder. The trial court imposed the death penalty for the murders of Officers Grogan and Johnson but imposed consecutive life sentences for the other four murders.

Cruse's first claim on this appeal is that a new trial is necessary because of the State's failure to disclose psychiatric evidence, in violation of Cruse's due process rights under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). On the record before the Court, we find this claim to be without merit. ¹

Prior to trial, the defense filed a motion for the production of Brady evidence and a motion for an in camera hearing, seeking any favorable psychiatric evidence which the State possessed. At the in camera hearing, the State disclosed the names of two mental health experts, Dr. Miller and Dr. Wilder, who had been consulted but would not be testifying at trial. Neither expert had prepared a written report, interviewed Cruse, or formulated a specific opinion about Cruse's sanity. The trial judge determined that the names of these experts were not Brady material and would not have to be disclosed to the defense.

Not all evidence in the possession of the State must be disclosed to the defense under Brady. Evidence is only required to be disclosed if it is material and exculpatory. Evidence is material only if "there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A 'reasonable probability' is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3383-84, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). In making this determination, the evidence must be considered in the context of the entire record. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 112, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 2401-02, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976).

The State's failure to disclose the names of Dr. Wilder and Dr. Miller does not meet this standard. There is no indication in the record that these experts expressed any opinions or possessed any data which could have been favorable to the defense. From the statements made at the in camera hearing, it appears that Dr. Wilder would have ultimately testified in favor of the State's position. While the preliminary position of Dr. Miller is more questionable, even his most defense-oriented statements ² were at best mere restatements of the opinions expressed by the experts who actually testified at trial. In addition, the State indicated that Dr. Miller was ultimately leaning toward a finding that Cruse was sane.

It appears that the most favorable opinion the defense could have been able to acquire from the undisclosed experts is that Cruse suffered from delusional thinking. This would have been merely cumulative in light of the tremendous amount of expert testimony at trial, including the testimony of State witnesses. In light of the record presently before the Court, we find that no Brady violation has occurred.

Cruse next claims that the trial court erred by failing to allow cross-examination of a State expert, Dr. Kirkland, as to his examination of a criminal defendant in a different capital case. In State v. Sireci, 536 So.2d 231 (Fla.1988), this Court upheld a finding by the trial court that Dr. Kirkland had rendered an incompetent medical evaluation. We held that there was sufficient evidence in the record to support the trial court's finding that Dr. Kirkland should have discovered that Sireci's medical history included a major car accident and two-week coma at the age of sixteen, as well as the existence of partial facial paralysis, and therefore should have ordered additional testing to determine the existence of organic brain damage. Id. at 233.

The appropriate subjects of inquiry and the extent of cross-examination are within the sound discretion of the trial court. Rose v. State, 472 So.2d 1155, 1158 (Fla.1985), citing Smith v. Illinois, 390 U.S. 129, 88 S.Ct. 748, 19 L.Ed.2d 956 (1968). In this case, the trial court determined that the competency of Dr. Kirkland's evaluation of Sireci was a purely collateral matter, the probative value of which was outweighed by the danger of confusing the issues and misleading the jury.

This ruling by the trial judge was clearly not an abuse of discretion. The defense's proposed evidence does not fall under any of the express ways allowed to attack a witness's credibility--it does not deal with a prior inconsistent statement, bias, character or ability to observe, remember, or recount. See Sec. 90.608, Fla.Stat. (1987). Cruse was attempting to introduce evidence of an arguably inadequate evaluation ³ by an expert over ten years before he ever conducted an evaluation in this case. If this were permitted, the State could then have introduced evidence that the Sireci evaluation was not inadequate and may even have gone on to introduce evidence of prior competent evaluations performed by Kirkland. If such inquiry were permissible, every trial involving expert testimony could quickly turn into a battle over the merits of prior opinions by those experts in previous cases, malpractice suits filed against them, and Department of Professional Regulation allegations.

The adequacy of Dr. Kirkland's evaluation of a criminal defendant over ten years earlier was not a relevant issue for the jury's consideration. The trial judge properly found that Dr. Kirkland was qualified to testify as an expert, and the court did not in any way attempt to limit defense examination of the merits of the evaluation of Cruse himself or of the doctor's overall qualifications as an expert in the fields of psychiatry and forensic...