Woodel v. State
| Decision Date | 01 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. SC05-1336.,SC05-1336. |
| Citation | 985 So.2d 524 |
| Parties | Thomas D. WOODEL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Robert F. Moeller, Assistant Public Defender, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Bartow, FL, for Appellant.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Carol M. Dittmar, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Appellee.
Thomas Woodel appeals the death sentence imposed upon him after we remanded for a new written sentencing order that complied with the procedural requirements outlined in Jackson v. State, 767 So.2d 1156, 1160-61 (Fla.2000). See Woodel v. State, 804 So.2d 316, 327 (Fla.2001) (). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we affirm the sentence of death imposed for the murder of Bernice Moody and the sentence of life in prison imposed for the murder of Clifford Moody.
Thomas Woodel was convicted of armed robbery, armed burglary, and two counts of first-degree murder based on the murders of Clifford and Bernice Moody. The facts surrounding the murder were set forth as follows:
Clifford Moody, who was seventy-nine years old, and his seventy-four year old wife, Bernice, lived in a mobile home trailer on lot 533 at Outdoor Resorts of America in Polk County. The Moodys owned another trailer on adjoining lot 532, which they sometimes rented. Bernice was seen by the newspaper delivery man cleaning lot 532 about 4:30 to 4:45 a.m. on December 31, 1996. Clifford was last seen by a security person at the Outdoor Resorts Laundromat at about 5:30 a.m. The Moodys were preparing to show the mobile home for rental that day.
The Moodys were found dead a little after 1 p.m. on December 31, 1996. Clifford was found lying on his back in the dining room area of the trailer on lot 532. His underwear and pants had been pulled down to below his knees. His eyeglasses lay approximately two feet from his head. Dr. Alexander Melamud, the medical examiner, testified that Clifford received a total of eight stab wounds, causing more internal than external bleeding, and that he died as a result of these stab wounds close in time to his wife's death.
Bernice was found in the same trailer with multiple stab wounds. She lay dead on a bed in the back of the trailer and was nude except for one sock. A nightgown and female underwear with a knot tied in it lay on the floor next to the bed. Additionally, pieces of a porcelain toilet tank lid were found underneath her. Dr. Melamud testified that Bernice incurred a total of fifty-six cut or stab wounds, many of which on her right arm he opined to be defensive. Her jugular vein had been slit. Additionally, she had received significant blunt trauma injuries to her head, and her nasal bones were fractured. Dr. Melamud testified that Bernice died as a result of her injuries sometime in the early morning hours of December 31, 1996. No semen was detected on Bernice.
With the permission and assistance of Outdoor Resorts, detectives searched the park's dumpsters the morning of January 3, 1997. The dumpsters had not been emptied since prior to December 31, 1996. During the search, detectives found three garbage bags containing pieces of a porcelain toilet tank lid, a wallet containing Clifford's identification and credit cards, keys with a tag stating "Cliff's keys," glasses, bloody socks, paperwork with the address of lot 301, and paperwork bearing the names of the defendant and his son, Christopher Woodel.
That afternoon, detectives went to lot 301. Woodel lived there with his long-time girlfriend, Christina Stogner, and his sister, Bobbi Woodel. Woodel and his sister signed consent forms to have their trailer searched. Stogner was out of town at that time. Also present that day at lot 301 was Gayle Woodel. Although not known at that time, it would later be discovered that Gayle married Woodel in 1989, and they had a son together, Christopher. Gayle and Woodel separated in 1992 but never divorced. In 1996, Gayle and Christopher lived in North Carolina while Woodel lived in Florida. However, Gayle had just come to Florida from North Carolina so that Christopher could spend some time with Woodel. Gayle, Christopher, and two of Gayle's friends were staying at Woodel's trailer.
While some detectives searched the premises, Woodel agreed to be questioned by other detectives. As Woodel left with the detectives, Woodel went over to Gayle and whispered for her to get rid of the knife Woodel had hidden. Gayle told Woodel's landlady and friend about the content of the communication. Gayle later told deputies as well.
The detectives gave Woodel Miranda warnings, and he consented to talk with them. He initially told the detectives that he had been home asleep at the time of the murders. After further questioning, Woodel began to write out a statement. He then stopped and confessed to killing the Moodys, whom he said he had never met. The detectives then tape-recorded Woodel's confession. In this taped confession played for the jury, Woodel admitted to drinking with others that evening after work in the lot next to the Pizza Hut where he worked. Afterwards, Woodel walked to Outdoor Resorts, a little over a mile from the Pizza Hut. Woodel admitted to entering the Moody's rental trailer early in the morning after seeing Bernice through the window. He said he went in to ask for the time. According to Woodel, Bernice was alone in the trailer. Upon seeing him, she came at him with a knife, over which Woodel soon gained control. He then proceeded to stab her many times and hit her over the head with a porcelain toilet tank lid one to three times. The toilet lid shattered.
Clifford was last seen doing laundry at the Laundromat by security guard Elmer Schultz between 5:30 and 5:40 a.m. In his confession, Woodel said that he was leaving the trailer when Clifford came inside. Woodel then stabbed Clifford. As Clifford lay on the floor, Woodel picked up a bucket and placed pieces of the shattered toilet tank lid in it. He also placed the knife along with several other items in the bucket. Woodel said that after stabbing Clifford, he took Clifford's wallet.
Woodel also said in his confession that he threw some items into a canal in the mobile home park, threw some items away in his garbage, and hid the knife behind a dresser. Deputies would later find pieces of the toilet tank lid and Bernice's eyeglasses in the canal, and a knife in Woodel's room wedged between a wall and the dresser.
Woodel, 804 So.2d at 319-20. The jury recommended death by a vote of nine to three for Clifford's murder and by a vote of twelve to zero for Bernice's murder. The trial court followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Woodel to death for both murders. On December 20, 2001, this Court affirmed all of the convictions but vacated both death sentences because we were unable to provide a meaningful review of the death sentence in light of the sentencing order, which failed to expressly evaluate each mitigating circumstance, determine whether these mitigators were truly mitigating, and properly weigh the aggravators against the mitigators, as set forth in Jackson, 767 So.2d at 1160-61. See Woodel, 804 So.2d at 327.
The original trial judge was no longer available, so the case was assigned to a new judge, and a new penalty phase was held, where the State presented numerous victim impact statements and evidence to show the jury a comprehensive picture of the crime. Counsel for Woodel presented detailed information about Woodel's childhood, character, and mental health, emphasizing the abuse and neglect Woodel suffered as a child and how the crime was extremely out of character for Woodel. The jury recommended a life sentence for the murder of Mr. Moody and recommended death by a vote of seven to five for the murder of Ms. Moody. After a Spencer1 hearing was held, the trial court followed the jury's recommendation as to both murders. The court found four aggravating circumstances (prior violent felony conviction; committed during commission of a burglary; especially heinous, atrocious or cruel (HAC); and victim vulnerability due to age or disability); four statutory mitigators (no significant criminal history; defendant's age; substantial impairment of capacity to appreciate his actions or conform his conduct to the requirements of law; and extreme emotional disturbance); and ten nonstatutory mitigators (physical abuse as a child; neglect and rejection by his mother and others; an unstable home as child; parents who were deaf and spoke primarily in sign language; abuse of alcohol and drugs; willingness to meet with the victims' daughter; willingness to be tested for bone marrow donation for his daughter; the defendant's belief in God; his voluntary confession; and the defendant's compassion for others). The court concluded that the aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigation and imposed a sentence of death for the murder of Ms. Moody.
On appeal, Woodel raises six claims: (1) the trial court erred in excusing for cause two jurors who were not sufficiently fluent in the English language without the aid of an interpreter; (2) fundamental error occurred when the jury heard and considered prejudicial testimony from a State witness; (3) the trial court erred in finding the aggravating factor of "vulnerability due to advanced age or disability" with regard to the murder of Bernice Moody; (4) Woodel's sentence of death is not proportional; (5) Woodel is entitled to a life sentence because Florida's death penalty law violates his due process right and his right to a jury; and (6) execution by lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
First, Woodel asserts that during his new penalty phase, the trial court erred in...
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