Spaziano v. State, No. 50250
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | PER CURIAM; SUNDBERG |
| Citation | 393 So.2d 1119 |
| Parties | Joseph Robert SPAZIANO, a/k/a Crazy Joe, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Docket Number | No. 50250 |
| Decision Date | 08 January 1981 |
Page 1119
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Rehearing Denied March 6, 1981.
Page 1120
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, Craig S. Barnard, Chief Asst. Public Defender and Jerry L. Schwarz, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Wallace E. Allbritton and David P. Gauldin, Asst. Attys. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
PER CURIAM.
This is a direct appeal from the imposition of a death sentence after the appellant had been convicted of first-degree murder. After receiving a jury recommendation of a life sentence for the murder conviction, the trial judge imposed the sentence of death. For the reasons expressed, we affirm the conviction but find we must remand for resentencing because the trial judge relied in part on information not available to the jury or the defendant in imposing the death sentence, contrary to Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 97 S.Ct. 1197, 51 L.Ed.2d 393 (1977), and also relied upon nonstatutory aggravating factors, in violation of section 921.141, Florida Statutes.
The material facts reflect that the skeletal remains of two bodies were discovered at the Altamonte city dump. One body was positively identified through the use of dental records as that of Laura Harberts. The appellant, Robert Spaziano, was charged with the murder of Harberts, and the principal witness for the state was Ralph Dilisio, a sixteen-year-old acquaintance of the appellant. Dilisio testified that Spaziano often bragged about the girls he had mutilated and killed, and on the occasion Dilisio and another individual accompanied the appellant to the Altamonte dump site where Dilisio saw two corpses, both covered with blood. Dilisio stated that Spaziano claimed responsibility for these killings; one of the corpses was determined at trial to have been Laura Harberts.
The appellant attacked Dilisio's testimony as being unreliable because at the time he viewed the corpses, Dilisio had been taking numerous types of drugs on a regular basis for at least a year. Defense counsel challenged the sufficiency of Dilisio's recall and perception abilities because of the drug habit, although Dilisio testified that on the particular day of the sighting he had not taken any drugs. Dilisio was able to successfully direct the police to the site where the corpse of Laura Harberts was found.
Page 1121
After receiving its instructions, the jury began its deliberations at 4:39 p. m. and at approximately 8:30 p. m. the court sent the jury to dinner. Upon its return, the following colloquy took place between the trial judge and the jury foreman:
THE COURT: Mr. Pascual, as foreman, the Court would inquire of you if you think that if given more time, there is a reasonable probability that the jury could agree upon a verdict, it being the jury's function to do so?
MR. PASCUAL: Your Honor, I don't know if I can say that there will be reasonable probability, but I think I can speak for the entire jury that I believe we would like to spend some more time. We don't feel, I don't believe, that we're at the point where we are at an impasse that cannot be overcome.
The jury then continued to deliberate until 10:26 p. m., at which time the jury was brought back, and, in response to an inquiry from the judge as to whether or not they would be able to reach a verdict, the foreman replied: "At this point, Your Honor, I don't believe so." The trial court then proceeded to instruct the jury by using standard jury instruction 2.19 in effect at the time of the trial, which read as follows:
Ladies and gentlemen, it is your duty to agree upon a verdict if you can do so without violating conscientiously held convictions that are based on the evidence or lack of evidence. No juror, from mere...
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State v. Charboneau, Nos. 16339
...found that the defendant was previously convicted of felonies involving the use or threat of violence to the person." Spaziano v. State, 393 So.2d 1119 (Fla.1981). On certiorari the United States Supreme Court The fact that a capital sentencing is like a trial in the respects significant to......
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State v. Lankford, Nos. 15759
...found that the defendant was previously convicted of felonies involving the use or threat of violence to the person." Spaziano v. State, 393 So.2d 1119 (Fla.1981). On certiorari the United States Supreme Court The fact that a capital sentencing is like a trial in the respects significant to......
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Johnson v. Dugger, No. 89-3195
...Odom v. State, 403 So.2d 936, 942 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 925, 102 S.Ct. 1970, 72 L.Ed.2d 440 (1982); Spaziano v. State, 393 So.2d 1119, 1123 (Fla.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1037, 102 S.Ct. 581, 70 L.Ed.2d 484 (1981). Johnson's sentencing counsel did not, and indeed, in light of t......
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State v. Wood, No. 16486
...to death on the basis, in part, of confidential information not disclosed to a defendant or his counsel, id.; Spaziano v. State, Fla., 393 So.2d 1119 (1981); or when a presentence report was shown to counsel but not defendant, Raulerson v. Wainwright, 508 F.Supp. 381 (M.D.Fla.1980); or when......
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Spaziano v. Singletary, No. 93-2049
...Court affirmed the murder conviction but remanded the case for further sentence proceedings before the trial judge. Spaziano v. Florida, 393 So.2d 1119 (Fla.1981) (Spaziano I ). Further sentence proceedings were required for two reasons. One is that the sentencing judge had considered confi......
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Spaziano v. Florida, No. 83-5596
...taken drugs on the day of the visit to the garbage dump, and he had been able to direct the police to the site. See Spaziano v. State, 393 So.2d 1119, 1120 (Fla.1981). At the close of the evidence, the trial court informed petitioner that it would instruct the jury on the lesser included, n......
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State v. Charboneau, Nos. 16339
...found that the defendant was previously convicted of felonies involving the use or threat of violence to the person." Spaziano v. State, 393 So.2d 1119 (Fla.1981). On certiorari the United States Supreme Court The fact that a capital sentencing is like a trial in the respects significant to......
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State v. Lankford, Nos. 15759
...found that the defendant was previously convicted of felonies involving the use or threat of violence to the person." Spaziano v. State, 393 So.2d 1119 (Fla.1981). On certiorari the United States Supreme Court The fact that a capital sentencing is like a trial in the respects significant to......