Floyd v. State

• Decision Date: 22 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC95824.,SC95824.
• Parties: Maurice Lamar FLOYD, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

850 So.2d 383

Maurice Lamar FLOYD, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC95824.

Supreme Court of Florida.

August 22, 2002.

Order Denying Rehearing June 12, 2003.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Christopher S. Quarles, Assistant Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, FL, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Judy Taylor Rush, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Maurice Lamar Floyd (Floyd) appeals his conviction of first-degree murder and his sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm Floyd's conviction and sentence of death for premeditated murder, but reverse his conviction for armed burglary. We also reject application of the felony murder theory of Floyd's guilt under these facts.

Mary Goss, the victim in this case, was found dead at approximately 11:30 p.m. on July 13, 1998. Police found her body on the ground beside her house located on Bronson Street in Palatka, Florida. The cause of Ms. Goss's death was a single .357 caliber gunshot that entered the left side of her face and proceeded to sever her brain stem, killing her instantaneously. Two days later, on July 15, 1998, police found Floyd, Ms. Goss's son-in-law, hiding in the attic of a house in the Palatka area. Floyd was subsequently charged with the murder of Ms. Goss.¹

Testimony adduced at trial indicated that Floyd exhibited very controlling behavior toward his wife, Trelane,² who was Ms. Goss's daughter. On July 11, 1998 (extending into the early morning hours of July 12), Trelane had gone with some of her cousins to a supper club to celebrate her birthday. Floyd followed her to the club and spotted her consuming alcohol and dancing. He later approached the group and told Trelane that it would be necessary for her to find another way home, because he was going to take her car, which she had driven to the club. In the past Floyd had expressed his disapproval of Trelane's alcohol consumption.

When Trelane returned home around 5 a.m. on the morning of July 12, Floyd informed her that he would not permit her to sleep, and he proceeded to increase the volume on the televisions and the radio in their apartment. He also threatened to kill Trelane or someone she loved as a reprisal for her drinking or if she ever attempted to run or hide from him. Shortly thereafter, Trelane felt a gun being placed beside her head as she was lying in bed. Floyd pulled the trigger three times, but the weapon did not fire.³ Trelane advised Floyd that she was going to seek a divorce and testified at trial that she did not call the police about this incident because she was in a very confused state.

On July 13, the day Ms. Goss was murdered, Trelane and Floyd had a heated argument on a Palatka street not far from their apartment. Trelane had stopped her car in the street to speak with a friend. Her three-year-old goddaughter was also in the vehicle. Floyd was in his car behind Trelane and he insisted that Trelane take her goddaughter home, calling Trelane a "whore." Fearful for the safety of both herself and her goddaughter, Trelane decided to seek protection in a sheriff's office. Floyd followed and proceeded to ram his car into the back of Trelane's vehicle.

A high speed chase ensued, during which Trelane sounded the horn on her automobile to warn both oncoming traffic and pedestrians who might be in harm's way. The tires on both cars squealed as they slid into the parking lot at the sheriff's office. Trelane exited her car and screamed for help. Hearing both the sounds of squealing tires and Trelane's plaintive cries, Deputy Dean Kelly responded from his desk inside the sheriff's office. Deputy Kelly was the only armed officer in the vicinity as the events unfolded at approximately 7:30 p.m. that evening. Trelane hurriedly reported to Deputy Kelly that Floyd had rammed her car and that she was fearful for her safety. The deputy saw Floyd moving rapidly toward them as they spoke, and he held out his hand to prevent Floyd from accosting Trelane. He then advised Floyd that he was going to be placed into investigative custody until it could be determined exactly what had transpired. Deputy Kelly instructed Floyd to turn around and to place his hands behind his back. Floyd extended his hands in the air and backed up, insisting that he had done nothing wrong and that he merely wanted to talk to his wife. After the deputy repeated his order for Floyd to submit to custody, Floyd fled the scene. Deputy Kelly began pursuit for a few moments but then halted, fearful of leaving Trelane and her goddaughter defenseless if Floyd decided to double back to attempt to harm them. The subsequent efforts of a K-9 unit and other officers to apprehend Floyd on the evening of July 13 were fruitless.

After giving a statement to sheriff's office personnel, Trelane called her mother, Ms. Goss, from a pay phone at the sheriff's office. Trelane testified that she "told her [mother] what was going on" regarding the incident at the sheriff's office. Ms. Goss informed Trelane that Trelane's three children were at Ms. Goss's house.⁴ After hearing what had transpired earlier on the street and at the sheriff's office between Trelane and Floyd, Ms. Goss said of Floyd, "I won't let him get my grandchildren." Ms. Goss was also aware that the twenty-one-year-old Floyd was then on probation for previous violations of the law.

During the trial, several witnesses described the subsequent events that led to the death of Ms. Goss. J.J. Jones, the oldest of Trelane's three children, testified⁵ that on July 13, 1998, the day that Ms. Goss was killed, Floyd took him and his two younger siblings to the home of their grandmother, Ms. Goss. J.J. also stated that after he had fallen asleep that evening, Ms. Goss awakened him and instructed him to go to the home of her neighbor, Jeanette Figuero, and to call the police from there. Before he exited Ms. Goss's home, J.J. noted that she was clearly upset. As J.J. was moving toward Jeanette Figuero's home, he noticed that Floyd was "squeezing [Ms. Goss] behind the door" at the front of Ms. Goss's home. Moments later he saw Ms. Goss running outside. J.J. stated that he also observed Floyd standing on Ms. Goss's front porch and firing a gun three times. J.J.'s two siblings, LaJade Evans and Alex Evans, were directly behind him, as Ms. Goss had awakened them also. J.J. testified that he never saw Floyd leave the victim's porch, and that the last thing he observed before pounding on Jeanette Figuero's door for help was his grandmother, Ms. Goss, lying on her back. J.J. eventually led the police to the spot where he thought his grandmother's body would be. As one of the officers directed a flashlight beam on the ground, the light revealed Ms. Goss's lifeless body. Ms. Goss was clad only in a nightgown and was not wearing any undergarments.⁶

LaJade Evans, J.J. Jones' younger sister, testified⁷ that she followed J.J. to Ms. Figuero's home to seek help. LaJade saw Floyd on the victim's porch, shooting a gun at the victim. LaJade said Floyd fired two shots from the porch, and that she heard one more shot fired in the direction of the victim. She added that she saw Floyd running toward the victim's home but that he did not go inside the home again after having fired his weapon.

Jeanette Figuero testified⁸ that during the evening of July 13, she heard three gunshots followed by the sounds of pounding on her door and the plaintive cries of a child or children saying, "Open the door, open the door, please open the door." Figuero's son, Gary Melendez, opened the door to allow J.J., LaJade, and Alex into the home. Figuero said the children were talking very fast and when she inquired as to the problem, they exclaimed that their grandmother, Ms. Goss, had been shot. When she asked J.J. who shot Ms. Goss, he responded, "Maurice Floyd."⁹ Figuero also testified that she heard J.J. mention Floyd's name when he talked to the 911 dispatcher.¹⁰ The prosecutor asked Jeanette Figuero if she believed that J.J. was "smart" and "bright," and whether she believed him when he said that Floyd had shot Ms. Goss. Figuero answered that she believed J.J. was a bright child and that she believed his version of the events, especially after she called over to Ms. Goss from her front porch and received no response.

Figuero also testified that earlier in the evening on July 13, she had been speaking with her neighbor, John Brown, from the porch of her house. Brown mentioned that a young male had been constantly walking up and down the sidewalk in front of Ms. Goss's home. Subsequently, Figuero noticed that a young African-American male was on Ms. Goss's front porch, and was talking to Ms. Goss for some time through the closed screen door. She could not recognize the young male because his back was to her and it was also dark. After leaving her porch for a few moments and then returning, Figuero noticed that the young male had apparently entered Ms. Goss's home. She heard the voice of an angry male emanating from inside the victim's home, addressing Ms. Goss in sometimes profane tones. Figuero testified that she clearly heard the young male say in an angry tone, "Why did she have to involve the GD crackers."¹¹ She also saw the young male move menacingly toward a person who was sitting on the sofa in Ms. Goss's home. The young male abruptly halted when he noticed that Figuero had spotted him. Figuero stated that she assumed at all times the young male was addressing himself to Ms. Goss because she knew that Ms. Goss was in the home. Approximately twenty-five minutes after hearing the angry male's voice, Figuero heard the sounds of gunfire which led J.J. Jones and his siblings to appear at her door.

John Brown, the neighbor with whom Figuero was speaking earlier that evening, testified that on the evening of July 13 he saw two...