Martinez v. State

• Decision Date: 15 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. SC90952.,SC90952.
• Citation: 761 So.2d 1074
• Parties: Joaquin J. MARTINEZ, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

761 So.2d 1074

Joaquin J. MARTINEZ, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC90952.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 15, 2000.

Peter Raben of the Law Offices of Peter Raben, P.A., Miami, Florida, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Candace M. Sabella, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, Florida, for Appellee.

Sharon L. Kegerreis and Mayda Prego of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP, Miami, Florida, for Ilustre Colegio De Abogados De Madrid ("Madrid Bar Association"), Amicus Curiae.

PER CURIAM.

Joaquin J. Martinez appeals his convictions of armed burglary, two counts of first-degree murder, and sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.

FACTS

Martinez was charged with armed burglary and two counts of premeditated murder for the killing of Douglas Lawson and Lawson's girlfriend Sherrie McCoy-Ward. The jury convicted Martinez of both murders and the trial court imposed a sentence of death for the murder of McCoy-Ward and a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder of Lawson. The bodies of the victims were found in their home on October 31, 1995, by McCoy-Ward's sister, Tina Jones. Witness testimony at trial placed the murders as having occurred between the afternoon of October 27, 1995, and midnight on October 30, 1995.

Lawson died from gun-shot wounds and McCoy-Ward died from multiple stab wounds. Although the victims had been shot and stabbed, the police did not find any murder weapons at the scene. Forensic experts combed the residence, lifting latent fingerprints and collecting pieces of hair, clothing, fingernails, fiber samples and blood for examination. However, despite the collection of more than one hundred samples of blood, hair, fingernails, cigarette butts and similar physical evidence, no evidence linked Martinez to the murders.

The initial investigation revealed no signs of forced entry and no personal items appeared to be missing from the victims' residence. However, investigators found two Rottweiler dogs locked away in an upstairs bedroom, expensive music equipment and a substantial amount of hidden money in the house. At the conclusion of the crime scene investigation, police had no leads. Nonetheless, the police did find a list of names and telephone numbers on a piece of paper discovered in the kitchen. The police began telephoning the numbers listed, including a pager number listed by the name "Joe."

After leaving several messages on "Joe's" pager number, the police eventually received a call on January 27, 1996, from Sloane Martinez, the defendant's ex-wife. Sloane Martinez informed the police that she had kept Martinez's pager after their divorce. Detective Michael Conigliaro, the lead investigator on the case, then went to Sloane's home where she informed him of her growing suspicions of Martinez's involvement in the homicides. While the detective was at her home, Sloane received a phone call from Martinez and she invited the detective to listen in on their conversation. Detective Conigliaro testified that he heard Sloane telling Martinez that a homicide detective had been paging her. During that phone conversation, Detective Conigliaro also heard Martinez tell Sloane that "this is something that I explained to you before, and that I am going to get the death penalty for what I did." Sloane asked Martinez if the incident involved the Lawson case, and Martinez responded, "No, I can't talk to you about it on the phone right now."

After this conversation, Sloane agreed to allow authorities to wire her house for audio and video recording and to attempt to engage Martinez in conversation regarding the double homicides. The following day, January 28, 1996, Martinez arrived at Sloane's house. Detective Conigliaro testified that he, Corporal Baker, and Assistant State Attorney Karen Cox¹ watched and listened to the conversation from a remote location as it was being recorded by both audio and videotape. Although Martinez did not confess during the conversation with Sloane, he did make several remarks that could be interpreted as incriminating. After leaving Sloane's home, Martinez was immediately arrested by police.

The State's case at trial focused on the testimony of Sloane Martinez and the audio-video tape. Sloane testified concerning the above-described conversations as well as her observations of Martinez's behavior from October 27, 1995, until the time of his arrest. She also testified about other statements that Martinez made to her that heightened her suspicions regarding his involvement with the murders.

The State introduced other circumstantial evidence. For example, Laura Babcock, the defendant's ex-fiancee, testified. On Friday morning, October 27, 1995, Martinez left her apartment and told her that he was going to see his brother Ronnie, and that he planned to get in touch with a friend, "Michael," who owed him money. She also testified that when the defendant returned to her apartment between 11 p.m. and midnight, he was wearing clothing that did not fit him properly and he had a swollen lip and scraped knuckles.

In addition to this testimony, Eden Dominick, a friend of Babcock and Martinez, testified that Martinez arrived at her apartment around 8 p.m. on Friday, October 27. According to Dominick, Martinez appeared as if he had been in a fight. Before leaving, Martinez asked to leave a briefcase at Dominick's residence, but she refused his request.

Several jail inmates also testified against Martinez. One jail inmate, Neil Ebling, testified that Martinez admitted to committing the murders. Two other inmates, Larry Merritt and Gerrard Jones, testified about a scheme that Martinez designed in jail to implicate another individual for the crimes. Jones claimed that Martinez agreed to pay Jones $400 for assisting him with his case.

The defense called several witnesses to establish an alibi and to contradict the testimony of the jail inmates. However, defense counsel never filed a notice of an alibi defense or requested a jury instruction on an alibi defense.²

Martinez raises ten issues on appeal.³ Because we find that error occurred when the prosecutor elicited testimony from Detective Conigliaro as to his opinion of Martinez's guilt, we discuss this point first.

OPINION OF GUILT TESTIMONY

The State called the lead investigator, Detective Conigliaro, to testify as to his investigation of the homicides. During the investigation, Detective Conigliaro, with Sloane Martinez's permission, listened to Sloane's telephone conversation with Martinez on January 27. The following day, he also monitored the audio-visual surveillance of the subsequent conversation between Sloane and Martinez that ultimately led to his arrest. During the State's redirect examination of Detective Conigliaro, the prosecutor asked the following:

Q. Corporal, when you were listening to that tape live, when you were listening to what was going on live on January 28th, right after that you said that you were authorized to arrest?

A. Absolutely.

Q. Was there any question, not based on your memory, not based on the transcript, was there any question in your mind that at that time that the Defendant had murdered Douglas Lawson?

The trial court overruled defense counsel's objection and the prosecutor continued to inquire about Detective Conigliaro's opinion of the defendant's guilt:

Q. Was there any doubt in your mind based on what he said then that he was responsible for the murder of Douglas Lawson?

A. There was no doubt that he did it.

The prosecutor highlighted this opinion testimony during closing argument: "You see, after the video tape was done, as Corporal Conigliaro told you, and as he told you, Baker and another Assistant State Attorney, Ms. Cox, no one had a doubt. He was arrested because nobody had a doubt that he was guilty." (Emphasis supplied.)

We begin our analysis with the basic proposition that a witness's opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused is not admissible. See Glendening v. State, 536 So.2d 212, 221 (Fla.1988) (citing Lambrix v. State, 494 So.2d 1143, 1148 (Fla. 1986)); Henry v. State, 700 So.2d 797, 798 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); Zecchino v. State, 691 So.2d 1197, 1198 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); Spradley v. State, 442 So.2d 1039, 1043 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Gibbs v. State, 193 So.2d 460, 463 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967). Section 90.703, Florida Statutes (1997), which provides that "[t]estimony in the form of an opinion or inference otherwise admissible is not objectionable because it includes an ultimate issue to be decided by the trier of fact," would appear to allow opinion testimony of the defendant's guilt. However, such testimony is precluded on the authority of section 90.403, Florida Statutes (1997), which excludes relevant evidence on the grounds that its probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice to the defendant. See Glendening, 536 So.2d at 221. "Any probative value such an opinion may possess is clearly outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice." Id. We find "[i]t is clear that error is occasioned where a witness, including a lay witness, is permitted to offer her opinion about the guilt of the defendant." Zecchino, 691 So.2d at 1198.

In Henry, the Fourth District addressed the effect of improper testimony giving an opinion of guilt. 700 So.2d at 798. The defendant in Henry was charged and convicted of robbery after being identified by a high school student who claimed that the defendant had stolen a gold chain from the student at school. Following the incident, the student victim ran to his mother's vehicle in the school parking lot and informed her of the theft. After describing the perpetrator to his mother, the mother recalled seeing a person who matched the perpetrator's description near her vehicle just moments before the theft. See id. At trial, the prosecutor asked the mother, "Do you have any doubt that this [defendant] is the person who robbed...