Jackson v. State
| Decision Date | 08 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 68882,68882 |
| Citation | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 278,545 So.2d 260 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 278 Douglas JACKSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Michael D. Gelety, Sp. Public Defender, Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Georgina Jimenez-Orosa, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.
From a third trial on the merits, Douglas Jackson appeals his multiple convictions for first-degree murder and kidnapping and the imposition of the death penalty for three first-degree murder convictions. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. After appellant's first trial, we reversed his convictions and death sentences based on the trial court's failure to grant a continuance due to defense counsel's disabling physical condition. See Jackson v. State, 464 So.2d 1181 (Fla.1985). A second trial ended in a mistrial. For the reasons expressed below, we now reverse the convictions and sentences, and remand this case to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The relevant facts reflect that in the early morning hours of March 1, 1981, a Pembroke Pines police officer discovered the charred hulk of an automobile alongside a remote stretch of State Road 27 in Broward County. Inside the car were the burned remains of five victims: Walter and Edna Washington, Larry Finney, and two children, Reginald and Terrence Manuel. Autopsies determined that Finney and Walter and Edna Washington died of gunshot wounds, while the two children perished from smoke inhalation. Several days later detectives visited the appellant's home, attempting to locate his estranged wife, Karen Jackson, for questioning. Karen Jackson had been living with the Washingtons and Finney while separated from appellant. During a conversation with appellant, which was tape-recorded, detectives noticed scratches and burns on appellant's face. Appellant explained that he suffered these while attending a barbecue. Detectives left appellant's home and eventually located Karen Jackson, who provided the following testimony at trial.
Karen Jackson stated that on the night of April 30, 1981, appellant, accompanied by his codefendant, Aubrey Livingston, visited the home of Walter and Edna Washington. After forcing his way into the bedroom where she was hiding, appellant ordered his wife to pack her belongings as well as the children's. While Karen Jackson placed the belongings in the back of appellant's camper, the Washingtons and Larry Finney were marched out of the house at gunpoint with their hands behind their backs. Karen Jackson and her children were ordered into the cab of the truck while the Washingtons, their two children, Finney, and Livingston rode in the back. Appellant started driving, returning briefly to the Washingtons' home so Edna Washington could retrieve a jacket for one of the children. He then drove the truck west into a remote part of Broward County before passing an abandoned car several times and stopping. After conferring with Livingston, appellant opened the back of the truck and ordered the victims into the abandoned automobile. Karen Jackson claimed she heard gunshots, exhortations from appellant to Livingston to "hurry up," and then a loud explosion. When appellant returned to the truck, he claimed his face felt like it was "on fire." Livingston was later dropped off at his house while appellant and Karen Jackson returned to appellant's residence. This testimony was fully corroborated by Livingston.
Jackson testified in his own defense, denying any participation in this incident. He stated that the Washingtons and Livingston were drug users and dealers, and that his wife was a drug user, had committed adultery with a number of men, and had abused their children. Jackson claimed he received the burns on his face from a home barbecue fire flashback.
No murder weapon was ever found. Authorities arrested Jackson on March 4, 1981, and he was later indicted on five counts of first-degree murder and six counts of kidnapping. A jury convicted appellant on all counts except the kidnapping charge involving his wife, Karen Jackson.
In the sentencing phase of this trial, the state did not present any additional witnesses. The defense presented four witnesses, including appellant's parents. The jury recommended the death penalty for the murders of Edna Washington and the children, Terrence Manuel and Reginald Manuel. The jury recommended life sentences for the murders of Walter Washington and Larry Finney. Following the jury's recommendations, the trial judge sentenced appellant to death for the murders of Edna Washington, Terrence Manuel, and Reginald Manuel, and imposed consecutive life sentences for the remaining two murders and five kidnapping offenses. In imposing the death sentences, the court found four aggravating circumstances and one mitigating circumstance.
The appellant raises four issues in the guilt phase of this appeal, claiming (1) the prosecutor was allowed to improperly examine and cross-examine witnesses to obtain answers prejudicial to the appellant; (2) the trial judge improperly commented on rulings he made during the course of the trial which prejudiced the defendant; (3) the trial court improperly restricted appellant's examination of certain state witnesses; and (4) the cumulative prejudicial effect of various trial court rulings warrants a mistrial.
In his first point, appellant complains of three separate incidents of alleged prejudicial testimony that resulted from the prosecutor's examination or cross-examination of witnesses at the trial. The primary incident concerned the prosecutor's cross-examination of Jackson which resulted in Jackson's acknowledging his prior trial and convictions for these offenses.
Karen Jackson, the appellant's wife, provided the main testimony against the appellant in both trials. To impeach Karen Jackson's credibility, the defense presented Jackson's own testimony and introduced letters she had written to appellant while he was in the state prison for these offenses. The letters professed love for appellant and sorrow for him. In his testimony, Jackson stated that while awaiting "this trial" he received these letters from Karen Jackson, relating that she loved him, she was sorry for their breakup, she was sorry for him, and she looked forward to reuniting.
During the state's cross-examination of Jackson, he admitted that he was not just "awaiting trial," but that he received the letters while serving a sentence in the state prison following his conviction in a prior trial for these same offenses. The following exchange took place during the state's cross-examination of Jackson:
MR. ZIMMERMAN [defense counsel]: Your honor, I object. That is grossly improper. It's prejudicial. Jack Coyle [the prosecutor] knows it's wrong. And if he persists along that line of question, I will have to move for mistrial.
Appellant contends it was error for the trial court to allow testimony of his previous convictions for these offenses. The state, on the other hand, claims it was proper cross-examination, reasoning that the jury should be informed that Jackson had previously been convicted of these offenses as a result of his wife's testimony and in order to correct the erroneous impression left by defense counsel that Jackson was merely awaiting trial at the time he received the letters. The fact that there has been a prior trial, although not admissible evidence, many times is inadvertently presented to the jury through various means during the course of a second trial. In this instance the presentation of evidence of a prior trial was not inadvertent but intentional. We agree with appellant that it was error for the trial court to allow the prosecutor to question appellant about his previous convictions.
Moreover, we cannot say that this is harmless error. The prejudicial effect upon a jury of testimony that a defendant has been previously convicted of the crimes for which he is now on trial is so damaging that it cannot be said beyond a reasonable doubt that a jury would return a verdict of guilty absent the testimony. This trial concerned the credibility of appellant versus that of his codefendant who had already been convicted of this offense and was awaiting sentencing, and that of the testimony of his estranged wife. The effect on a defendant's credibility can be devastating when the jury hears testimony that on a previous occasion another jury listened to the same testimony and believed beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant was guilty of these crimes. Therefore we cannot conclude the error in this case was harmless.
Jackson next argues that it was error to admit evidence that he had been previously arrested. Livingston had already testified for the state. While cross-examining Livingston, Jackson's counsel asked whether Livingston had ever known appellant to be in trouble with the law. When Livingston answered, "Yes, a few times," appellant's...
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