Rimmer v. State

• Decision Date: 03 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC95318.,SC95318.
• Parties: Robert RIMMER, Appellant, v. STATE of FLORIDA, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

825 So.2d 304

Robert RIMMER, Appellant, v. STATE of FLORIDA, Appellee.

No. SC95318.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 3, 2002.

Rehearing Denied August 26, 2002.

Patrick C. Rastatter of Glass & Rastatter, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Debra Rescigno, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant Robert Rimmer challenges his judgment of conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm appellant's convictions and sentence of death.

MATERIAL FACTS

Appellant and codefendant Kevin Parker were jointly tried and convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed kidnaping, attempted aimed robbery, and aggravated assault for the robbery and murders that occurred at the Audio Logic car stereo store in Wilton Manners, Florida. The facts in this case reveal that on May 2, 1998, appellant Robert Rimmer and possibly two others, including co-felon Kevin Parker, robbed Audio Logic, during which Rimmer shot and killed two people.¹ The two employees, Bradley Krause and Aaron Knight, who were in the installation bay area of the store, were told to lie face down on the floor and their hands were duct-taped behind their backs. Two customers, Joe Moore and Louis Rosario, were also told to lie face down on the floor and their hands were then bound by duct tape. According to eyewitness Moore, appellant stopped him as he was leaving the store, showed him a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants, and ordered Moore to go back inside the store. Rosario, who was outside smoking a cigarette when the robbery began, also had been ordered to go inside the store, but he did not see the person who had told him to go inside. Personal items were taken from Knight, Krause, and Moore, including Moore's wallet and cellular telephone. During this episode, appellant was armed with a Vikale .380 caliber semiautomatic weapon.

While this was taking place, another victim, Kimberly Davis Burke ("Davis"),² was sitting in the waiting room of the store with her two-year-old daughter. While there, she had observed a purplish Ford Probe and a Kia Sephia drive up to the store. The Kia Sephia stopped in front of the store and co-felon Parker got out. He entered the store through the front door, looked inside a display case that was in the waiting room, spoke briefly with Davis and her daughter, and then exited through one of the doors that led to the bay area. Soon thereafter, Davis noticed appellant in the installation area. He then entered the waiting room and told Davis that her boy-friend Moore was looking for her. When Davis walked into the bay area of the store and observed the four men lying on the floor, she immediately understood what was happening and sat down, placing her daughter on her lap. Although appellant told Davis not to look, she observed appellant and two other individuals load stereo equipment into the Ford Probe, which was parked in the bay area.

At one point, appellant asked victim Knight for the keys to the cash register. He also asked if anyone owned a weapon. Knight told appellant that he had a gun, which he kept in a desk drawer in the store. Appellant retrieved the gun, a Walther PPK. Appellant also asked the two employees if there were any surveillance cameras, and if so, where the tapes were kept. The employees told appellant that the store did not have any surveillance cameras.

When the men finished loading the Ford Probe, appellant told Davis to move away because "he didn't want this to get on her." The victims heard appellant start to drive the car out of the bay area and then stop. Appellant returned to the bay area and said to Knight, "You know me." Knight responded that he did not. Appellant then said, "You do remember me" and walked up to Knight, placed the pistol to the back of his head and shot him. At the sound of the gunshot, Moore jumped to his feet. Appellant pointed the gun at him and told him to lie back down. Appellant then walked over to Krause and shot him in the back of the head. Appellant then thanked the three remaining victims for their cooperation and told them to have a nice day. According to the surviving victims, the entire episode lasted fifteen to twenty minutes.

Knight died instantly. Krause, who was still alive when the police arrived, was taken to the hospital where he later died. According to the medical examiner, although Krause did not die instantly, he would have lost consciousness upon being shot. The police recovered a spent projectile fragment and shell casings from the scene of the crime, which were later identified as .380 caliber components. According to the State's firearm expert, the projectile fragment and shell casings came from the gun used by the assailant.

On May 4, 1998, Davis provided a sketch artist with a description of the shooter. The resulting sketch was given to Mike Dixon, the owner of the Audio Logic store, and several of his competitors. One competitor, John Ercolano, recognized appellant as the person depicted in the sketch and called Dixon. Apparently, Audio Logic had installed speakers in appellant's car in November of 1997. Appellant had returned in December of 1997 complaining that the speakers were not working properly. He had also taken his car to Ercolano's shop, complaining that Audio Logic had not installed the speakers correctly. Based on records kept by Audio Logic, the police learned appellant's identity, phone number, and address.

On May 8, Davis and Moore picked appellant out of a photographic lineup and later identified him from a live lineup as the person who shot the victims. Dixon identified appellant as the person who he had spoken to about installing equipment in his car.³

Appellant was arrested on May 10, 1998, after leading the police in a twelve-minute, high-speed car chase which ended at his residence. During the chase, appellant threw several items from his car, including Moore's wallet, the firearm used during the shooting,⁴ and the Walther PPK stolen from the store. At the time of his arrest, appellant was driving a 1978 Oldsmobile. Shortly after his arrest, appellant's wife drove up in the Ford Probe. Both the Probe and the Oldsmobile were registered to appellant and both cars were impounded. During a subsequent court-ordered search of the Oldsmobile, the police discovered a day-planner organizer which contained a lease agreement for a storage facility. Appellant had rented the storage unit on May 7, just five days after the shooting incident. When the police searched the storage facility pursuant to a search warrant, they found the stolen stereo equipment. Both appellant's and Parker's fingerprints were on the equipment.⁵ A surveillance tape, which was admitted in evidence, showed appellant renting the storage unit. Parker was arrested on June 12, 1998.

During appellant's case-in-chief, appellant's wife testified that on the day of the murders, appellant had intended to go fishing with his son. She further testified that she drove the Ford Probe that day, not appellant. The defense also called two experts who testified about appellant's visual impairment. Apparently, appellant wears corrective lenses. It was the defense's theory that appellant could not have been the shooter because he wears glasses and the person who committed the murders was not wearing any glasses. The State presented rebuttal testimony from a Detective Kelley who also wears corrective lenses. Over defense counsel's objection, Detective Kelley testified about his ability to see without wearing glasses. At the close of all the evidence, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts charged in the indictment as to both defendants.

During the penalty phase, the trial court severed the proceedings so that each defendant could present mitigation evidence separately from the other. The court held Rimmer's penalty phase proceeding first. Parker's penalty phase proceeding commenced after the jury rendered an advisory sentence for Rimmer. During Rimmer's penalty phase proceeding, the State introduced facts surrounding Rimmer's conviction of prior felonies and victim impact evidence. The defense presented several witnesses, who testified about Rimmer's background, work, and family relationships. The defense also presented testimony from Dr. Martha Jacobson, a clinical psychologist who testified about appellant's mental illness. According to Dr. Jacobson, appellant suffers from a schizophrenic disorder.⁶ However, she offered no opinion as to whether appellant's mental condition supported any statutory mitigators.

The jury recommended that appellant be sentenced to death for both murders by a vote of nine to three.⁷ The trial court followed the jury's recommendation, finding six aggravating factors: (1) the murders were committed by a person convicted of a felony and under a sentence of imprisonment; (2) the defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony and a felony involving use or threat of violence to the person; (3) the murders were committed while the defendant was engaged in a robbery and kidnaping; (4) the murders were committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing lawful arrest; (5) the murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC); and (6) the murders were cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP). The trial court only gave moderate weight to the HAC and murder in the course of a felony aggravators; the court gave great weight to the remaining four aggravators. The trial court found no statutory mitigators,⁸ but found several nonstatutory mitigators: (1) Rimmer's family background (very little weight); (2) Rimmer is an excellent employee (some weight); (3) Rimmer has helped and ministered to others (minimal weight); (4) Rimmer is a kind, loving father (not much weight); and (5) Rimmer suffers from a...