Trawick v. State
| Decision Date | 16 May 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 57077,57077 |
| Citation | 473 So.2d 1235,10 Fla. L. Weekly 281 |
| Parties | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 281 Gary TRAWICK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Louis M. Jepeway, Jr. of Jepeway and Jepeway, Miami, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Carolyn M. Snurkowski, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for appellee.
This case is before the Court on appeal from a circuit court judgment imposing a sentence of death. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution. Although appellant's convictions of first-degree murder and other offenses were entered pursuant to appellant's pleas of guilty, he is entitled to an appeal by virtue of having been sentenced to death. § 921.141(4), Fla.Stat. (1977).
Appellant pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery. He was originally charged by indictment with these and four other serious offenses. Having entered pleas of not guilty, he announced in court through counsel that he would change his pleas to guilty on all eight accusations. Upon inquiry by the court, however, appellant changed his mind again and withdrew his guilty pleas, all at the same pretrial hearing. Then an agreement was reached whereby appellant pleaded guilty to the four offenses of which he stands convicted and the state dropped the other four, reserving the right to present evidence of all eight offenses during the sentencing hearing. After the court accepted the guilty pleas and adjudicated appellant guilty, defense counsel announced to the court that during his interview with appellant that morning he appeared despondent and mentioned the possibility of suicide. The purpose of the announcement, defense counsel said, was to provide notice of the problem to the court and to jail officials so that adequate precautions would be taken in handling the defendant.
At the sentencing proceeding the state presented appellant's confession, which was read to the jury. Appellant stated that he and three others borrowed a semiautomatic rifle and went out to rob a gasoline station. At the first location they went to, Linda Gray was the attendant, overseeing the gasoline station from within a glass enclosure. Appellant approached her and demanded money. When she refused, appellant fired the weapon at her; the bullet penetrated the glass shield and struck her in the face. Appellant and his accomplices then fled the scene by automobile and drove around for a while. At one point appellant, from within the moving car, fired several rounds at some people standing on the street; one of the bullets struck a car. Then the four young men went to a convenience store and demanded money of the cashier, Robert Hayes. They turned his face to the wall and ordered him not to turn around as they emptied the cash register. Hayes glanced around at the robbers and appellant shot him in the back. The victim died thirty-six hours later from damage to vital organs. In his statement appellant said that he shot the man so that he would not be able to identify appellant as the man who robbed him.
In addition to appellant's statement, the state presented evidence concerning the victim's injuries, including the opinion that he must have endured excruciating pain before his death thirty-six hours after the attack. For the murder of Robert Hayes the jury recommended a sentence of death.
After receiving the evidence and the jury's recommendation, the trial judge heard the arguments of counsel and announced his sentencing findings as follows:
THE COURT: During the course of the proceedings I did make careful notes of all the evidence that was presented.
First, as to those aggravating circumstances, Mr. Trawick, in committing the crime for which he is sentenced, did not only create a great risk of death to many persons preceding, during and even after committing the felony of robbery of the U-Tote'M Store.
The shooting in the face of Linda Gray, a young female, was unnecessary. It was pitiless. It was cruel; the reckless discharge of this high-powered rifle in the direction of innocent by-standers in the Big Daddy's Store of which they subsequently made light of is further evidence of utter disregard for the lives of other people, all by young people, ages sixteen through twenty, and that the crimes for which the defendant is to be sentenced was committed while he was engaged in the commission of an armed robbery.
The very casual method by which the robberies were planned, conceived and executed, is further evidence of a flagrant disregard for the probable dangerous consequences of such lawlessness.
The crime for which he is to be sentenced was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing identification and lawful arrest for the offense.
The deceased, Robert Hayes's, injuries, were very moving by the testimony of his wife. He was her husband and evidently a reliable and long-time employee of the U-Tote'M Store, being there four years; was a manager there, and their policy was to plan a robbery with give up the money and save your life.
He offered absolutely no resistance during the course of the robbery.
The crime for which the defendant is to be sentenced was for pecuniary gain. It didn't seem to make much difference, the amount, just anything, $28, food stamps, and then go back to the store to the next day.
I think the crime for which the defendant is to be sentenced was especially heinous, was atrocious, was cruel.
At this point defense counsel interrupted the court's recitation of findings to argue that the aggravating factors of the murder having been committed in the course of a robbery and having been committed for pecuniary gain were both based on the same feature of the offense and were properly treated as only one aggravating circumstance. Without indicating whether he would revise his findings in response to this defense objection the trial judge simply continued his recitation of findings.
THE COURT: Other than those words that were uttered here today, I am convinced that there has not been any demonstration of real remorse or contrition since the apprehension of the defendant. It was especially shocking to hear from the confession, a suggestion that there may be other circumstances where he could just as easily take the life of another person.
As to the mitigating factors, I began to search the records from the first day for any evidence that would spare the moment of this decision; I have been this path before.
Even in light of a jury's recommendation once before, I felt very comfortable in rejecting it and imposing a life penalty here, the mitigating factors are very minimal.
The jury is not aware of it, but I'm aware that the defendant was on trial or awaiting trial for a robbery at the time of this offense; that is how the case came to this division.
The only real mitigating factor is age. Twenty years is not exactly adolescence.
I think it is an age at which people are thought to be adult and responsible for their conduct. In fact, at the preliminary negotiations it was suggested that Mr. Trawick dominated the other young people.
The crimes committed here were not caused by any sudden loss of temper or temporary rage; they were cold, calculated, ruthless. Applying the law specifically I cannot find in favor of the defendant.
The ultimate penalty is still mandated.
It is the sentence of the Court that the defendant die by electrocution. There is an automatic review by the Supreme Court so the proceedings will be stayed.
Appellant raises several challenges to his convictions. Although pleas of guilty normally vitiate the right of appellate review of convictions, section 921.141 applies in all cases of "conviction or adjudication of guilt of a defendant of a capital felony." § 921.141(1), Fla.Stat. (1977). Section 921.141(4) provides: "The judgment of conviction and sentence of death shall be subject to automatic review by the Supreme Court of Florida." Thus appellant is entitled to appellate review not only of his sentence of death but also his first-degree murder conviction.
Moreover, several of appellant's arguments pertain to the validity of his guilty pleas and the correctness of the court's action in accepting them. Thus they are reviewable on appeal. Robinson v. State, 373 So.2d 898 (Fla.1979). Appellant contends that the trial court should have conducted a competency hearing on its own motion. Appellant asserts that the evidence before the court at the hearing on appellant's plea was such as should have raised a question as to appellant's competency to enter pleas of guilty. He relies on the rule that whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe a defendant is not competent, a trial court must on its own motion conduct an inquiry into his competency. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.210. At any time before or during trial of a criminal charge, the defendant's irrational behavior, other abnormality of demeanor, and prior medical opinion or behavioral history may all be relevant and may be sufficient to call for further inquiry by the court on its own motion. Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 95 S.Ct. 896, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975); Lane v. State, 388 So.2d 1022 (Fla.1980). This principle also applies to the situation of an appearance in court for purposes of tendering a plea and may serve to raise a question about the defendant's competency to submit a plea. Baker v. State, 408 So.2d 686 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); Alleluio v. State, 338 So.2d 1137 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976).
Appellant asserts that after the acceptance of his guilty pleas, the court was notified of appellant's state of despondency and of his having contemplated suicide earlier that morning. Appellant argues that this information and his ambivalence about pleading guilty were sufficient to raise a reasonable question about his competence and that the court should have made further inquiry.
Appellant's despondency and his...
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...in his capital sentencing: Shellito v. State, 701 So.2d 837 (Fla.1997); Colina v. State, 570 So.2d 929 (Fla.1990); Trawick v. State, 473 So.2d 1235 (Fla. 1985); and Pope v. State, 441 So.2d 1073 (Fla.1983). Melton is correct that these cases stand for the proposition asserted; however, this......
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