Smith v. State

• Decision Date: 03 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 83485,83485
• Citation: 699 So.2d 629
• Parties: 22 Fla. L. Weekly S396 Ronald SMITH, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 629

699 So.2d 629

22 Fla. L. Weekly S396

Ronald SMITH, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 83485.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 3, 1997.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 15, 1997.

Valerie Jonas, Specially Appointed Public Defender, Miami Beach; and Benjamin S. Waxman, Specially Appointed Public Defender of Robbins, Tunkey, Ross, Amsel, Raben & Waxman, P.A., Miami, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Randall Sutton, Assistant Attorney General, Miami, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the judgments and sentences of the trial court imposing the death penalty, five life sentences, and three thirty-year sentences to run consecutively upon Ronald Smith. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the convictions. However, we reverse the sentence of death on the first-degree murder charge and remand for resentencing in front of a jury. This resentencing is to be held within 120 days of this opinion becoming final.

On February 5, 1991, Tawana Glass went to a bar with Cornell Austin to meet Ronald Smith and Kevin Nolden. After drinking beer and playing pool, the group, which now included Kelvin Bryant and Anthony Cobb, formed a plan whereby Glass would pose as a prostitute and the others would then rob anyone who tried to pick her up. When the plan failed, the group returned to the bar. Anthony Cobb had driven his car to the bar, and subsequently they all left the bar in his car.

The group drove past a motel parking lot, where they saw the victims, Trevor Munnings and Bridgette Gibbs. The group pulled into the hotel parking lot, pulled the victims to the ground, took their money, and threw them in the trunk of Munnings' car. Cobb, Bryant, and Glass drove in Cobb's car, and Smith, Austin, and Nolden followed in Munnings' car. They drove to a gas station to buy beer. The group then drove the two cars until Cobb's car stalled. Thereafter, the group all traveled in Munnings' car to Austin's house to get some tape with which to bind the victims.

Once at Austin's house, Glass went through Bridgette Gibbs' purse. Looking at the contents of the purse caused Glass to realize that she recognized Gibbs, who remained with Munnings in the trunk of Munnings' car. Glass told Austin she knew Gibbs and asked Austin not to hurt her. Glass remained at the house, and after Austin got some tape, the rest of the group drove off to find a location at which to tape the victims.

The group drove to a location near the house where Smith lived. Munnings was forcibly pulled out of the trunk and his extremities taped. The tape, however, was not strong enough to restrain Munnings, and he tried to crawl under the car. He was then pulled out from under the car and hit on the head with a rock. Munnings testified that he was only momentarily rendered unconscious but that he pretended to be unconscious for the remainder of the night. Munnings was put back into the trunk with Gibbs. The group drove the car about a block, and Smith walked to his residence and retrieved some duct tape from his stepfather's toolbox.

The group then traveled a few blocks to a place where both victims were taken out of the trunk and bound with duct tape. Gibbs' hands were taped behind her back, and tape was used to cover her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Also, Gibbs' clothes were removed from the waist down, and Nolden testified that Smith sexually battered Gibbs by inserting a stick into her vagina. Gibbs' jeans shorts were later recovered under the abandoned house where the taping had been done. Munnings' hands were similarly taped behind his back, his feet taped together, and his face taped from his chin to his forehead. Next, the group drove to the top of a bridge crossing Biscayne Bay. Gibbs was taken out of the trunk, and while she was still bound, she was thrown into Biscayne Bay. Gibbs died from drowning. The group then drove to another bridge crossing a canal. Munnings was taken from the trunk, and while he was still bound, he was thrown into the water. However, Munnings was able to free himself, swim to shore, and walk to a convenience store, where he flagged down a police car.

The group retrieved a gas can from the trunk of Cobb's car and went to a gas station. They then drove Munnings' car to an empty lot, wiped the car down to eliminate any fingerprints, and set the car on fire. By this time, Cobb's car was again operable, and the group drove off in it. The group divided the remaining proceeds of the robbery (some had been used to buy beer and gas) and sought more victims to rob. When they were unable to find other victims, the group went to an International House of Pancakes and had breakfast.

Smith confessed at the time of his arrest on May 2, 1991, almost three months after the crimes. He was tried jointly with Austin and Bryant. ¹ At the trial, Glass and Nolden testified for the State. Glass gave eyewitness testimony placing Smith at the motel and explaining that Smith actively participated in the robbery and kidnapping of the victims. She also stated that she believed Smith was the central organizer of the entire criminal episode.

Nolden also gave eyewitness testimony to Smith's participation in the crimes. He corroborated the testimony of Glass that Smith actively participated in the initial crimes. Nolden also testified that Smith taped Gibbs, sexually battered her with a stick, and was involved in throwing the victims off of the bridges.

Moreover, Smith's confession was introduced to the jury. Smith admitted participating in the initial crimes and retrieving duct tape from his stepfather's toolbox to bind the victims. Smith further admitted that he was on the bridges when the victims were thrown into the water.

Smith, Austin, and Bryant were convicted of all nine counts in the indictment. ² A penalty phase hearing was conducted, during which the State presented evidence that Smith had previously been convicted of three robberies and one attempted robbery and had been sentenced to a term of twenty-five years for his last conviction. In mitigation, Smith presented evidence to show that he had two children, had been the manager of a fast food restaurant, and had been a Boy Scout. At the close of the evidence, the jury recommended death for Smith by vote of nine to three and recommended life sentences for the other codefendants. Finding five aggravators, ³ no statutory mitigators and several nonstatutory mitigators, ⁴ the trial court sentenced Smith to death for the first-degree murder conviction. ⁵ The trial court also followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced the two codefendants to life sentences. The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the codefendants' convictions and sentences, rejecting many of the issues Smith raises in this appeal. See Austin v. State, 679 So.2d 1197 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996), review denied, 689 So.2d 1068 (Fla.1997).

On appeal, Smith raises sixteen issues: eight issues concerning the guilt phase ⁶ and eight issues concerning the penalty phase. ⁷ In his first two issues, Smith argues that the trial court erred in ruling on challenges for cause as to prospective jurors. In the first issue, Smith contends that the trial court erred in failing to grant three challenges for cause against prospective jurors who were biased in favor of believing the testimony of a law enforcement officer. ⁸ Since Smith was forced to exercise peremptory challenges to excuse these jurors, exhausted his peremptory challenges, and moved unsuccessfully to strike two identified jurors, he asserts that this case must be reversed.

The test for determining juror competency is whether the juror can lay aside any bias or prejudice and render a verdict solely on the evidence presented and the instructions on the law given by the court. See Lusk v. State, 446 So.2d 1038, 1041 (Fla.1984). A juror must be excused for cause if any reasonable doubt exists as to whether the juror possesses an impartial state of mind. See Bryant v. State, 656 So.2d 426, 428 (Fla.1995). In reviewing a claim of error such as this, we have recognized that the trial court has a unique vantage point in the determination of juror bias. The trial court is able to see the jurors' voir dire responses and make observations which simply cannot be discerned from an appellate record. Taylor v. State, 638 So.2d 30, 32 (Fla.1994). It is the trial court's duty to determine whether a challenge for cause is proper. Id. Since the carrying out of this duty poses a mixed question of law and fact, the trial court's determination will not be overturned in the absence of manifest error. See Mills v. State, 462 So.2d 1075, 1079 (Fla.1985).

As noted, Smith's claim involves prospective jurors' responses to questions concerning the jurors' predisposed beliefs about law enforcement officers. When it is anticipated that law enforcement officers may testify in a case, it is proper to ask prospective jurors about their assumptions concerning the testimony of law enforcement officers. See Chavez v. United States, 258 F.2d 816 (10th Cir.1958). While a defendant cannot be fairly tried by a juror who would give unqualified credence to a law enforcement officer's testimony simply because of his official status, Chavez, the relevant inquiry is whether the juror ultimately will consider the evidence presented and render an unbiased decision. Lusk; cf. Duncan v. State, 588 So.2d 50 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991) (in light of State's confession of error, finding error in failure to grant challenges for cause as to jurors who admitted bias in favor of credibility of police officers).

Based upon our review of the voir dire record concerning the three prospective jurors in question in this case and applying the relevant law, we conclude that the trial court ruled within the boundaries of its discretion. An analysis of the total questioning of the challenged jurors reveals that the trial court could find the jurors met the Lusk...