Simpson v. State

• Decision Date: 13 January 2022
• Docket Number: SC18-1238, No. SC19-700
• Citation: 344 So.3d 1274
• Parties: Jason Andrew SIMPSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Jason Andrew Simpson, Petitioner, v. Ricky D. Dixon, etc., Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

344 So.3d 1274

Jason Andrew SIMPSON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Jason Andrew Simpson, Petitioner,
v.
Ricky D. Dixon, etc., Respondent.

No. SC18-1238
No. SC19-700

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 13, 2022

John S. Mills, Thomas D. Hall, Courtney Brewer, Jonathan Martin, and Bailey Howard of The Mills Firm, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida; and Sonya Rudenstine, Gainesville, Florida, for Appellant/Petitioner

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Michael T. Kennett, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellee/Respondent

Amity Boye and Ariel Oseasohn of White & Case LLP, New York, New York, and Raoul G. Cantero of White & Case LLP, Miami, Florida, for Amici Curiae the Innocence Project and Innocence Project of Florida

PER CURIAM.

Jason Andrew Simpson, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the denial of numerous guilt-phase claims raised in his motion for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 and petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus.¹ Because we agree with Simpson that the State committed a Brady² violation by failing to disclose that one of the witnesses was a confidential informant for the State, we reverse the denial of postconviction relief as to the guilt phase, vacate Simpson's convictions for first-degree murder, and remand to the trial court for a new trial.

I. BACKGROUND

Simpson was convicted in 2007 of the 1999 first-degree murders of "Big Archie" Crook,³ a drug dealer against whom Simpson was working as a confidential informant for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO), and Crook's pregnant girlfriend, Kimberli Kimbler. In the years leading up to the murders of Big Archie and Kimbler, Big Archie and his son, "Little Archie," were heavily involved in the drug trade in Jacksonville. Big Archie supplied drugs that Little Archie would sell. Simpson was one of their associates in the drug trade, as was George Michael Durrance. On the morning of July 16, 1999, Big Archie's father discovered the bodies of Big Archie and Kimbler in the master bedroom of the home they shared. They had been hacked to death with an axe.

Detectives with the JSO responded to the scene. There were no visible signs of forced entry to the home, and nothing was disturbed inside other than the master bedroom. Detectives learned that Little Archie and his friend, Shawn Smallwood,

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had visited Big Archie's house between 10 and 11 p.m. the night of July 15, 1999. They smoked marijuana, and Big Archie ate strawberry shortcake. The medical examiner estimated that, judging by the state of the food in Big Archie's stomach, he died within an hour after he ate. Little Archie testified that when he left Big Archie's home that night, he did not lock the door behind him, and Big Archie did not get up and lock it after him. Both Little Archie and Smallwood denied any involvement in the murders.

During their search of the property behind Big Archie's house, detectives located an axe believed to be the murder weapon, a pair of socks, and two pieces of torn material on a barbed wire fence. Four days later, on July 20, 1999, a pile of clothing was found behind an air conditioning unit at a church adjacent to Big Archie's house, including a baseball cap, a black sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and a pair of tennis shoes. The torn pieces of material found on the barbed wire fence matched the color and appearance of the sweatshirt and sweatpants located on the church property. Detectives also recovered a pager located next to the victims’ bed. The first number on the pager belonged to Simpson's mother, with whom Simpson was living at the time.

Evidence collected at the scene was processed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and FBI analysts. Two human head hairs were recovered from Kimbler's right hand. DNA analysis excluded Kimbler, Little Archie, Simpson, Smallwood, and Durrance as sources of the first hair but not Big Archie. As to the second hair, Little Archie, Simpson, Smallwood, and Durrance were excluded as sources but not Kimbler. DNA analysis of the scrapings from Kimbler's fingernails excluded Simpson, Smallwood, and Durrance as potential donors of the material under Kimbler's fingernails, but not Little Archie or Big Archie.

DNA from five bloodstains on the sweatpants was tested. Three of the stains were mixtures, the primary profile of which matched Kimbler's DNA profile, and two from which Simpson could not be excluded as a minor contributor. The other two stains contained a single DNA profile matching that of Big Archie. The primary contributor of the DNA profile found on the waistband of the sweatpants was Simpson. Assuming the DNA profile on the waistband was a mixture of two DNA profiles, Big Archie, Little Archie, Kimbler, and Smallwood were excluded as minor contributors. Simpson was also the primary contributor of the DNA profile found on the leg cuffs of the sweatpants. The profile of the minor contributor to the leg cuffs was unable to be determined. Although there was no blood on the sweatshirt, Simpson was the primary contributor of the DNA profile found on the neck. Big Archie and Smallwood were excluded as minor contributors, but not Little Archie. A white, crusty stain on the left shoulder of the sweatshirt contained a single DNA profile matching that of Simpson.

Three hairs recovered from the packaging containing the sweatpants, sweatshirt, and baseball cap were subjected to DNA testing. One hair contained no DNA. The other two hairs matched each other, and a partial DNA profile of those hairs matched Simpson's DNA profile. Big Archie, Little Archie, Kimbler, and Smallwood were excluded as the source of the two hairs. A DNA profile could not be obtained from the baseball cap or socks.

The State presented testimony from an expert who opined that the major profile of DNA on the clothing would be the DNA from the person who had worn the clothing most recently. But on cross-examination, the expert agreed that if one person wore

344 So.3d 1277

clothing over an extended period of time and it was then put on by a second individual for a short period of time, he would not expect the major profile to come from the most recent wearer.

Prior to the murders, JSO Detective Robert Hinson met with Simpson on June 10, 1999, shortly after Simpson's release from jail on grand theft charges, because Simpson was willing to assist JSO with investigation of criminal activity. Detective Hinson was investigating a group of individuals, including Little Archie, Big Archie, and Durrance, concerning another homicide. On June 21, 1999, Simpson contacted Detective Hinson to tell him that he had been in contact with Little Archie, who wanted Simpson to "hit a lick," which Simpson understood in that instance to mean that Little Archie was going to steal a car. The next time Detective Hinson spoke with Simpson was on July 16, 1999, the day Big Archie and Kimbler's bodies were discovered. When Detective Hinson heard about the murders that morning, he contacted Simpson to gather information. Detective Hinson met Simpson at Simpson's mother's house, where Simpson was staying. When Detective Hinson arrived at the house, he noticed that Simpson had a "large gash" on his finger, which Simpson claimed he injured when hitting the electrical panel in his mother's garage. When Detective Hinson told him about the murders, Simpson expressed that he was not sorry about Big Archie's death. Simpson told Detective Hinson that Big Archie and Little Archie had been putting the word out on the street that Simpson was a snitch and was cooperating with the police. Simpson said the last time he spoke with Big Archie was a couple of weeks prior when they went somewhere together to buy drugs. Simpson told Detective Hinson that Little Archie had stolen fifty pounds of marijuana from Big Archie. After speaking with Simpson, Detective Hinson notified the homicide detectives working this case that they should look further at Simpson. Detective Hinson also told the homicide detectives what Simpson said about Little Archie stealing his father's marijuana. A few days later, Detective Hinson obtained a voluntary DNA sample from Simpson.

From July 1999 to fall 2001, detectives made little progress in the investigation of the murders. Then, in fall 2001, while awaiting trial on a charge of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, Durrance notified JSO and the State Attorney's Office that Simpson had confessed to him in 1999 that he murdered Big Archie and Kimbler. Durrance told detectives that in the days before the murders, Simpson came to his house and told him that he was going to rob Big Archie of $10,000. Simpson also told Durrance that Big Archie offered him money to kill Durrance, but Simpson laughed it off and told Durrance he would never kill him. A few days after the murders, Simpson asked Durrance to front him some drugs or loan him some money. Assuming Simpson had robbed Big Archie as he said he intended to do, Durrance told him that he should already have money. Simpson replied, "You know, I'm the one who killed him, you know I did."

Armed with Durrance's allegation that Simpson confessed, Detective Hinson called Simpson to come to the police station to speak with detectives. When the detectives told Simpson that they needed his assistance with the "Crook/Kimbler" murders, Simpson initially said that he did not know them. Once the detectives said, "Archie Crook," Simpson stated that he knew him but looked at his watch and said, "It's time for me to go, I've got to get to work." Simpson then said, "You cannot hold me here, I do not scare easy."

344 So.3d 1278

A year later, in fall 2002, detectives learned that DNA matching Simpson's was found on the clothing left on the church property. Simpson was brought in for an interview. When one of the detectives told Simpson that they wanted to talk to him about the "Crook and Kimbler" murders, Simpson replied that he did not know them. When asked whether he knew "Big...