Wuornos v. State

Decision Date06 October 1994
Docket NumberNo. 81059,81059
Parties19 Fla. L. Weekly S503 Aileen Carol WUORNOS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

James B. Gibson, Public Defender and Christopher S. Quarles, Asst. Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Margene A. Roper, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the judgment and sentence of the trial court imposing the death penalty upon Aileen Carol Wuornos. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(1), Fla.Const.

The present case involves three separate murder convictions against Wuornos. The first of these was of Charles Humphreys, who was reported missing by his family on September 11, 1990. The following day two young boys discovered his body in an isolated area. Law officers investigating the scene found that Humphreys' pockets were turned inside-out, and his wallet and car were missing. His wallet and identification later were found some fifty miles away, and the car was located behind an abandoned gas station on U.S. 90 at Interstate 10. An autopsy showed that Humphreys died of seven gunshot wounds in a pattern consistent with someone twisting or turning while standing or lying on the ground.

The second murder was of Troy Burress, a delivery truck driver who vanished while making deliveries on July 30, 1990. His truck was found the next day at the intersection of State Roads 40 and 19. The keys were missing and so were Burress's delivery receipts. On August 4, Burress's body was found about eight miles away from the place where the truck had been abandoned. His wallet, credit cards, and receipts were found, but his cash was missing. An autopsy showed he had died of two gunshot wounds to the chest and back.

The third murder was of David Spears, whose badly decomposed body was found in June 1990. The body was nude except for a hat, and a used condom was found nearby. A forensic anthropologist concluded that Spears died of six gunshot wounds. The victim's truck was found at a separate location, abandoned with a flat tire. Spears' toolbox, clothing, a ceramic panther, the vehicle tag, and keys were missing.

Wuornos later was arrested. While in custody, she waived her rights and gave detailed confessions. At later times, she also confessed. The various confessions differed in substantial ways.

In early 1991, Wuornos was indicted for the three murders and three related armed robbery charges. On March 31, 1992, Wuornos pled no contest on all counts with advice of counsel, signing a waiver of rights form so indicating. The plea was accepted as valid and voluntary. A penalty phase then was held in May 1992.

During the penalty phase, the State introduced evidence about the circumstances surrounding the three murders. Wuornos introduced her taped confession to law officers and the testimony of her new adoptive mother, Arlene Pralle. Pralle testified that her relationship with Wuornos began after the latter prayed to God to send her a good Christian woman. As a result, said Pralle, Jesus told her to write to Wuornos in prison. Pralle later adopted Wuornos.

Pralle related hearsay information about Wuornos' childhood, which Pralle had obtained from Wuornos' family and a childhood friend. This information portrayed Wuornos' childhood as one in which she was abandoned by her parents only to be adopted by an abusive grandfather. According to Pralle, Wuornos was raped and impregnated and sent to a house for pregnant teens. Her grandparents forced her to give up the baby for adoption. Later, Wuornos ran away and entered a life of prostitution. Pralle stated she did not believe Wuornos was a serial killer.

The State introduced evidence that Pralle "screened" media requests made to Wuornos and had received a $7,500 fee to appear on a broadcast show about the murders. Other rebuttal witnesses stated that Wuornos did not suffer an abusive childhood, had threatened to kill another man who had given her a ride in his car: He had seen her gun and tricked her into leaving, then sped away as she brandished her weapon. Other evidence indicated that Wuornos had professed a religious conversion during an earlier incarceration in 1982. Another law officer stated that, while being transported between prisons, Wuornos had threatened him and described a plan in which she would start a revolution and kill police officers.

The jury recommended death by a vote of 10 to 2. The trial court concurred. In his written order, the judge found that there were four aggravating factors in the murders of Burress and Spears: (a) prior violent felony; (b) pecuniary gain; (c) witness elimination; and (d) heightened premeditation. In the murder of Humphreys, the trial court found these same four plus the factor of heinous, atrocious, or cruel. In mitigation, the court found that Wuornos had shown evidence of remorse and a religious conversion, and had suffered a deprived childhood.

As her first issue, Wuornos argues that her no contest plea was not intelligently or voluntarily made. Having read the record, we must respectfully disagree. With defense counsel present, the trial court below conducted an extensive inquiry into Wuornos' reasons for pleading and found the plea to be a product of a knowing and intelligent decision. Wuornos contends that this is not so in part because her chief reason for pleading was so she could return to her prison cell in Broward County, avoiding the stress of another trial. Wuornos later waived her right to be present during the penalty phase for the same reason.

While the accused may consent to be tried in absentia, there is nothing in Florida law requiring that every defendant be notified of that possibility. Any such "right" clearly is not of fundamental constitutional dimension. Moreover, we reject the concept implicit in Wuornos' argument--that a judge somehow is responsible for informing a defendant about the minutiae of trial strategy. While judges certainly must ensure that defendants are aware of fundamental constitutional rights, this does not mean judges must go further and assume the role of legal counsel in explaining every avenue open to the defense. It is emphatically defense counsel's role to tell the defendant of strategies, consequences, and the differing ways trials may be conducted, such as being tried in absentia.

Additionally, Wuornos states that her plea was improper because during the plea colloquy she continued to assert her innocence, based primarily on the claim she had killed in self-defense. We find that Wuornos' plea was not rendered improper. One valid and well recognized strategy in a murder trial is to plead guilty and then appeal for mercy from the sentencer during the penalty phase. Moreover, Florida has recognized that a colorable but incomplete factual claim of self-defense is valid to negate the aggravator of cold, calculated premeditation during the penalty phase. Walls v. State, 641 So.2d 381 (Fla.1994). Wuornos' claim, in sum, was not inconsistent with her plea, because any colorable claim of self-defense continued to be at issue during the penalty phase.

Nor do we think a plea becomes unallowable merely because the defendant may disagree as to legal conclusions or construction of the facts. It is highly common for defendants to do just that, even after defense counsel has advised that the defendant's interpretation is not a legally valid one. We also note that Wuornos' own statements about her innocence were at best inconsistent, as were her various confessions. She even stated at one point that her newfound religious convictions required her to plead as she did. These facts alone, without more, cannot support the conclusion that her pleas were improperly accepted. By the same token, we do not accept Wuornos' argument that her plea was improper merely because she believes she received no "benefit" for her bargain. Even assuming this is true, nothing in the law imposes such a requirement on criminal pleas.

We also note that Wuornos now contends the trial judge failed to apprise her of the minimum mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. However, the record discloses that the trial court told Wuornos life imprisonment was one of two "possible sentences that can be imposed in a first-degree murder case." Later in the plea colloquy, the trial court described the penalty phase of a capital trial and Wuornos responded in the following terms:

THE COURT: If the jury comes back with a "guilty" verdict, then we proceed with the sentencing phase. Then the jury will hear evidence of--of mitigation and aggravation.

There is a whole list of considerations that the Court needs to consider under the statute as to what sentence to impose--either the life imprisonment or the death sentence.

BY THE DEFENDANT: Uh-huh.

THE COURT: Did [defense counsel] Mr. Glazer discuss all that with you as well?

BY THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.

(Emphasis added.) This exchange might have been more detailed, but it nevertheless establishes that the trial court and defense counsel had apprised Wuornos of, and she understood, the consequences of her plea in this regard. 1 We also find that there was a sufficient factual basis for acceptance of the plea.

As her second issue, Wuornos contends that her statements in the plea colloquy were so rambling or irrational that the trial court sua sponte should have ordered her evaluated for competency to stand trial. The record also shows, however, that her defense counsel stipulated to her competency based on his study of her psychological evaluations and his personal interaction with Wuornos for more than a year.

Having read the record, we also do not find Wuornos' statements in the plea colloquy sufficiently irrational as to require the procedure she suggests. Her comments--particularly her reading of a written statement--shows some difficulty with...

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