Pettit v. State, 75565

• Court: Florida Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM; SHAW; BARKETT; BARKETT
• Citation: Pettit v. State, 591 So.2d 618 (Fla. 1992)
• Decision Date: 09 January 1992
• Docket Number: No. 75565,75565
• Parties: Samuel Andrew PETTIT, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. 591 So.2d 618, 17 Fla. L. Week. S41

Page 618

591 So.2d 618

Samuel Andrew PETTIT, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 75565.

591 So.2d 618, 17 Fla. L. Week. S41

Supreme Court of Florida.

Jan. 9, 1992.

Gregory N. Burns, Fort Myers, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Robert J. Landry, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution, we review the judgment of guilt of first-degree murder and the imposition of a death sentence imposed therefor on Samuel Andrew Pettit. We affirm both.

The record reflects that, during the evening of August 17, 1988, Pettit, armed with a handgun, accosted Kathleen Finnegan and Norman Langston in a parking lot. He forced them into Langston's car and directed Langston to drive to a secluded clearing near a creek. During the ride, Pettit made Finnegan give him her earrings, watch, and money. Pettit also took Langston's watch and money. When they reached their destination, Pettit shot them four times and left. Although wounded, Finnegan managed to summon help and survived. Langston, shot twice in the head, died two days later.

Prior to this incident, Pettit had his cousin procure a handgun for him so that he could commit armed robberies. Afterwards, the cousin turned Finnegan's watch and earrings over to the authorities and said that Pettit gave the items to him and that Pettit had confessed to him. Pettit also confessed to two friends who gave him a ride to Naples and to a man who repaired the handgun.

Naples police found Pettit sleeping on the beach about 12:30 a.m. on August 19. They removed the handgun used in this murder/robbery from his pocket and arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon. The State indicted Pettit for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery. On September 1, 1988 the trial court appointed two attorneys to represent Pettit.

Sometime in 1989 Pettit started refusing to cooperate with his attorneys and expressed his desire to plead guilty. The court appointed three mental health experts to examine Pettit, and at a competency hearing in early September 1989 they testified (two in person and the third through a written report) that Pettit was competent. Because of his refusal to cooperate, Pettit's counsel had filed a motion to withdraw in August 1989. Two weeks after the competency hearing, the court heard the motion to withdraw. At that hearing Pettit continuously expressed his intent either to plead guilty or to take the stand and confess and was adamant in his refusal to follow his attorneys' advice. At the end of the hearing the court discharged Pettit's attorneys and accepted his guilty plea. The sentencing procedure had been explained to Pettit and he stated his intention not to present any mitigating evidence. The State, however, asked the court to appoint medical experts to examine Pettit to determine if his health presented any physical or mental mitigators. The court appointed the requested doctors, and the penalty phase began on October 12, 1989.

The State presented several witnesses, who testified to the facts of this case. When the State rested, it asked the court to take judicial notice of the prior competency hearing and of the mental health experts' testimony and report. The court then stated that it wanted to hear the two neurologists who had been appointed to examine Pettit. Those doctors testified that, although Pettit had been diagnosed with Huntington's chorea, the disease had not progressed far enough to have caused these crimes and that the statutory mental mitigators did not apply to Pettit. Pettit's grandfather also testified.

After that, the court imposed the death sentence, finding under sentence of imprisonment, prior violent felony, and committed during a felony in aggravation. He found no mitigation. The court then appointed an attorney to represent Pettit on appeal.

The first issue raised on appeal is whether the court erred in allowing Pettit's counsel to withdraw and allowing Pettit to plead guilty and be unrepresented at the penalty phase. The record discloses that the trial judge took great care in ascertaining Pettit's desires and in determining his capacity to exercise his free will and choice to proceed as he did. The record supports his conclusion that it was Pettit's desire and that he had full mental capacity to make an informed decision in this regard. We considered a similar situation in Hamblen v. State, 527 So.2d 800 (Fla.1988), and resolved the issue of whether a convicted murderer could waive the presentation of mitigating evidence. Over the thought-provoking argument of two dissenters we held that he could, but emphasized that the trial judge must carefully analyze the possible statutory and nonstatutory mitigating factors against the aggravators to...