Davidson v. State
| Decision Date | 08 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. SC19-1851,SC19-1851 |
| Citation | 323 So.3d 1241 |
| Parties | Donald H. DAVIDSON Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Jessica Yeary, Public Defender, and Barbara J. Busharis, Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and William David Chappell, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellee
Donald H. Davidson Jr. appeals his judgment of conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we affirm in all respects.
In September 2014, Davidson was conditionally released from prison, meaning that he was still subject to the Department of Corrections’ (DOC) supervision even though he no longer resided in prison. As a condition of his supervised release, Davidson was required to wear a GPS monitor on his ankle.
On the morning of December 1, 2014, Davidson left his job early, complaining to his employer that he felt ill. Davidson called James Earls, his stepbrother, asking to be picked up from a restaurant near Davidson's work. As requested, Earls picked Davidson up and dropped him off at the home of Roseann Welsh and Michael Scott, longtime friends of Davidson. Welsh was home, but Scott and their two children—R.S. and M.S.—were not.
Welsh invited Davidson into the home. After being in the home for some time, Davidson requested to be shown a video game in Welsh's bedroom, and Welsh agreed. While in the bedroom, Davidson put Welsh in a chokehold, forced her face-first into the bed, pulled her dress over her head, and began trying to rape her.
While Davidson was attempting to rape Welsh, 10-year-old M.S. arrived home from school. Hearing the arrival of the school bus, Welsh broke away from Davidson and ran into the adjoining bathroom, but Davidson followed her there. In the bathroom, he located a shoe and removed the lace from it. He then used that lace to strangle Welsh in the shower until she lost consciousness. He "lean[ed]" her down to the floor. Realizing that she was still breathing, Davidson stabbed her in the throat three times with a buck knife.
After killing Welsh, Davidson emerged from the bedroom, encountering M.S. in the kitchen. He grabbed her by the neck, threw her against the couch, and started to sexually assault her. Davidson told her to remove her clothing and suck his penis. She complied.
While the assault was ongoing, M.S.’s thirteen-year-old brother, R.S., returned home from school. Davidson turned his focus to R.S., whom he met at the front door. He told R.S. that his sister and mother were not at home. Though somewhat skeptical of Davidson's statement, R.S. left the home in search of his sister and mother.
After R.S. left, Davidson removed his GPS ankle monitor, forced M.S. into the family's minivan, and drove away. As he was driving, Davidson threw out his cell phone through an open window and directed M.S. to duck down when they passed by other vehicles. While in the minivan, Davidson again sexually assaulted M.S. by fondling her vagina, placing his penis in her mouth, and placing his penis in or around her anus and vagina. Eventually, he returned to a location near M.S.’s home, allowed her to exit the minivan, and then began driving to Georgia.
Meanwhile, after failing to locate his sister and mother, R.S. returned home.
While looking through the home, R.S. found his deceased mother in her bedroom. He then called 911 and reported that his mother was dead, stating: "[S]he's bleeding in her mouth and eyes."
Police responded to the home and began an investigation, which included searching the home for physical evidence, speaking with Scott, and interviewing R.S. Based in part on the information learned from Scott and R.S., police issued a BOLO1 for the stolen minivan.
Moments later, while still at the scene, police officers observed M.S. approaching the home. Officers took her to a police station where Detective Ryan Ellis interviewed her. Among other things, M.S. told him that she heard her mother yell something about calling 911 as she was arriving home from school. According to M.S., Davidson physically and sexually assaulted her in her home, kidnapped her, stole the minivan, and sexually assaulted her again in the stolen minivan.
After her interview with Detective Ellis, M.S. was interviewed and examined by a child protective investigator (CPI). M.S. again recounted the details of Davidson's sexual assaults against her. Additionally, M.S. stated that her buttocks and neck were hurting from the assaults.
In the early morning hours of December 2, police officers located and stopped the stolen minivan. Inside the vehicle, police officers found and apprehended Davidson. After Davidson was taken to a police station interview room, Detective Wes Smith advised him of his Miranda2 rights, which he acknowledged and waived. Then Detectives Smith and Dwayne Singletary interviewed Davidson.
During the interview, Davidson confessed to committing several crimes. He acknowledged attempting to rape Welsh, murdering Welsh by strangling and stabbing her, sexually assaulting M.S. both in her home and in the minivan, and kidnapping her. He also told the detectives that he ingested cocaine a short time before arriving at Welsh's home.
Ultimately, the State charged Davidson with nine crimes, including first-degree premeditated murder, kidnapping, and multiple counts of sexual battery upon a child twelve years of age or younger. Based on the charge of first-degree murder, the State filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
Davidson filed numerous motions, including one that challenged the constitutionality of the prior-violent-felony aggravator.3 He argued that this aggravator was overbroad and vague—both facially and as applied—rendering the entire death-penalty statute constitutionally infirm. Following a hearing, the trial court rejected Davidson's argument.
At a subsequent hearing, Davidson expressed his intent to plead guilty to first-degree murder (and the other charged crimes) and waive a penalty-phase jury. After a lengthy colloquy with Davidson and the presentation of a detailed factual basis by the prosecutor, the court accepted the guilty plea—finding it to be "knowingly, freely, voluntarily, and intelligently given."
At the ensuing penalty-phase hearing, the State introduced numerous exhibits, including: (1) the judgment and sentence for Davidson's aggravated-battery conviction for assaulting a pregnant female in 2010, (2) Davidson's police interview, (3) M.S.’s interview with Detective Ellis, (4) R.S.’s 911 call, (5) a stipulation that Davidson was declared a sexual predator in 2005, and (6) a stipulation that Davidson was on conditional release at the time of the murder.
In addition, the State called eight witnesses. One such witness was Dr. Valerie Rao, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy of Welsh. According to Dr. Rao, Welsh died from asphyxiation—due to strangulation—and the stab wounds to her neck. Detectives Ellis and Smith also testified, discussing their involvement in the investigation and relaying facts gleaned from the interviews.
The victim of Davidson's 2010 aggravated battery provided details about Davidson's attack against her. According to the victim, Davidson entered her home under false pretenses, grabbed her neck, lifted her off the floor, and squeezed her neck so tightly that she blacked out. After she lost consciousness, Davidson began removing her clothing. She regained consciousness and ran from Davidson. Though he pursued her, she was able to escape.
After the State rested, the defense presented mitigating evidence. This evidence included the testimony of three experts: Dr. Erin Bigler, Dr. Robert Ouaou, and Dr. Steven Gold.
Dr. Bigler is a clinical neuropsychologist and cognitive neuroscientist, who reviewed scans of Davidson's brain. She made two significant findings. One, the "overall white matter volume in Mr. Davidson's brain was on the low end of average ... [which] can have implications for how the brain is functioning." Two, a PET scan
showed metabolic differences in the cerebellum and orbitofrontal portions of Davidson's brain. Dr. Bigler declined to comment on the significance of this latter finding.
Dr. Ouaou, a neuropsychologist, reviewed numerous records and administered neuropsychological tests on Davidson. Based on the records, test results, and Dr. Bigler's report, Dr. Ouaou concluded that, at the time of the murder, Davidson was under the influence of a mental or emotional disturbance and that his ability to conform to the law's requirements was substantially impaired due to brain damage and cocaine use.
Dr. Gold, a psychologist, discussed Davidson's adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). He explained that Davidson's background included the following ACEs: "childhood physical abuse, childhood physical neglect, childhood emotional neglect, childhood sexual abuse, parents separated or divorced, mother treated violently, ... a household member going to prison, ... childhood verbal abuse[,] [and a chaotic] household." He opined that the ACEs on their own or in combination with trauma "over-activate [the] part of the brain responsible for emotionality and impulsivity [and cause] ... the part of the brain that cur[bs] emotional expression [and] impulses ... [to be] underdeveloped and underactive." Those changes cannot be altered, Dr. Gold explained, absent significant intervention which was not present in Davidson's background. Ultimately, however, Dr. Gold refrained from offering an opinion as to Davidson's mental or emotional state at the time of the crimes or his ability to comply with the law.
Ten lay witnesses also testified in support of the defense case. In broad terms, their testimony established that Davidson's upbringing was chaotic and difficult. Davidson's father abandoned the family while Davidson was young, leaving the mother (who...
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