State v. Huggins
Decision Date | 07 June 2001 |
Docket Number | No. SC96216.,SC96216. |
Citation | 788 So.2d 238 |
Parties | STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. John Steven HUGGINS, Appellee. |
Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Kenneth S. Nunnelley, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Appellant.
Robert Wesley, Public Defender, Ninth Judicial Circuit, and Tyrone A. King, Co-Counsel, Orlando, FL, for Appellee.
We have for review an order from the trial court vacating the death sentence of John Steven Huggins and granting a new trial based on the court's findings that the State violated the dictates of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For reasons expressed below, we affirm.
John Steven Huggins was convicted of first-degree murder, carjacking, kidnaping, and robbery. The victim, Carla Larson, worked in Orlando as an engineer for Centex Rooney. On June 10, 1997, Larson left work in her white Ford Explorer to buy refreshments at a nearby Publix and never returned. Her coworkers instituted a search and were told by eyewitnesses that on the afternoon of Larson's disappearance, they observed a white Ford Explorer speeding dangerously on a dirt road near where the body was eventually found two days later. The driver was described as a white male with dark hair and a dark tan.
On the day of Larson's disappearance, John Huggins and his wife, Angel, were visiting Orlando with their children. Angel testified that although she and Huggins drove to Orlando together, she left Orlando without him. Later that same day, Huggins arrived at Angel's mother's house in Melbourne driving a white truck that matched the general description of the victim's. Neighbors corroborated the fact that a white sports utility vehicle was seen at Angel's mother's residence. Although Huggins and Angel were in the process of a divorce, Angel stayed with Huggins in various hotels in and around Melbourne until Angel's sister, Tammy, arrived in Melbourne to visit. During Tammy's stay, Huggins and Tammy began a relationship.
Kevin Smith, a friend of Huggins, testified that during this time he agreed to let Huggins park a white sports utility vehicle at his house for a few days. Kevin noticed the truck had a radar detector hard wired in it, but after the truck was picked up, he discovered the radar detector hidden in a box near his hot water heater. On the evening of June 26, 1997, the police received a call that a truck was burning on a vacant lot near Kevin's house. When they arrived at the scene, the truck was engulfed in flames. An investigation revealed that the burned-out truck was the victim's Ford Explorer and the fire had been intentionally set.
Tammy returned home to Maryland on June 27, 1997, with Huggins accompanying her. Shortly after Huggins and Tammy left Florida together, Angel saw a television program, America's Most Wanted, which featured Carla Larson's murder. Angel called and reported that she suspected her husband of the murder. As a result of Angel's call, police conducted two extensive searches of Angel's mother's house and a shed on the property, but were unable to find incriminating evidence. Angel and her mother, Fay, also searched the home on their own. While retrieving bug spray from her shed, Fay noticed a screwdriver on top of a box. On a whim, she unscrewed the lid from an electrical box in the shed and found the victim's jewelry secreted inside the box. No fingerprints were recovered from the jewelry, the electrical box, or its cover.
Police also questioned Kevin, who eventually admitted that he had found the radar detector, wiped any fingerprints off, and threw it in some bushes near his house. Police found the detector and discovered that it had belonged to the victim. Huggins was arrested in Maryland for the crime. After he was indicted by a grand jury in Orange County, Huggins moved for a change in venue. The trial court granted this request and transferred venue to Duval County. On February 3, 1999, Huggins was convicted of first-degree murder, carjacking, robbery, and kidnaping. The jury recommended the death sentence by a vote of eight to four. After considering the proven aggravators and mitigators, the trial court sentenced Huggins to death.
Within weeks after the case was concluded, Preston Ausley, an engineer who worked at the Orange County Courthouse, contacted defense counsel and informed them of information which the State knew but never disclosed. On March 25, 1999, before this Court reviewed the merits of the direct appeal, defense counsel filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the trial court, alleging that the State withheld favorable information in violation of Brady. In light of the pending petition, this Court relinquished jurisdiction of the direct appeal so that the trial court could conduct an evidentiary hearing on the habeas corpus petition.1 After the evidentiary hearing was concluded, the trial court entered a written order finding as follows:
In a detailed written order, the trial court found that the State violated the dictates of Brady and granted Huggins a new trial. The State appeals this ruling, contending that there is insufficient evidence to support the trial court's ruling.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution require the State to disclose evidence favorable to the accused that, if suppressed, would deprive the defendant of a fair trial. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). A defendant must prove three elements in order to establish a Brady violation:
[1] The evidence at issue must be favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory, or because it is impeaching; [2] that evidence must have been suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and [3] prejudice must have ensued.
Way v. State, 760 So.2d 903, 910 (Fla.2000) (quoting Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281-82, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 121 S.Ct. 1104, 148 L.Ed.2d 975 (2001).
In reviewing a trial court's evaluation of the evidence, this Court will not "substitute its view of the facts for that of the trial judge when competent evidence exists to support the trial judge's conclusion." Jones v. State, 709 So.2d 512, 514-15 (Fla.1998). However, legal questions must be reviewed independently to "ensure that the law is applied...
To continue reading
Request your trial- Atwater v. State
-
Floyd v. State, SC03-865.
...hair evidence and reports concerning the investigation of other suspects (including a confession) required a new trial); State v. Huggins, 788 So.2d 238, 243 (Fla.2001) (new trial required because the State suppressed witness statement that would have been favorable for the defense). All of......
-
Huggins v. State
...that the suppressed evidence was material and failure to disclose it resulted in a verdict not worthy of confidence. See State v. Huggins, 788 So.2d 238, 244 (Fla.2001). Upon this Court's remand, the trial court granted a change of venue to Osceola County, and in April 2002, an unsuccessful......
-
Allen v. State
...reasonably be taken to put the whole case in such a different light as to undermine the confidence in the verdict.'" See State v. Huggins, 788 So.2d 238, 243 (Fla.2001) (quoting Maharaj, 778 So.2d at 953). Here, the result of the hair analysis could not reasonably place the case in such a d......