Doorbal v. State
| Decision Date | 30 January 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. SC93988.,SC93988. |
| Parties | Noel DOORBAL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Scott W. Sakin, Special Assistant Public Defender, Miami, for Appellant.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Sandra S. Jaggard, Assistant Attorney General, Miami, for Appellee.
ON REHEARING
The opinion issued in this case on October 10, 2002, is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted in its place. Noel Doorbal (Doorbal) appeals his convictions of first-degree murder and his sentences of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the first-degree murder convictions and the sentences of death. We also affirm all of Doorbal's other convictions and sentences.
Doorbal's case has intricate facts involving many persons. The criminal charges in this case are related to the abduction, extortion, and attempted murder of Marcelo (Marc) Schiller, and the abduction, attempted extortion, and murders of Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton.
In the early 1990's, Marc Schiller, a wealthy Miami businessman, owned an accounting firm, Dadima Corporation. His business expanded into providing services that were reimbursed by Medicare. Schiller hired Jorge Delgado2 to assist with his business pursuits, and the two became close friends. Delgado often visited Schiller's home for both business and social reasons. Eventually, Schiller sold the Medicare-related portion of his business to Delgado, along with the name "Dadima Corporation." Schiller selected a new name for his accounting business of "D.J. & Associates." After selling the Medicare portion of his business to Delgado, Schiller continued to perform consulting work for Delgado and Dadima Corporation.3
Delgado exercised at Sun Gym in the Miami area, where Doorbal's codefendant, Daniel Lugo, was employed.4 Delgado and Lugo became good friends, and at times Lugo would even accompany Delgado on visits to Schiller's home. Through this association, Delgado also came to know Doorbal. Schiller viewed Lugo as an unsavory character, and expressed his concern to Delgado.
By 1994, a rift had developed between Schiller and Delgado. Schiller had been questioning Delgado's accounting practices with regard to Dadima Corporation, and he was also concerned with transactions involving some bank accounts. During a meeting with a banker at a local restaurant, the conflict expanded as Delgado refused to respond to Schiller's questions and became very angry. Thereafter, Schiller and Delgado severed all business ties and on the advice of Lugo, Delgado hired John Mese to be his replacement accountant.5
In the September-October 1994 time frame, Lugo advised Delgado of his belief that Schiller had been cheating Delgado with regard to the billing operations that Schiller had been performing for Delgado and the Medicare business. Delgado testified that Lugo showed him documentation which purported to prove that Schiller had been cheating Delgado. Lugo informed Delgado that Schiller had also been cheating Lugo. When Delgado confronted Schiller with allegations of cheating in the billing operation, Schiller flatly denied the accusations.
Lugo enlisted Doorbal and several other individuals in a plot to kidnap Schiller, with the goal of forcing him to sign over assets equivalent in value to that which Delgado and Lugo believed to be owed to them.6 Delgado asked Lugo to do whatever was necessary to recover the value he believed Schiller owed to both of them, but Delgado expressed a desire that he not be personally involved in any of the scheming. Nevertheless, Delgado did become deeply involved in a plan to kidnap Schiller. He informed Lugo, Doorbal, and two men recruited by Lugo from Sun Gym (Stevenson Pierre and Carl Weekes) of details concerning Schiller's home,7 family, cars, and personal habits. Doorbal and others recruited for the plot were promised that they would share in the bounty taken from Schiller. The group agreed to secretly observe Schiller to learn his daily routine to implement the plan. Testimony at trial established that Lugo was the unquestioned mastermind of the plan to abduct and extort money from Schiller. Stevenson Pierre observed Lugo's role to be that of a general in a military operation. Pierre described Doorbal as "[s]econd in command." The group eventually purchased or otherwise procured handcuffs, walkie-talkies, and a stun gun (among other items) to aid in the execution of the abduction plan.
After several failed attempts to locate and capture Schiller, on November 15, 1994, the group finally succeeded in abducting him from the parking lot of the delicatessen restaurant he owned in the Miami area. Doorbal and Weekes grabbed Schiller, and Weekes proceeded to subdue Schiller by shocking him with the stun gun. Another participant, Sanchez, assisted Doorbal and Weekes in forcing Schiller into a waiting van. Inside the van, Schiller was handcuffed and duct tape was placed over his eyes. A gun was placed at Schiller's head, and his wallet and jewelry removed as the van proceeded to a warehouse that Delgado had previously rented. Schiller received additional shocks with the stun gun and was kicked repeatedly as the plan unfolded. Lugo arrived at the warehouse shortly after Doorbal and the others arrived with Schiller.
Schiller's captors demanded a list of his assets which Schiller initially refused to provide. The refusal resulted in his being slapped, shocked with the stun gun, and beaten with a firearm. Weekes questioned Schiller about his assets, based on information provided by Lugo and Delgado. Schiller testified that after he again refused to provide the requested information, he was told that he was going to engage in a game of Russian Roulette. A gun was placed to his head, the cylinder was turned, and the trigger was pulled twice but the weapon did not fire.8 Schiller's captors proceeded to read a highly accurate list of his assets to him, demanding that he corroborate what they already knew, and that he add to the list assets of which they were not aware. The captors also apprised Schiller that they knew the alarm code for entry into his home. Because his assailants possessed such detailed knowledge of his assets and his home, Schiller surmised that Delgado must have been involved in the plot. Schiller also came to recognize Lugo's voice, despite Lugo's efforts to disguise his identity. Schiller testified that Lugo's speech often had a very recognizable lisp-like trait.
The captors further threatened that if Schiller did not cooperate, his wife and children would also be abducted and his wife raped in his presence. Schiller was eventually compelled to agree to cooperate, but only if his wife and children were allowed to leave the country unharmed. In the ensuing days, Schiller began signing over his assets, including a quitclaim deed for his home, various documents granting access to his checking,9 savings, and IRA accounts, and authorization for changing the beneficiary of his million-dollar insurance policies.10
During Schiller's captivity, Doorbal and Lugo entered Schiller's home and removed many furnishings and other items. Lugo, Delgado, and Weekes also began charging thousands of dollars to Schiller's credit cards. Money from the safe in Schiller's home was divided among Doorbal, Weekes, and Pierre. Three weeks into Schiller's captivity, Doorbal and Delgado convinced Lugo that Schiller must be killed, because he had likely surmised the identities of some, if not all, of his captors. A plan was then developed to kill Schiller but to give the appearance that Schiller's death resulted from the operation of his automobile under the influence of alcohol. In the fourth week, Schiller was forced to consume large amounts of alcohol to make him intoxicated. Lugo drove Schiller's Toyota 4-Runner into a utility pole on a Miami-area street to create the impression that Schiller had been involved in an accident resulting from driving while intoxicated. Doorbal and Weekes also participated in this episode and Schiller was placed in the front seat of the 4-Runner after it had been driven into the pole. Lugo and Doorbal then poured gasoline on the vehicle and set it ablaze. Lugo, Doorbal, and Weekes had planned to exit the scene in another vehicle that Weekes had driven to the scene, but they noticed that Schiller had somehow managed to exit his burning vehicle, and was staggering in the roadway. Schiller had not been securely bound in the seat of the vehicle. At the urging of Lugo and Doorbal, Weekes used his vehicle to strike and run over Schiller. The three left the scene of these events believing they had killed Schiller. Lugo later instructed Stevenson Pierre to drive by the scene of their handiwork to determine if there was any police activity.
Miraculously, Schiller survived this attempt to take his life and he was rescued. He remembered awakening in a Miami hospital with a broken pelvis, ruptured bladder, bruises and burns, and temporary paralysis. Lugo and the others eventually learned that Schiller had survived, so they visited the hospital where they thought Schiller was recuperating, with a plan to suffocate him as he lay in his hospital bed. Unknown to Lugo and the others, based upon a well-founded fear for his safety, Schiller had already arranged to be airlifted to a New York hospital to complete his recuperation. Lugo, Doorbal, and some of the other captors proceeded to empty Schiller's home of the remaining furnishings and valuables. A black leather couch and computer equipment were among the articles pilfered.
Schiller's testimony at trial included not only a description of the events surrounding his abduction and captivity, but also testimony as to the assets that had been extorted from him and his attempts to recover those assets. He also stated that while ...
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