Rivera v. State

• Decision Date: 20 December 2018
• Docket Number: No. SC17-1991,SC17-1991
• Parties: Michael T. RIVERA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

260 So.3d 920

Michael T. RIVERA, Appellant,

v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC17-1991

Supreme Court of Florida.

December 20, 2018

Neal Dupree, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Martin J. McClain, Special Assistant Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, and Nicole M. Noël, Assistant Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Southern Region, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Appellant

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, and Ilana Mitzner, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, Florida, for Appellee

PER CURIAM.

This case is before the Court on appeal from an order denying a motion to vacate a sentence of death under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. Because the order concerns postconviction relief from a sentence of death, this Court has jurisdiction of the appeal under article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution.

FACTS AND BACKGROUND

Michael T. Rivera was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. Rivera v. State (Rivera I ), 561 So.2d 536, 537 (Fla. 1990). In affirming his convictions and sentences on direct appeal, this Court set forth the pertinent facts pertaining to Rivera's case:

Eleven-year-old Staci Lynn Jazvac left her Lauderdale Lakes home on bicycle at about 5:30 p.m. on January 30, 1986, to purchase poster board at a nearby shopping center. A cashier recalled having sold her a poster board between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. When Staci failed to return by dusk, her mother began to search. At about 7:30 p.m. the mother encountered a Broward County Deputy Sheriff, who had Staci's bicycle in the trunk of his car. The deputy found the bicycle abandoned in a field alongside the shopping center. A police investigation ensued.

Police first connected Michael Rivera to Staci's murder through a complaint filed by Starr Peck, a Pompano Beach resident. She testified that she had received approximately thirty telephone calls during September 1985 from a man who identified himself as "Tony." He would discuss his sexual fantasies and describe the women's clothing he wore, such as pantyhose and one-piece body suit. She received the last telephone call from "Tony" after Staci's murder. Ms. Peck testified that he said he had "done something very terrible.... I'm sure you've heard about the girl Staci.... I killed her and I didn't mean to.... I had a notion to go out and expose myself. I saw this girl getting off her bike and I went up behind her." She testified that he had admitted putting ether over Staci and dragging her into the back of the van where he sexually assaulted her. Rivera had been employed by Starr Peck, and she identified him as "Tony."

On February 13, Detectives Richard Scheff and Phillip Amabile of the Broward County Sheriff's Department took Rivera into custody on unrelated outstanding warrants and transported him to headquarters where they told him that they wanted to speak to him. Detective Scheff testified that Rivera responded, "If I talk to you guys, I'll spend the next 20 years in jail." After reading Rivera his Miranda rights,[n.2] Detective Scheff told Rivera that someone had advised them that Rivera had information about the disappearance of Staci Jazvac. The detective testified that Rivera admitted making the obscene phone calls to Starr Peck but denied having abducted or murdered Staci.

[n.2] Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

In subsequent interviews, Rivera admitted that he liked exposing himself to girls between ten and twenty years of age. He preferred the Coral Springs area because its open fields reduced the likelihood of getting caught. He would often borrow a friend's van and commented that "every time I get in a vehicle, I do something terrible." Rivera then admitted to two incidents. In one, he said he had exposed himself to a girl pushing a bike. When asked what he did with her, Rivera replied: "Tom, I can't tell you. I don't want to go to jail. They'll kill me for what I've done." In the other, he said he had grabbed another young girl and pulled her into some bushes near a Coral Springs apartment complex.

Staci's body was discovered on February 14 in an open field in the city of Coral Springs, several miles from the site of the abduction. Dr. Ronald Keith Wright, a forensic pathologist, testified that most of the upper part of the body had decomposed and that the body was undergoing early skeletonization. The doctor concluded that death was a homicide caused by asphyxiation

, which he attributed to ether or choking.

Dr. Wright observed that the body was completely clothed, although the jeans were unzipped and partially pulled down about the hips, and the panties were partially torn. Dr. Wright opined that this could be the result of the expansion of gasses during decomposition and not sexual molestation. He was unable to determine whether she was sexually assaulted. He discovered a bruise on the middle of the forehead that occurred before death, but he could not testify with certainty as to the cause. He also observed a broken fingernail on her right hand index finger, which he could not interpret as evidence of a struggle. Dr. Wright believed that the body was carried to the field and dumped, and at that time Staci was either dead or unconscious.

The jury heard testimony from several of Rivera's fellow inmates. Frank Zuccarello testified that Rivera admitted that he had choked another child, Jennifer Goetz, in the same way he had choked Staci; that Rivera said he had tried to kill Jennifer but was frightened away; and that Rivera said he had taken Staci to the field where she screamed and resisted, and he choked her to death after things got out of hand. Rivera also admitted that he told Starr Peck that he had murdered Staci, saying that confiding in her was the biggest mistake of his life. William Moyer testified that Rivera had stated to him: "You know, Bill, I didn't do it, but Tony did it." He later overheard Rivera call Starr Peck and identify himself as "Tony." Peter Salerno testified that Rivera told him: "I didn't mean to kill the little Staci girl. I just wanted to look at her and play with her."

A manager of a Plantation restaurant testified that he had received over two hundred telephone calls during a two-year period from an anonymous male caller. On February 7, the Friday before Staci's body was discovered, the caller identified himself as "Tony" and said that he "had that Staci girl" while wearing pantyhose, and that he had put an ether rag over her face.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged.

During the penalty phase, the state introduced evidence of prior convictions.[n.3] Rivera introduced the testimony of his sisters, Elisa and Miriam, through whom the jury learned that Rivera was himself the victim of child molestation. Rivera's present girlfriend testified that she had no concerns about leaving him with her children. Rivera's former girlfriend was allowed to testify under an alias. She expressed the opinion that Rivera had two personalities. Through Michael he demonstrated a good side and through "Tony" he exposed his dark side which compelled him to do terrible things.

[n.3] On November 6, 1986, Rivera was convicted of attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated battery. The state conceded that those crimes were on appeal. However, there were other felonies involving the use or threat of violence of which Rivera stood convicted and which were not on appeal. They include the October 1980 crimes of burglary with intent to commit battery and of indecent assault on a female child under the age of fourteen.

Dr. Patsy Ceros-Livingston, a clinical psychologist, interviewed Rivera in jail.

She diagnosed Rivera as having a borderline personality disorder

, which is characterized by impulsivity, a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships, lack of control of anger, identity disturbance, affective instability, intolerance of being alone, and physically self-damaging acts. The doctor also diagnosed exhibitionism, voyeurism, and transvestism.

Dr. Ceros-Livingston opined that Rivera acted under extreme duress and that he had some special compulsive characteristics that substantially impaired his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform this conduct to the requirement of the law.

The jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. The trial judge found four aggravating circumstances,[n.4] one statutory mitigating circumstance,[n.5] and no nonstatutory mitigating circumstances.

[n.4] § 921.141(5)(b), (d), (h), (i), Fla. Stat. (1985) (previous conviction of felony involving the threat or use of violence; murder committed during the commission of an enumerated felony; murder especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; and murder committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner^[1

^]).

[n.5] § 921.141(6)(b), Fla. Stat. (1985) (defendant under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance).

Id. at 537-38. Because Rivera did not file a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, his conviction and sentence became final on September 22, 1990. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851(d) ("(1) ... For the purposes of this rule, a judgment is final: (A) on the expiration of the time permitted to file in the United States Supreme Court a petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the Supreme Court of Florida decision affirming a judgment and sentence of death (90 days after the opinion becomes final); ....").

We affirmed the denial of Rivera's initial motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 on all claims but that of the penalty phase effectiveness of counsel, which we reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing. Rivera v. State (Rivera II ), 717 So.2d 477, 479 (Fla. 1998). After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the postconviction court again denied relief. Rivera v. State (Rivera III ), 859 So.2d 495, 499 (Fla. 2003). Rivera appealed...