Ventura v. State, 71975

• Decision Date: 05 April 1990
• Docket Number: No. 71975,71975
• Citation: 560 So.2d 217
• Parties: 15 Fla. L. Weekly S190 Peter VENTURA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 217

560 So.2d 217

15 Fla. L. Weekly S190

Peter VENTURA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 71975.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 5, 1990.

Rehearing Denied May 29, 1990.

Thomas R. Mott, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Richard B. Martell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Peter Ventura appeals his first-degree murder conviction and his death sentence, imposed by the trial judge in accordance with the jury's recommendation. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed, we affirm the conviction of first-degree murder and the sentence of death.

The relevant facts are as follows. On the afternoon of April 15, 1981, a truck belonging to Crows Bluff Marina was found parked in a wooded area north of State Road 44 in Volusia County. In the cab of the truck was the body of an employee of the marina, who had been beaten over the head, shot, and possibly stabbed. The medical examiner testified that the cause of the victim's death was a bullet wound to the heart, that five holes were found in the body, and that three .38 caliber bullets were recovered from the body. Evidence at trial established that the victim had worked at the marina for nine months and that he had previously worked for Jerry Wright, who had taken out a key man life insurance policy on the victim. The record further establishes that the victim left the marina at 1:00 p.m. on April 15 to run some errands and to meet a potential customer at the Barnett Bank in Deland.

Postal authorities in Chicago, investigating another case, obtained information from informants concerning a contract murder for insurance benefits involving Peter Ventura, Jack McDonald, and Jerry Wright. The authorities passed this information along to investigators in Volusia County, and, on June 25, 1981, Ventura was arrested in Chicago for the first-degree murder of the victim. A grand jury in Volusia County indicted Ventura on June 30, 1981, but, while awaiting extradition, he was allowed to bond out of jail in Chicago on July 27, 1981. He was to appear for an extradition hearing on August 18, 1981, but he failed to appear. Ventura remained a fugitive until June 11, 1986, when he was arrested in Austin, Texas, after bragging to a coworker that he had committed a contract killing in Florida five years before. At the time of his arrest in Texas, Ventura identified himself as Juan Contras, but he later divulged his true identity.

The state's key witness at the trial was Ventura's codefendant, Jack McDonald. McDonald had also been indicted for the murder and was in fact arrested on June 25, 1981, the same date that Ventura was arrested. However, due to a lack of evidence, McDonald was released on a speedy trial rule violation after spending six months in the Volusia County jail. Subsequently, McDonald agreed to assist the state in its prosecution of Ventura. At that time, McDonald was under federal indictment for a bank scam for which he pled guilty and subsequently received three consecutive five-year sentences. McDonald testified at trial that in 1981 he had hired Ventura to kill the victim so that Jerry Wright, ^* the victim's former employer, could receive the benefits of the key man life insurance policy which he had taken out on the victim. Wright had borrowed some money from McDonald and had asked him to find someone to kill the victim and split the proceeds of the policy with him as repayment of the debt. McDonald testified that he intended to split his half of the money with Ventura.

McDonald set up a meeting in Chicago with Wright and Ventura, after which Ventura indicated his willingness to murder the victim. They then devised a plan wherein Ventura would travel to Volusia County in April of 1981 to carry out the job. McDonald met Ventura in Atlanta before the murder and gave him money for expenses, and he wired him more money in Volusia County after his arrival.

McDonald joined Ventura in Daytona Beach on April 13, 1981. On April 15, Ventura drove with McDonald to Deland. They stopped at the Barnett Bank in Deland and Ventura, posing as a potential customer of the marina at which the victim worked, called the victim and asked him to meet him at the bank. McDonald and Ventura had already picked out the murder site, an area off State Road 44 near an abandoned gravel pit. McDonald watched Ventura meet the victim, followed them to where they pulled off the road, and waited on the side of the road. About ten minutes later, Ventura came running across a field, and he and McDonald returned to Daytona Beach. Later, Ventura left on a bus to Atlanta with $2,000 from McDonald and Wright. After meeting with McDonald again in Atlanta, where he received more money, Ventura flew to California. He and McDonald remained in contact by telephone as they waited to hear from Wright about the insurance money. McDonald returned to Daytona Beach around June 20, 1981, to meet with Wright concerning the money, but, instead, he was arrested on the information supplied to Volusia County authorities by postal investigators.

In addition to McDonald, the state called as witnesses the two acquaintances of Ventura and McDonald who had provided the information which led to their arrests. The state also called several witnesses who confirmed through business receipts that Ventura had been in Florida on the dates in question. Ventura presented no evidence in the guilt phase of the proceeding, and the jury found Ventura guilty of first-degree murder.

In the penalty phase, the state presented no new evidence, while the defense called Ventura's daughter, his former business associate, and a lay prison minister, each of whom provided nonstatutory mitigating evidence. The jury recommended the death penalty by an eleven-to-one vote, and the trial judge imposed the death penalty two days later. In imposing the death penalty the judge found two aggravating circumstances: (1) the homicide had been committed for pecuniary gain and (2) the homicide had been committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner. The court found no mitigating circumstances.

Guilt Phase

In the guilt phase of the trial, Ventura claims that: (1) the trial court erred by failing to conduct a full inquiry into the nature of Ventura's allegations of a conflict of interest and his request to discharge court-appointed counsel and into court-appointed counsel's motion to withdraw; (2) the trial court erred in not granting Ventura's request to discharge counsel and counsel's motion to withdraw; (3) Ventura was denied his right to effective assistance of counsel due to multiple errors allegedly committed by trial counsel during the course of his trial; and (4) the trial court erred by giving an instruction on flight.

We will jointly address Ventura's claims concerning an inadequate inquiry into his allegations of conflict of interest and failure to discharge his counsel. Ventura maintains that the trial judge failed to conduct an adequate inquiry into his request for new counsel and his counsel's motion to withdraw. On March 12, 1987, nine months before the trial, Ventura wrote a letter to the trial judge, in which he stated the following:

Attorney Raymond Case [sic] was appointed to my case June 16, 1986. Since then I've came to distrust Mr. Cass Because of the many lies he has told me and the lack of any Motions filed by him in this most severe case. There are also several other thing's that bring us into conflic [sic].

... If at all possible would you please appoint Mr. Craig Boda.

In a letter dated March 20, 1987, the trial judge responded to Ventura, explaining that Ventura's letter

raises insufficient grounds to discharge the Public Defender's Office and appoint a private attorney to represent you at the taxpayer's expense.

Legally, you would have the right to refuse the services of the Public Defender's Office and either represent yourself or hire your own attorney at your expense.

Because of the nature of the charge, I would strongly urge you not to try to represent yourself and if you cannot afford to hire your own attorney, then stay with the Public Defender's Office.

On May 1, 1987, the assistant public defender who was representing Ventura filed a motion to appoint a special public defender pursuant to chapter 27, Florida Statutes (1985). In that motion, counsel certified that there was a conflict between Ventura and himself. As evidence of such conflict, he appended to the motion copies of various pro se pleadings which Ventura had filed in both the trial court and the Fifth District Court of Appeal without counsel's knowledge, copies of correspondence between Ventura and the trial judge, and a copy of a letter which Ventura had written to counsel. In the letter to counsel, Ventura expressed his lack of trust, stating:

I've met with your Investigator three time's [sic]. First time he introduced Himself and told me to keep my mouth shut. Second time, He acted in you [sic] behalf and brought be [sic] a continuance to sign, along with some facts pertaining to Mr. Edward Adkin's [sic] an Informant. (Because of the fact that the Public Defenders office helped in Reducing his Sentence in Half, because of a Statement he made against my case, I now feel and Do believe that we have a conflict of Interest.)

Ventura's counsel, in his motion, specifically denied the allegations made by Ventura, but he did seek to withdraw from the case based upon Ventura's behavior and allegations.

The trial judge held a hearing on counsel's motion on May 5, 1987. At the hearing, Ventura's attorney argued that the conflict of interest arose from the inability to form and maintain the attorney/client relationship. He further argued that Ventura's false accusations of wrongdoing had adversely affected their relationship. Ventura again stated that he wished to have his counsel discharged, but he made no mention at the hearing...