Victorino v. State
| Decision Date | 25 November 2013 |
| Docket Number | Nos. SC12–482,SC12–2123.,s. SC12–482 |
| Citation | 127 So.3d 478 |
| Parties | Troy VICTORINO, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Troy Victorino, Petitioner, v. Michael D. Crews, etc., Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Christopher J. Anderson, Neptune Beach, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL; Kenneth S. Nunnelley, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Appellee/Respondent.
Troy Victorino appeals an order of the circuit court denying his motion to vacate his convictions of first-degree murder and sentences of death filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. Victorino also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. Seeart. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the postconviction court's order and deny Victorino's habeas petition.
In 2006, Troy Victorino was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Erin Belanger, Roberto Gonzalez, Michelle Nathan, Anthony Vega, Jonathon Gleason, and Francisco “Flaco” Ayo–Roman; one count of abuse of a dead human body; one count of armed burglary of a dwelling; one count of conspiracy; and one count of cruelty to an animal. Victorino v. State, 23 So.3d 87, 93 (Fla.2009). On appeal, this Court set out the facts of the crimes:
On Friday, July 30, [2004,] Erin Belanger contacted police concerning suspicious activity at her grandmother's vacant house on Providence Boulevard in Deltona. Without the owner's permission, Victorino and [codefendant Jerone] Hunter had recently moved into the home with their belongings. On Saturday, Belanger again contacted police; this time she reported that several items were missing from her grandmother's house.
Late Saturday night, Victorino appeared at Belanger's own residence on Telford Lane. He demanded the return of his belongings, which he believed Belanger had taken from the Providence Boulevard residence. Shortly after leaving Belanger's residence early on the morning of Sunday, August 1, Victorino contacted law enforcement to report the theft of his belongings from the Providence Boulevard residence. The responding officer advised Victorino that he had to provide a list of the stolen property. This angered Victorino, and he said, “I'll take care of this myself.”
A short time later, Victorino met Brandon Graham and codefendants [Robert Anthony] Cannon and [Michael] Salas, who were in Cannon's Ford Expedition (the SUV). Codefendant Hunter and several young women were also in the SUV. Victorino told them that Belanger and the other occupants of the Telford Lane house had stolen his belongings and that he wanted them to go fight Belanger and the others. According to Graham, Victorino and the occupants of the SUV all went in the SUV to the Telford Lane residence. While Victorino remained in the SUV, the young women went into the residence armed with knives. The young men stood outside holding baseball bats, and Hunter yelled for the occupants to come out and fight. The group left in Cannon's SUV, however, after victim Ayo–Roman yelled “policia.”
....
The following morning, Thursday, August 5, Graham, Salas, and Cannon met with Victorino and Hunter at their residence. There, Victorino outlined the following plan to obtain his belongings from Belanger. Victorino said that he had seen a movie named Wonderland in which a group carrying lead pipes ran into a home and beat the occupants to death. Victorino stated that he would do the same thing at the Telford Lane residence. He asked Graham, Salas, and Cannon if they “were down for it” and said to Hunter, “I know you're down for it” because Hunter had belongings stolen as well. All agreed with Victorino's plan. Victorino described the layout of the Telford Lane residence and who would go where. Victorino said that he particularly wanted to “kill Flaco,” and told the group, “You got to beat the bitches bad.” Graham described Victorino as “calm, cool-headed.” Hunter asked if they should wear masks; Victorino responded,
....
Around midnight on Thursday, August 5, a witness saw Victorino, Salas, Cannon, and Hunter near the murder scene on Telford Lane. Cannon, a State witness, testified that he and Salas went because they were afraid Victorino would kill them if they did not. Cannon further testified that he, Victorino, Hunter, and Salas entered the victims' home on the night of the murders armed with baseball bats.
On the morning of Friday, August 6, a coworker of two of the victims discovered the six bodies at the Belanger residence and called 911. Officers responding to the 911 call arrived to find the six victims in various rooms. The victims had been beaten to death with baseball bats and had sustained cuts to their throats, most of which were inflicted postmortem. Belanger also sustained postmortem lacerations through her vagina up to the abdominal cavity of her body, which were consistent with having been inflicted by a baseball bat. The medical examiner determined that most of the victims had defensive wounds. The front door had been kicked in with such force that it broke the deadbolt lock and left a footwear impression on the door. Footwear impressions were also recovered from two playing cards, a bed sheet, and a pay stub. All of these impressions were linked to Victorino's Lugz boots. Furthermore, DNA testing linked bloodstains on Victorino's Lugz boots to several of the victims. A dead dachshund, a knife handle, and a bloody knife blade were also recovered from the crime scene.
....
At trial, Victorino testified in his defense. He admitted that he believed that Belanger had taken his property from the Providence Boulevard residence. However, he denied meeting Graham, Cannon, or Salas at his residence on August 5, testifying instead that he was at work. He further denied committing the murders and offered an alibi—that he was at a nightclub on the night of the murders. Two friends testified on behalf of Victorino and corroborated his alibi.
Hunter and Salas also testified in their defense. Each described his role in the murders and corroborated the other testimony and evidence offered at trial, including the evidence of the meetingat which Victorino planned the murders and the agreement to participate. They further testified that Victorino attempted to establish an alibi by making an appearance at the nightclub.
During the penalty phase, the parties stipulated that Victorino was on felony probation at the time of the murders, and the State introduced victim impact statements. Victorino then presented three expert witnesses and several relatives and friends. Dr. Joseph Wu, a psychiatrist, testified that a PET scan revealed Victorino's frontal lobe was less active than normal. Dr. Charles Golden, a neuropsychologist, testified that Victorino had some frontal lobe impairment and severe emotional problems. Dr. Jeffrey Danziger, a psychiatrist, testified that Victorino had an IQ of 101, a long history of physical and emotional abuse by his father, and a history of mental health problems, including several suicide attempts. Dr. Danziger also testified that Victorino experienced an incident of sexual abuse. Victorino's friends and family testified about Victorino's mental health problems, the frequent physical abuse by his father, and Victorino's character and good deeds. In rebuttal, the State presented Dr. Lawrence Holder, an expert in radiology and nuclear medicine, who testified that Victorino's PET scan was normal. Id. at 93–94.
The jury convicted Victorino of first-degree murder of all six victims and recommended death sentences for the murders of Belanger, Gonzalez, Gleason, and Ayo–Roman. After the Spencer v. State, 615 So.2d 688 (Fla.1993), hearing, at which the State submitted an additional written victim impact statement, the trial court imposed four death sentences, two life sentences, and additional terms for the noncapital crimes.
The trial court found five aggravating factors applicable to four of the murders: (1) the defendant had a prior felony conviction and was on probation at the time of the murders (moderate weight); (2) the defendant had prior capital felony convictions (very substantial weight); (3) the defendant committed the murders in the course of a burglary (moderate weight); (4) the murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC) (very substantial weight); and (5) the murders were cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP) (great weight). In addition, the court found a sixth aggravator applicable to the murders of Gleason and Gonzalez—that the murders were committed to avoid arrest (substantial weight). The trial court found no statutory mitigation but did find the following nonstatutory mitigating factors: (1) Victorino had a history of mental illness (some weight); (2) he suffered childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse (moderate weight); (3) he was a devoted family member with family support (little weight); (4) he did some good deeds (very little weight); (5) he exhibited good behavior at trial (very little weight); (6) he was a good inmate (little weight); (7) he was a good student who earned awards (little weight); (8) he had an alcohol abuse problem (very little weight); and (9) he had a useful occupation (very little weight). Victorino, 23 So.3d at 94–95.
Victorino raised sixteen claims on direct appeal. Regarding the guilt phase, Victorino asserted that the trial court erred by: (1) denying Victorino's pretrial motion to suppress DNA samples and nail scrapings; (2) denying his motion to suppress physical evidence seized from his residence; (3) denying his motion to sever his trial from that of the codefendants; (4) admitting evidence of uncharged misconduct; (5) using the “and/or” conjunction between the names of the codefendants...
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