Armstrong v. State

642 So. 2d 730, 1994 WL 416721
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedAugust 11, 1994
Docket78180
StatusPublished
Cited by121 cases

This text of 642 So. 2d 730 (Armstrong v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armstrong v. State, 642 So. 2d 730, 1994 WL 416721 (Fla. 1994).

Opinion

642 So.2d 730 (1994)

Lancelot ARMSTRONG, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 78180.

Supreme Court of Florida.

August 11, 1994.
Rehearing Denied September 29, 1994.

*732 Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender and Jeffrey L. Anderson, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

*733 Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Celia A. Terenzio, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Lancelot Armstrong appeals his convictions of robbery, attempted first-degree murder, and first-degree murder and his sentences of life imprisonment for the robbery and attempted first-degree murder convictions and death for the first-degree murder conviction. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed, we affirm Armstrong's convictions and sentences.

The record reflects the following facts. In the early morning hours of February 17, 1990, Armstrong called a friend and asked him to go with him to rob Church's Fried Chicken restaurant. The friend refused. According to several employees of Church's, around two o'clock that same morning, Armstrong and Michael Coleman came to the restaurant asking to see Kay Allen, who was the assistant manager of the restaurant and Armstrong's former girlfriend. The restaurant employees testified that Allen did not want to see Armstrong and asked him to leave. Armstrong and Coleman, however, remained at the restaurant and eventually Allen accompanied Armstrong to the vehicle he was driving while Coleman remained inside the restaurant. The employees additionally testified that Allen and Armstrong appeared to be arguing while they were sitting in the vehicle.

Allen testified that, while she was in the car with Armstrong, he told her he was going to rob the restaurant, showed her a gun under the seat of the car, and told her he might have to kill her if she didn't cooperate. Coleman then came out to the car, and Armstrong, Coleman, and Allen went back into the restaurant. Allen was responsible for closing the restaurant, and by this time, the other employees had left. Coleman and Armstrong ordered Allen to get the money from the safe. Before doing so, she managed to push the silent alarm. Shortly thereafter, Armstrong returned to the car. Coleman remained in the restaurant with Allen to collect the money from the safe.

Other testimony reflected the following facts. When the alarm signal was received by the alarm company, the police were notified and Deputy Sheriffs Robert Sallustio and John Greeney went to the restaurant where they found Armstrong sitting in a blue Toyota. Greeney ordered Armstrong out of the car and told him to put his hands on the car. After Greeney ordered Armstrong to put his hands on the car, Greeney holstered his gun to "pat down" Armstrong. Sallustio then noticed movement within the restaurant, heard shots being fired from the restaurant and from the direction of the car, and felt a shot to his chest. Apparently, when the movement and shots from the restaurant distracted the officers, Armstrong managed to get his gun and began firing at the officers.

According to Allen, when Coleman noticed that police officers were outside the building, he started firing at the officers. Allen took cover inside the restaurant, from where she heard Coleman firing more shots and heard a machine gun being fired outside the restaurant. Sallustio was shot three times, but still managed to run from Armstrong and radio for assistance. When other officers arrived, they found Greeney dead at the scene. Greeney had died instantly. Allen was found inside the restaurant; Coleman and Armstrong had fled.

That same day, Armstrong told one friend that he got shot and that he returned a shot; he told his girlfriend that a police officer had asked him to step out of his car and that, when he did so, the officer pulled a gun on him and tried to shoot him; and he told another friend that someone shot him while trying to rob him. Thereafter, Armstrong and Coleman fled the state but were apprehended the next day in Maryland. Before being apprehended, Armstrong had two bullets removed from his arm by a Maryland doctor.

A number of shell casings were recovered from the scene. All of the bullets removed from Sallustio and Greeney were fired from a nine-millimeter, semi-automatic weapon; Greeney had been shot from close range. Evidence reflected that Armstrong had purchased *734 a nine-millimeter, semi-automatic weapon the month before the crime. Armstrong's prints were found in the blue Toyota as well as on firearm forms found in the car. Additional ballistics evidence reflected that the shots fired from the restaurant did not come from a nine-millimeter, semi-automatic weapon. This indicated that only someone near the car could have fired the shots that wounded Sallustio and killed Greeney. Additionally, testimony was introduced to show that Armstrong was seen with a nine-millimeter, semi-automatic gun right after the incident. Armstrong was convicted as charged.[1]

At the penalty phase, the State presented evidence showing Armstrong's prior conviction of indecent assault and battery on a fourteen-year-old child. Armstrong presented evidence from a number of witnesses in support of the following nonstatutory mitigating circumstances: (1) he had significant physical problems during childhood (he was dyslexic but a good student and had a brain hemorrhage when he was a baby); (2) helped others and had a positive impact on others (routinely assisted his grandmother, brothers and sisters, both financially and emotionally; was a good father and provider to his son; trained others to do carpentry work and was a positive influence on those he assisted); (3) was present as a child when his mother was abused and would come to her aid; (4) could be productive in prison (was an excellent carpenter and plumber); (5) is a good prospect for rehabilitation; (6) codefendant received a life sentence; (7) the alternative sentence is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; (8) Armstrong is religious (attends church); and (9) Armstrong failed to receive adequate medical care and treatment as a child (had a brain hemorrhage when he was a baby but, due to finances, did not receive the medical attention he needed).

The jury recommended death by a nine-to-three vote. The trial judge found no statutory mitigating circumstances and four aggravating circumstances: (1) prior conviction of a violent felony; (2) committed while engaged in the commission of a robbery or flight therefrom; (3) committed for the purpose of avoiding arrest or effecting an escape from custody; and (4) murder of a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of official duties. The trial judge sentenced Armstrong to death for the murder of Officer Greeney, to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of Officer Sallustio, and to life imprisonment for the armed robbery.

Armstrong raises a total of twenty-four issues in this appeal, nine of which pertain to the guilt phase of the trial and fifteen of which pertain to the penalty phase proceeding.[2]

*735 Guilt Phase

In his first conviction issue, Armstrong contends that a new trial is required because Kay Allen lied about material facts at trial. During the course of the trial, Kay Allen mentioned that she became pregnant with twins during the time she was dating Armstrong but that he was not the father of the twins.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

McKinney v. State of Florida
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2025
Cathlyn Palmer v. The State of Florida
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2024
James Allen Black, III v. State of Florida
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2020
Mitchell v. State
260 So. 3d 456 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
Rodney Tyrone Lowe v. State of Florida
259 So. 3d 23 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2018)
Hugo Q. Barros v. State
254 So. 3d 1186 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
William Earl Sweet v. State of Florida
248 So. 3d 1060 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2018)
Walton v. State
246 So. 3d 246 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2018)
Orbary McKinnon v. State
221 So. 3d 1239 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
Ruth v. State
207 So. 3d 970 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
Antonio Lebaron Melton v. State of Florida
193 So. 3d 881 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2016)
Lennart S. Koo v. State of Florida
184 So. 3d 1101 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
642 So. 2d 730, 1994 WL 416721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armstrong-v-state-fla-1994.