State v. Murray

• Decision Date: 20 December 2018
• Docket Number: No. SC18-334,No. SC18-560,No. SC17-707,SC17-707,SC18-334,SC18-560
• Citation: 262 So.3d 26
• Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Gerald Delane MURRAY, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. Gerald Delane Murray, Appellant, v. State of Florida, Appellee. Gerald Delane Murray, Petitioner, v. Julie L. Jones, etc., Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

262 So.3d 26

STATE of Florida, Appellant/Cross-Appellee,

v.Gerald Delane MURRAY, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Gerald Delane Murray, Appellant,

v.State of Florida, Appellee.

Gerald Delane Murray, Petitioner,

v.Julie L. Jones, etc., Respondent.

No. SC17-707

No. SC18-334

No. SC18-560

Supreme Court of Florida.

December 20, 2018

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Jennifer A. Donahue, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee/Respondent

Rick A. Sichta, Susanne K. Sichta, and Joe Hamrick of The Sichta Firm, LLC, Jacksonville, Florida, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant/Petitioner

PER CURIAM.

The State appeals, and Gerald Delane Murray cross-appeals, the partial grant and partial denial of Murray's initial postconviction motion filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. Murray also appeals the denial of his successive postconviction motion and petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus.¹ For the reasons explained below, we affirm the trial court's orders and deny habeas relief.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2009, this Court affirmed Murray's conviction for first-degree murder and sentence of death after four trials and three convictions for the murder of 59-year-old Alice Vest in 1990. Murray v. State , 3 So.3d 1108, 1112 (Fla. 2009). On direct appeal, this Court described the facts as follows:

The evidence presented at the fourth trial revealed that on September 15, 1990, the victim, Alice Vest, arrived home around 11:30 p.m. after having dinner with a friend. When her friend called the next morning on September 16, however, Ms. Vest did not answer the phone. Concerned, the friend called one of Ms. Vest's neighbors and asked him to check on her. The neighbor went to Ms. Vest's home and observed that one of her window screens was out of the window and that her screen door was propped open. Her phone lines had been cut. After telling his wife to call 911, the neighbor and another man looked inside the home and discovered Ms. Vest's body draped off of her bed with her head on the floor.

According to the medical examiner's testimony, the cause of death was strangulation with multiple stab wounds as a contributing factor. Ms. Vest was also badly beaten with a metal bar, a candlestick holder, and a broken bottle that left bruising around her neck, breasts, and knees. She also had a black eye, a broken jaw, multiple contusions, and at least twenty-four stab wounds over her face, neck, upper and lower back, abdomen and thigh. Most of the stab wounds were knife wounds, but some were consistent with infliction by a pair of scissors found near her body. Ms. Vest had been strangled with a web belt and two electrical cords. She was also both vaginally and anally raped.

According to James Fisher, earlier on September 15, 1990, Murray, Steve Taylor, and Fisher played pool together after which, at around 11:50 p.m., Fisher dropped Murray and Taylor off at a corner less than a mile from Murray's home. Fisher then went home and went to bed.

Juanita White, who lived approximately two miles from the victim's house, testified that, around 12:40 a.m., she saw Murray and Taylor in her barn and watched the men run away after she sent her dog to attack them. Murray's brother further testified that both Taylor and Murray left town the next day.

Evidence recovered from the scene of the crime included six footprints, five from a Britannia shoe, which Taylor was known to wear, and one that was unidentified. No fingerprints were recovered from the scene that could be tied to either Taylor or Murray. Semen was found inside the victim but the results were inconclusive. Semen was also discovered on a blouse and on a comforter and was found to be the same blood type as Taylor^[2] but not Murray. None of the blood spatters at the scene could be tied to either Taylor or Murray. But pubic hairs recovered from the victim's body and from a nightgown were found to have the same microscopic characteristics as Murray's pubic hair, but not Taylor's. Jewelry stolen from the victim's home was linked to both Taylor³ and Murray.

Additional evidence presented at trial revealed that approximately six months after his indictment for the murder of Alice Vest, Murray escaped from prison. One of his co-escapees, Anthony Smith, testified that, while out, Murray told him about his role in Vest's murder. According to Smith, Murray said that on the night of the murder Taylor came over to his house and wanted to go out. Murray initially refused, but Taylor was eventually able to change his mind after the two drank some beer. Thereafter, Taylor convinced Murray to break into a house. Together, the pair broke into what Murray thought was an unoccupied residence. When Murray discovered the owner was home, he wanted to leave, but Taylor grabbed the female occupant, handed Murray a knife, and sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, Murray had the victim perform oral sex on him. Murray then wandered through the house looking for things to steal. He returned to the bedroom five or ten minutes later and discovered that Taylor had stabbed the victim about fifteen or sixteen times but she was not dead. Murray and Taylor then secured some sort of cord and, together, they choked the woman to death. After they killed her, they took whatever was valuable and left. Approximately seven months after his escape, Murray was captured in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The jury in Murray's fourth trial reached a verdict of guilty as charged on all counts. During the penalty phase, the State introduced evidence of Murray's other violent felonies. But, pursuant to Murray's instructions, the defense did not introduce any mitigation evidence. After the penalty phase closing arguments, the jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of eleven to one.

Thereafter, the court held a Spencer hearing and Murray again declined to present any mitigation evidence. The next day, the trial court followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Murray to death, finding that the aggravators outweighed the mitigating circumstances. Specifically, the trial court found four aggravating factors: (1) Murray was previously convicted of three felonies involving violence (great weight); (2) he was engaged in a burglary and/or sexual battery at the time of the commission of the murder (immense weight); (3) the crime was committed for financial gain (some weight); and (4) the crime was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel (great weight). The trial court rejected two statutory mitigating circumstances: (1) the crime was committed by another person, and Murray's participation was relatively minor; and (2) Murray's capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct was substantially impaired. However, the trial court found the following nonstatutory mitigating circumstances: (1) the untimely death of Murray's wife (very little weight); (2) Murray was incapable of forming relationships with people (very slight weight); (3) he had problems as a youth (little weight); (4) his lack of education and little contact with his father (slight weight); and (5) his mental evaluation after his arrest for aggravated assault (little weight).

Murray , 3 So.3d at 1112-14 (footnotes omitted).

This Court affirmed Murray's convictions and sentence on direct appeal. Id. at 1126.⁴ When reviewing sufficiency of the evidence, this Court identified evidence presented at trial consistent with Murray's guilt as follows:

(1) the testimony of a jailhouse informant (Smith) detailing Murray's confession; (2) the evidence collected from the scene and the testimony of the medical examiner which, together, confirmed the details of the crime as Murray related them to Smith; (3) the testimony of several witnesses who placed Murray with Taylor in the vicinity of the crime near the time the crime was committed; (4) testimony describing the presence of two different shoe prints as well as multiple weapons, implying that more than one person committed this crime; (5) the implication of consciousness of guilt since Murray left town the next day and later escaped from incarceration; (6) evidence connecting Murray and Taylor to Ms. Vest's stolen jewelry; (7) the incriminating statements Murray made to Detective O'Steen; and (8) the presence of pubic hair recovered from Ms. Vest's body and nightgown which was found to have the same microscopic characteristics as Murray's known pubic hair.

Id. at 1125. Murray petitioned the United States Supreme Court for certiorari, which was denied. Murray v. Florida , 558 U.S. 949, 130 S.Ct. 396, 175 L.Ed.2d 273 (2009).

Thereafter, Murray filed a motion for postconviction relief that was amended four times. After holding two evidentiary hearings, the postconviction court granted a new penalty phase pursuant to Hurst ,⁵ but denied relief on all other claims. Murray sought to amend his motion again, but was instead allowed to file his additional claim in a successive motion for postconviction relief. The postconviction court summarily denied relief on his successive claim.

II. ANALYSIS

The State appeals the grant of Hurst relief, and Murray cross-appeals the denial of his other initial postconviction claims, and the summary denial of his successive postconviction motion. Murray also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus.

A. INITIAL POSTCONVICTION MOTION

1. Hurst

The State argues that the trial court erred by granting Murray a new penalty phase pursuant to Hurst . However, because Murray's jury recommended the death penalty by a vote of eleven to one, and because this Court has consistently and repeatedly granted capital defendants new penalty phases post- Hurst where there were nonunanimous jury recommendations in cases that became final after Ring ,⁶ we affirm the postconviction court's grant of the new penalty phase. See State v. Smith , 251 So.3d 807, 810 n.3 (Fla. 2018) (citing 21 cases where this Court has granted new penalty phases for cases involving nonunanimous jury recommendations).

2. Anthony Smith

Murray argues...