James v. State

• Decision Date: 24 April 1997
• Docket Number: No. 86834,86834
• Citation: 695 So.2d 1229
• Parties: 22 Fla. L. Weekly S223 Edward T. JAMES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 1229

695 So.2d 1229

22 Fla. L. Weekly S223

Edward T. JAMES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 86834.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 24, 1997.

Rehearing Denied June 20, 1997.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender and Michael S. Becker, Assistant Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Mark S. Dunn, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the judgment and sentence of the trial court imposing the death penalty upon Edward James. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. We affirm the death sentences imposed in this case.

FACTS

On October 19, 1993, the grand jury in and for Seminole County, Florida, returned an indictment charging Edward James with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated child abuse, one count of attempted sexual battery, one count of kidnapping, one count of grand theft, and one count of grand theft of an automobile. On April 5, 1995, James appeared before the Honorable Alan A. Dickey, Circuit Judge, and, pursuant to a written agreement, entered pleas of guilty to all counts of the indictment and pleas of no contest to two counts of capital sexual battery charged by separate information. The plea did not include an agreement as to sentence. The State sought the death penalty for each of the murders that occurred in this case, and on May 30, 1995, James proceeded to a penalty phase trial before a jury.

The record reflects that on the evening of Sunday, September 19, 1993, James attended a party at Todd Van Fossen's house. James rented a room from one of the victims in this case, Betty Dick, and lived about two blocks away from the Van Fossens. He arrived at 6 p.m. and stayed until approximately 10:30 p.m. Todd's girlfriend, Tina, noticed that James seemed intoxicated by the end of the evening and asked him if he wanted to spend the night, but James declined. James drank between six and twenty-four cans of beer during the party, as well as some "shotguns"--three beers drunk through a funnel in a very short period of time. Shortly after leaving the party James ran into Jere Pearson who lived nearby and was returning from the Handy Way convenience store. Jere Pearson was interviewed by the assistant state attorney and the assistant public defender before trial. An audiotape of the interview was played for the jury during the trial. ¹

Pearson stated that when the two met, James was on his way to visit Tim Dick, the victim's son, and his girlfriend, Nichole, who also lived nearby. They stopped and talked for about ten minutes and Pearson watched James ingest about ten "hits" of LSD on paper. James told Pearson he had been drinking at Todd Van Fossen's party, but he appeared sober to Pearson.

After briefly visiting Tim Dick and Nichole where he drank some gin, James returned to his room at Betty Dick's house. When he entered the house, James noticed that Betty Dick's four grandchildren were asleep in the living room. ² One of the children, Wendi, awoke briefly when James arrived. She observed that he was laughing and appeared drunk. James went to the kitchen, made himself a sandwich and retired to his room. Eventually, he returned to the living room where he grabbed Betty Dick's eight-year-old granddaughter, Toni Neuner, by the neck and strangled her, hearing the bones pop in her neck. Believing Toni was dead, he removed her clothes and had vaginal and anal intercourse with her in his room. Toni never screamed or resisted. After raping Toni, he threw her behind his bed.

James then went to Betty Dick's bedroom where he intended to have sexual intercourse with her. He hit Betty in the back of the head with a pewter candlestick. She woke up and started screaming, "Why, Eddie, why?" Betty's screaming brought Wendi Neuner to the doorway of her grandmother's bedroom where she saw James stabbing Betty with a small knife. When James saw Wendi he grabbed her, tied her up, and placed her in the bathroom. Thinking that Betty was not dead, James went to the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife and returned to Betty's room and stabbed her in the back. James removed Betty Dick's pajama bottoms, but did not sexually batter her.

Covered with blood, James took a shower in the bathroom where Wendi remained tied up and then threw together some clothes and belongings. He returned to Betty's room and took her purse and jewelry bag before driving away in her car. James drove across the country, stopping periodically to sell jewelry for money. He finally was arrested on October 6, 1993, in Bakersfield, California, and gave two videotaped confessions to police there. A videotape containing the relevant portions of James' statements was played for the jury.

Dr. Shashi Gore, the chief medical examiner for Seminole County, testified that he performed autopsies on Betty Dick and Toni Neuner. Betty Dick suffered twenty-one stab wounds to the back with the knife still embedded. The wounds damaged both lungs, the liver, and the diaphragm and fractured several ribs. Dick also suffered major stab wounds to the left side of the neck, below the left eye, and on the left ear. A knife blade was also discovered in Dick's hair. Dick died of massive bleeding and shock from the multiple stab wounds to her chest and back. Dr. Gore opined that she died within a few minutes of her assailant's attack.

Toni Neuner suffered contusions to her lips and hemorrhaging in her eyes caused by lack of oxygen from strangulation. Gore opined that the extensive force necessary to create the contusions on her neck indicated that a ligature had been used. Dr. Gore also found contusions around the anal and vaginal orifices. The roof of the vaginal wall was completely torn. Although the substantial amount of blood pooled in the pelvic cavity indicated that Toni Neuner was alive at the time she was sexually assaulted, Dr. Gore could not state that she was conscious when she was raped. Toni Neuner died of asphyxiation due to strangulation.

Dr. E. Michael Gutman, a psychiatrist, testified as a mental health expert witness on James' behalf. He conducted neuropsychological tests on James in August of 1994. Dr. Gutman learned that James' father and grandfather had been alcoholics and James used crack cocaine, LSD, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and pills. In Dr. Gutman's opinion, James suffers from alcohol dependence and has an addictive craving for alcohol which he is unable to break. James has above average intelligence and his performance IQ is in the superior range.

James told Dr. Gutman that on the day of the offense, he had been drinking, had used crack cocaine and cannabis, and had taken some pills. He could not remember if he had taken LSD in the hours preceding the offense. Dr. Gutman determined that James has a passive aggressive or an addictive personality. In his opinion, James suffers from poly-substance dependence and abuse, as well as severe dysthymia, a chronic depressive disorder. James also has unresolved conflicts associated with being abandoned by his father.

Dr. Daniel E. Buffington, a clinical pharmacologist at the University of South Florida, testified for the defense about the effects of alcohol and drug addictions. He explained that if a person like James has an underlying psychological problem, LSD ingestion will most likely unmask it and allow it to come to the surface. The acute phase of affectation due to LSD ingestion is two to twelve hours after ingestion. Possible reactions to LSD include, among others: a psychotic adverse reaction which is accompanied by hallucinations; a psycho-dynamic/psychedelic experience which results in a slow emergence of the subconscious idea or psychological condition; and a cognitive psychedelic reaction which overcomes an individual's ability to control himself.

Dr. Buffington opined that if James had drunk between twenty and thirty cans of beer between the hours of 6 and 11:30 p.m., he most likely had a blood alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit. If James ingested ten "hits" of LSD, about 200 micrograms at a minimum--which is a heavy dose--when considered in conjunction with the alcohol use, the peak effect of the LSD ingestion would have occurred between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. The description of the crimes is consistent with the effects that the LSD and alcohol would have had on James. Dr. Buffington explained that such a large dose of LSD could have caused a physical or mental breakdown and a sudden release of aggressive action in someone like James, who suffers from a passive aggressive personality.

Dr. Buffington concluded that James was most probably under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance due to his psychotic reaction and psychodynamic/psychedelic reaction to LSD. James further suffered from a decreased ability to control his behavioral pattern.

Betty and John Hoffpauir testified that they had known James for years. Once James made Betty Hoffpauir's grandson some golf clubs just out of kindness. James worked off and on with John Hoffpauir in his lawn business and would never take any money for helping him.

Betty Lee, who also testified on James' behalf, knew James through her daughter, who had lived next door to Betty Dick. When Betty Lee would visit her daughter, she often would see James playing with Toni and Wendi Neuner out in the front yard. James was also always willing to help Betty Lee's daughter whenever she called on him.

Anthony Mancuso is a volunteer with the Seminole County Correctional Facility and counsels inmates on religious matters. He testified that James is well-liked by the jail personnel as being a non-trouble maker. Once when Mancuso was ill, James wrote him a letter that Mancuso believes reflects James' spiritual growth while in custody. Mancuso explained that he has seen an incredible change in James since he entered the facility.

James also...