Mora v. State, SC94421.

• Decision Date: 24 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC94421.,SC94421.
• Citation: 814 So.2d 322
• Parties: Julio MORA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

814 So.2d 322

Julio MORA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC94421.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 24, 2002.

Rehearing Denied March 28, 2002.

Gene Reibman, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Marrett W. Hanna, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal judgments of conviction of first-degree murder and attendant death sentences. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. We affirm the convictions but vacate the sentences and remand for a new penalty phase.

BACKGROUND

A Broward County grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Dr. Julio Mora with the first-degree murder of Dr. Clarence L. Rudolph, the first-degree murder of attorney Karen Starr Marx, and the attempted first-degree murder of attorney Maurice Hall. A jury convicted Mora on all counts as indicted.

On May 27, 1994, Mora was the plaintiff in a sexual harassment suit against his former employer, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and its agent, Rudolph. Rudolph was the project director for a division of the AARP. Mora acted as his own attorney, Hall represented Rudolph, and Marx represented AARP. Also present was court reporter Patricia Charelton, who subsequently changed her last name to Grant. The deposition was held at Coastal Reporting court reporting agency located on the sixth floor of the Cumberland Building in Broward County.

Prior to the deposition, Hall arranged the seating in the deposition room so that Rudolph and Mora were physically separated as much as possible. When Mora arrived, Mora objected to the seating arrangement; however, Hall did not allow for rearrangement. The deposition began at approximately 10 a.m.

Because those being deposed spoke with foreign accents, Grant used a tape recorder as well as her stenography machine. Approximately thirty minutes into the deposition, Mora announced that he had one more question. Grant testified that this announcement surprised her, so she looked up. She saw Mora standing with a gun in his hand. The tape of the deposition reveals that Grant said, "No, no, no, Dr. Mora, no." Grant testified that she saw Mora shoot Rudolph one time, then Hall one time, and then Marx one time. Then Mora began shooting them again. Grant then ran out of the room. She turned and saw Mora lean over the table and shoot Marx again.

Hall testified that he ran out of the conference room after being shot and hid. In fact, a bullet struck the door frame as Hall left the room. At some point soon thereafter, Mora left the conference room in pursuit of Hall. Hall then wrestled the jammed handgun away from Mora, and Brett Tannenbaum, owner of Coastal Reporting, restrained Mora until the police arrived.

The tape Grant used reveals that ten shots were fired in a span of forty-eight seconds. Shots one through nine occurred in the first seventeen seconds, with the last shot being fired thirty-one seconds later. After the initial barrage of shots, the tape reveals that Marx cried out, "Help me, help me, help me," prior to the last shot. Paramedics took an unconscious Marx to Broward General Medical Center, where she died on the operating table approximately two hours after being shot.

Dr. Nelson, the medical examiner, testified that Marx received four gunshot wounds, one of which went through her pregnant uterus.¹ Nelson testified that Rudolph had four gunshot wounds, including one to the back of the head. One of the bullets may have caused two of the wounds. Hall testified that he received two gunshot wounds, one to his abdomen and one to his shoulder.

Mora testified in his own defense. He described a conspiracy against him masterminded by Rudolph. Mora testified that his apartment was repeatedly being "gassed" with toxic gas at night by Rudolph and his associates and that he had taken several pills that morning. Mora described an incident where Rudolph's "associate," an individual by the name of Wong Chung, shot out Mora's tire the day before the shootings. In fact, law enforcement individuals found a shredded tire in Mora's trunk; however, there was no evidence that the tire had been shot. Mora testified that his actions were in self-defense because during the deposition, a masked gunman, whom Mora would later believe to be Wong Chung, opened the conference door and pointed a pistol equipped with a silencer at him. Mora testified that Hall threw a briefcase at his head, that Rudolph dove for the floor to grab Mora's gun, and that Marx turned to grab her purse as if she were attempting to pull a gun. Mora testified at that moment he recollected a memory from 1936 of watching two brown-shirted Nazi soldiers kill two emaciated Jewish boys.

Prior to trial, the trial court conducted a competency hearing, after which the trial court found Mora competent. Jury selection began on April 7, 1997, with the trial beginning on April 10. There was disagreement between Mora and guilt phase counsel Dennis Colleran over trial strategy. Mora wanted to primarily pursue a self-defense theory. Colleran wanted to pursue an insanity defense. Mora finally consented to an insanity defense. Witnesses for Mora described how for years Mora lived in an abnormal way—Mora constantly was filing police reports alleging that people were attempting to kill him, especially through gassings.

The jury began deliberating the morning of April 30, 1997, and returned its verdict that evening. The jury found Mora guilty on all counts. The trial court conducted a penalty hearing on Tuesday, May 27, 1997. Mora represented himself during the penalty hearing, as the trial court had previously allowed Mora to discharge his penalty phase counsel, Kenneth Malnik. The State introduced additional portions of the court reporter's tape but called no witnesses. Mora refused to present any evidence or argument. The jury recommended death on both counts of murder, each by a vote of eight to four. The trial court appointed Malnik as special court counsel to develop mitigation evidence. The trial court conducted a Spencer² hearing on July 9 and 10, 1997, at which hearing Malnik presented mitigation evidence.

On October 20, 1998, the trial court entertained further argument regarding Mora's competency, again finding Mora competent. The next day, the trial court sentenced Mora to death on both murder counts and sentenced him to a consecutive sentence of life in prison for the attempted murder charge. The trial court found that the previous violent felony aggravator applied to both murders on the basis of Mora's contemporaneous convictions and that the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravator (HAC) applied to the Marx murder. The trial court found seven nonstatutory mitigators³ and rejected five statutory mitigators⁴ and one nonstatutory mitigator.⁵ Mora, through his appellate counsel, raises nine issues for our consideration.⁶ We authorized Mora to file a pro se brief.⁷ In that pro se brief, Mora raises three general issues.⁸ We also requested supplemental briefing on one issue.⁹

GUILT PHASE ISSUES

Mora's Competency

The trial court conducted an extensive competency hearing on March 20, 1997, and accepted testimony from Dr. Patsy Ceros Livingston, Dr. Trudy Block Garfield, Dr. John Spencer, and Dr. Thomas Macaluso.¹⁰ Dr. Ceros-Livingston testified that Mora suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was not competent to stand trial. She testified that Mora had a delusional belief system which influenced how Mora viewed events. Dr. Block-Garfield also indicated that Mora was very manipulative, but she concluded that he was competent. Dr. Spencer testified that Mora met all of the competency criteria and therefore was competent to proceed to trial.¹¹ Dr. Spencer also indicated that Mora had the ability to appreciate humor. Dr. Macaluso indicated that while Mora satisfied many of the competency factors, Mora was not competent because he could not testify relevantly or disclose relevant facts to his attorneys.

Mora argues that the trial court abused its discretion in finding him competent by relying on the testimony of Drs. Block-Garfield and Spencer. Mora points out that he has a delusional belief system such that any rational person would conclude from the record that Mora was not competent. Mora further argues that the trial court abused its discretion in finding Mora competent before the penalty phase proceeding and sentencing.¹² The State maintains that the trial court simply resolved conflicting testimony among the experts and by doing so did not abuse its discretion.

As we said in Hardy v. State, 716 So.2d 761, 763-64 (Fla.1998):

In determining whether a defendant is competent to stand trial, the trial court must decide whether the defendant "has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding—and whether he has a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings against him." Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960); see also § 916.12(1), Fla. Stat. (1993); Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.211(a)(1). In situations where there is conflicting expert testimony regarding the defendant's competency, it is the trial court's responsibility to consider all the evidence relevant to competency and resolve the factual dispute. Hunter v. State, 660 So.2d 244, 247 (Fla.1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1128, 116 S.Ct. 946, 133 L.Ed.2d 871 (1996); Watts v. State, 593 So.2d 198, 202 (Fla.1992). The trial court's competency decision will be upheld absent a showing of an abuse of discretion. Hunter, 660 So.2d at 247; Watts, 593 So.2d at 202.

The trial court entered an extensive six-page order finding Mora competent. In its written order, the trial court examined each factor enumerated in rule 3.211(a)(2). The trial court observed that all of the experts generally agreed that Mora met three of the five factors for competency as enumerated...