Peterka v. State, 75995

• Decision Date: 21 April 1994
• Docket Number: No. 75995,75995
• Citation: 640 So.2d 59
• Parties: 19 Fla. L. Weekly S232 Daniel PETERKA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 59

640 So.2d 59

19 Fla. L. Weekly S232

Daniel PETERKA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 75995.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 21, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 5, 1994.

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and David A. Davis, Asst. Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Richard B. Martell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Daniel Peterka appeals his conviction for first-degree murder and his resulting death sentence. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution. We affirm Peterka's conviction for first-degree murder and his death sentence.

The evidence at trial revealed that on February 11, 1989, Daniel Peterka was to surrender himself to authorities in Nebraska to begin serving two consecutive one-year prison terms for theft. Peterka met with his girlfriend, Cindy Rush, and told her that he did not want to go to jail, that he wanted to get a job and establish himself somewhere else. After arguing with Rush, Peterka walked away.

Peterka reappeared in Niceville, Florida, at the end of February 1989, and eventually moved in with Ronald LeCompte, a man Peterka had met at work. Shortly thereafter, Peterka explained that he did not have any identification, and asked LeCompte to sign for the purchase of a .357 magnum handgun. LeCompte signed as a favor to Peterka.

Sometime in April 1989, Peterka moved into a rental duplex with John Russell, the victim in this case. According to Russell's cousin, Deborah Trently, Peterka and Russell did not have a good relationship. Connie LeCompte, a friend of Peterka's, testified that Peterka told her that "if everything went like he wanted it to, he was going to be moving back up North."

On June 27, 1989, Peterka went to the motor vehicle department and applied for and received a duplicate driver's license in the name of John Russell. The license contained Peterka's picture and Russell's name. On that same day, Peterka cashed a three-hundred-dollar money order that was payable to Russell and had been mailed to Russell by a relative. Russell became concerned when he did not receive the money order in the mail. He obtained a photocopy of the money order from his relative and told his cousin Deborah Trently that he suspected that Peterka had stolen the money order. Further, Russell stated that he did not intend to confront Peterka about the money order until the gun was out of the house and that he would let the police handle the matter. On July 11, 1989, Russell contacted Kimberly Cox, an employee at Vanguard Bank, about his money order. Russell showed Cox a photocopy of the money order and stated that he had not endorsed the back of the money order. Russell told Cox that he thought that his roommate had cashed the money order. Cox testified that she told Russell that a formal prosecution for forgery could not begin until the bank received the original money order. Cox further testified that Russell stated that he did not intend to bring up the matter with his roommate and that he would let the police handle the situation. Finally, Lori Slotkin, Russell's girlfriend, testified that on the night of July 11, 1989, Russell told her that he was waiting for the bank to obtain the original money order so that he could bring charges against Peterka. Slotkin also testified that Russell stated that he did not intend to confront Peterka because he was nervous about the gun.

Slotkin testified that she last saw Russell at 2:30 a.m. on July 12, 1989. Frances Thompson, Peterka's girlfriend, testified that on the morning of July 12, 1989, Russell helped her move her belongings out of the duplex. Thompson also testified that at 8:30 p.m. on July 12, 1989, Peterka came by her work, driving Russell's car. Peterka and Thompson went out to dinner and drove to the beach in Russell's car. At dinner, Peterka told Thompson that he was a fugitive from Nebraska and he talked about "not wanting to go to prison." Afterwards they returned to the duplex. Thompson spent the night at the duplex and went to work the next morning.

Russell's friend and co-worker, Gary Johnson, became worried when Russell did not show up for work on July 13, 1989, which was a payday. Johnson drove over to the duplex around 9 a.m. and saw Russell's car parked in the driveway. When no one answered the door, Johnson climbed through a window. Once inside the duplex, Johnson saw Russell's car keys, cigarettes, and lighter on a table. Johnson also noted that three of the cushions from the couch were missing. Johnson then looked in Peterka's bureau for the gun. He found it unloaded, with six live shells lying beside it. Johnson left the house and returned to work. After work, Johnson returned to the duplex and asked Peterka where Russell was or when Russell had left. Peterka stated that he did not know Russell's whereabouts. After Johnson left the duplex, Kevin Trently, the husband of Russell's cousin, came over to inquire about Russell. Peterka told Trently that Russell had left with someone the previous night.

Johnson filed a missing person report with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office that night. Deputy Harkins went to the duplex around 8 p.m., accompanied by Johnson and two others. Peterka was at the duplex with Thompson. Peterka told Harkins that Russell had left the previous day with "some long-haired guy." When Harkins asked Peterka for identification, Peterka told him that he had lost his driver's license, but gave him a birth certificate. After Harkins and the others left, Thompson asked Peterka if he knew Russell's whereabouts. Peterka indicated that he did not.

Harkins ran Peterka's name and birth date in the sheriff's office's computer. The computer check indicated that Peterka was a fugitive from Nebraska with an outstanding warrant against him and that he was considered "armed and dangerous." After receiving verification of the computer check, Harkins and other deputies arrested Peterka around 1:30 a.m. the next morning. The deputies searched the duplex and found the gun. Peterka showed the police the bill of sale for the gun and convinced them that it belonged to a friend. The deputies did not seize the gun. The deputies also found Peterka's wallet, containing the driver's license with Peterka's picture and Russell's name, other items of identification belonging to Russell, $407, a newspaper clipping advertising jobs in Alaska, and Peterka's Nebraska driver's license.

At approximately 7 a.m. on July 14, 1989, Peterka was transferred to the county jail. Peterka telephoned Thompson and asked her to remove some of his belongings from the duplex and to save them. Thompson offered to remove the gun from the duplex and to keep it for Peterka. While in the duplex, Thompson noticed that some of the couch cushions were outside. She also discovered a shovel in the trunk of the victim's car. After Thompson called the sheriff's department and told them what she had found, several law enforcement officers searched the duplex. "Shorty" Purvis, the owner of the duplex and Peterka's employer, gave law enforcement Peterka's handgun, which he had obtained from Thompson. The police search revealed blood stains on the couch where the cushions had been and on the carpet under the couch. A search of the trunk of the victim's car revealed a shovel, some sand, blood stains on the tail lights, and blood inside the trunk.

On July 18, 1989, Peterka called Purvis and asked him to come to the jail. Peterka told Purvis that he had accidentally killed Russell during a fight over the money order. When Purvis replied that he would tell the police everything that Peterka said, Peterka agreed. At Peterka's urging, Purvis summoned Deputy Atkins, who advised Peterka of his rights.

Peterka's statement to the police recounted the following events: Peterka forged Russell's signature and cashed the money order. He paid Russell one hundred dollars to use Russell's identification. Russell instigated a shoving match over the money order that escalated into a fight in the living room of the duplex. Both men reached for Peterka's gun, but Peterka got it first. As Russell got up from the couch, the weapon accidentally fired and the bullet entered the top of Russell's head. Russell fell down on the couch. Peterka wrapped Russell's body in a rug, drove to a remote part of Eglin Air Force Base, and buried the body in a shallow grave. After giving this statement, Peterka agreed to take law enforcement to the body. Upon his return to the sheriff's office, Peterka agreed to give a videotaped statement, which was similar to the statements that he had given earlier. The trial court admitted this videotaped statement into evidence.

The medical examiner testified that he was unable to determine the proximity of the gun's muzzle to the victim's head by examining the tissue near the wound because the body was severely decomposed when found. However, based upon the shape and size of the wound and the residue of powder that formed a very black ridging of soot around the point of entry into the skull, the medical examiner concluded that the victim died from a close range gun shot to the head. The medical examiner also testified that the wound was consistent with the victim having been shot from behind while he was in a reclining position.

A firearms expert testified that Peterka's gun was in good working order, and that in his opinion, based on tests, the gun would not fire accidentally. He further stated that the gun had two safety mechanisms to prevent the hammer of the gun from striking the cartridge chamber unless the trigger was pulled.

The jury found Peterka guilty of first-degree murder and recommended death by a vote of eight to four. The trial court found that the following aggravating circumstances applied to the homicide: 1) committed while under a sentence of imprisonment; ¹ 2) committed for the...