Philmore v. State
| Decision Date | 30 May 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. SC00-1706.,SC00-1706. |
| Citation | 820 So.2d 919 |
| Parties | Lenard James PHILMORE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Patrick C. Rastatter of Glass & Rastatter, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Marrett W. Hanna, Leslie T. Campbell, and Melanie A. Dale, Assistant Attorneys General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Appellee.
We have on appeal the judgment and sentence of the trial court imposing the death penalty upon Lenard James Philmore for the November 14, 1997, killing of Kazue Perron. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Philmore's convictions and sentence of death.
Philmore, who was twenty-one at the time of the commission of the crimes, was charged and convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery with a deadly weapon, carjacking with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, robbery with a deadly weapon, and third-degree grand theft based upon the events surrounding the November 14, 1997, abduction and murder of Perron.
The evidence presented at trial revealed the following. Philmore and codefendant Anthony Spann1 wanted money so they could go to New York. On November 13, 1997, Philmore, Spann, and Sophia Hutchins, with whom Philmore was sometimes living, were involved in a robbery of a pawn shop in the Palm Beach area. However, the robbery was unsuccessful. Consequently, Philmore and Spann decided to rob a bank the following day.
On the evening of November 13, Philmore and Spann picked up their girlfriends, Ketontra "Kiki" Cooper and Toya Stevenson, respectively, in Spann's Subaru and stayed at a hotel for the evening. The following morning, Spann told Philmore that they needed to steal a car as a getaway vehicle in order to facilitate the robbery. Spann told Philmore that they would have to kill the driver of the vehicle they stole.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on November 14, Philmore and Spann dropped their girlfriends off at their houses, and went in search of a car to steal. Philmore and Spann first looked for a car at the Palm Beach Mall, but were unsuccessful. They then followed a woman to another mall, but by the time they reached her car, she was already outside of her car, making it difficult for them to steal the car. They ultimately spotted Perron driving a gold Lexus in a residential community, and the two followed her.
At approximately 1 p.m., Perron entered the driveway of a friend with whom she intended to run errands. Upon entering the driveway, Spann told Philmore to "get her." Philmore approached the driver's side of the vehicle and asked Perron if he could use her phone. Perron stated that she did not live there, and Philmore took out his gun and told Perron to "scoot over." Philmore drove Perron's car, with Spann following in his Subaru. During the drive, Perron was crying and told Philmore that she was scared.
Spann flashed his car lights at Philmore, and the two cars pulled over. Spann told Philmore to "take the bitch to the bank." Philmore asked Perron if she had any money, and Perron responded that she did not have any money in the bank, but that he could have the $40 she had on her. Philmore told her to keep the money. Perron took off her rings, and Philmore placed them inside the armrest of the Lexus.2 Perron asked Philmore if he was going to kill her, and he said "no." She also asked if Spann was going to kill her, and Philmore again said "no."
Philmore and Spann passed a side road in an isolated area in western Martin County, and Spann flashed his lights, indicating that they turn around and head down the road. Philmore chose the place to stop. Philmore ordered Perron out of the vehicle and ordered her to walk towards high vegetation containing maiden cane, which is a tall brush. Perron began "having a fit," and said "no." Philmore then shot her once in the head. Philmore picked up Perron's body and disposed of it in the maiden cane. Spann did not assist in disposing of the body.
Philmore and Spann then drove the two vehicles to Indiantown, where they stopped at a store. Spann pointed out a bank to rob, and Philmore, following Spann, drove to the bank parking lot. Philmore parked the Lexus a short distance from the bank, and got into Spann's Subaru. At approximately 1:58 p.m., Spann drove Philmore to the bank to commit the robbery. Philmore entered the bank while Spann waited in the car. Philmore grabbed approximately $1100 that a teller was counting and ran out of the bank.3 After robbing the bank, Philmore and Spann returned to the Lexus, and concealed the Subaru. Philmore threw his tank top out of the Lexus by the side of the road after the robbery and wore Spann's tank top. The discarded tank top, which contained Perron's blood, was subsequently recovered by the authorities.
After concealing the Subaru, Philmore and Spann returned to Palm Beach County to pick up Cooper and Stevenson at their houses. They then went to a fast food restaurant to get food and Cooper's paycheck. Afterwards, Philmore wanted to go to Hutchins' house because he left his shoes there. However, as they approached Hutchins' house, Philmore spotted an undercover police van sitting at a nearby house, and stated that it "looked like trouble." An officer of the West Palm Beach Police Department, who happened to be engaged in a stakeout in the area, observed Spann driving the Lexus and recognized him because there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest on an unrelated matter. Spann sped away and a high-speed chase ensued on Interstate 95.
As the high-speed chase proceeded into Martin County, a tire blew out on the Lexus. Philmore and Spann, followed by Cooper and Stevenson, exited the vehicle and hid in an orange grove. While in the orange grove, Philmore and Spann encountered the manager of the grove, John Scarborough, and his assistant. Although Spann first told Scarborough that they were running from the police because of a speeding incident, when Scarborough expressed his disbelief, Spann said that they were running from the police because of drug-related activities. Spann offered Scarborough money to get them out of the grove, and Scarborough refused. Scarborough drove away and informed the police, who were already searching the grove, where he saw them. Philmore and Spann were apprehended and charged with armed trespass.4 The authorities recovered firearms from a creek in the orange grove a few days later.
From November 15 through November 26, Philmore gave several statements to the police in which he ultimately confessed that he robbed the bank and abducted and shot Perron.5 On November 21, Philmore led the police to Perron's body, which was found in the maiden cane. Philmore was charged in a six-count indictment, and the jury found Philmore guilty on all counts.
After a penalty phase in which the State and the defense presented both lay and expert witnesses, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of twelve to zero. The trial court then held a Spencer6 hearing, allowing both sides to present legal arguments and evidence.7
The trial court found the following five aggravators: (1) defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person;8 (2) the capital felony was committed while the defendant was engaged in the commission of a kidnapping; (3) the capital felony was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest; (4) the capital felony was committed for pecuniary gain; and (5) the capital felony was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification ("CCP"). The court found no statutory mitigation,9 but found the following nonstatutory mitigation: (1) defendant was both the victim and witness of physical and verbal abuse by an alcoholic father (moderate weight); (2) defendant has a history of extensive drug and alcohol abuse (some weight); (3) severe emotional trauma and subsequent posttraumatic stress (moderate weight); (4) defendant was molested or raped, or both, at a young age (some weight); (5) defendant was classified as severely emotionally handicapped (little weight); (6) defendant has exhibited the ability to form close loving relationships (moderate weight); (7) defendant's cooperation with the State (moderate weight); and (8) defendant has expressed remorse for causing the death of Perron (little weight). The trial court rejected the nonstatutory mitigator that the defendant suffered brain damage at an early age. Finding that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances, the trial court agreed with the jury's recommendation and imposed the death penalty.10
On appeal, Philmore raises eleven claims.11 Although Philmore does not raise the issue of sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, we have an obligation to independently review the record for sufficiency of the evidence. See Sexton v. State, 775 So.2d 923, 933 (Fla.2000)
. After reviewing the record, we conclude that there is competent substantial evidence to support the murder conviction in this case.
In Philmore's first claim on appeal, he challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress various statements he made to law enforcement before he was charged with the first-degree murder of Perron. First, Philmore claims that his statements were not freely and voluntarily given under the Fifth Amendment because Philmore believed that he would not receive the death penalty if he cooperated with authorities. Second, Philmore contends that Assistant Public Defender John Hetherington provided ineffective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment in allowing Philmore to give multiple statements to authorities in which he gradually implicated himself in Perron's abduction and murder.
On November 14, 1997,...
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