Arthur James Martin v. State of Florida

151 So. 3d 1184, 39 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 577, 2014 Fla. LEXIS 2856, 2014 WL 4724564
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 24, 2014
DocketSC12-1762
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 151 So. 3d 1184 (Arthur James Martin v. State of Florida) 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
Arthur James Martin v. State of Florida, 151 So. 3d 1184, 39 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 577, 2014 Fla. LEXIS 2856, 2014 WL 4724564 (Fla. 2014).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

This case is before the Court on appeal from a judgment of conviction of first-degree murder and a sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. Arthur James Martin (Martin) was convicted in Duval County of first-degree murder in the 2009 death of Javon Daniels (Daniels). For the reasons expressed in this opinion, we affirm Martin’s conviction and his sentence of death. We begin by setting forth the facts of this case and then discuss the issues that Martin raises in this direct appeal. We conclude by addressing both the sufficiency of the evidence on which the jury relied to convict Martin and the proportionality of Martin’s sentence of death.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Two days before the murder, Martin’s friend and codefendant Franklin Batie (Batie) was involved in a shooting where he was grazed on the back of the head and neck. On October 28, 2009, the day of the murder, Batie drove Martin to the Weber 5B Apartments in Jacksonville so that Martin could visit someone. Batie drove his car, a white Ford, to the apartment complex, and he remained in the car while [1188]*1188Martin got out of the car and engaged in conversation. In the back seat of the Ford was Batie’s loaded .45 caliber handgun. The gun was equipped with a thirty-round magazine.

While Batie remained in the car and waited for Martin, he noticed a white sport utility vehicle (S1JV) and thought that he recognized the driver of the SUV as the person who shot him days earlier. Batie retrieved his gun from the backseat and mentioned to Martin that he possibly recognized the driver as having tried to shoot him. Martin then took Batie’s gun and went to the driver’s side of the SUV and began firing multiple shots at the driver, nineteen-year-old Daniels. When Daniels tried to escape through the passenger side of the SUV, Martin walked around the front of the SUV to the passenger side and continued firing. Eyewitness Sebastian Lucas testified that upon reaching the passenger side, Martin “shot him [Daniels] back down in the car.” When Martin finished shooting, he walked back to the Ford, and Batie drove Martin home. Daniels died at the scene. Batie drove home to Starke, Florida, where he disposed of his Ford and began driving another vehicle. The murder weapon was never located.

Following the murder, detectives interviewed multiple eyewitnesses who viewed photo spreads of possible suspects and identified Martin as the shooter. Some of the witnesses did not know Martin by his given name but by his nicknames, “Beer Belly” or “Shorty Fat.” Martin was arrested several days after the murder, and a grand jury later indicted him for first-degree murder. Three days after Martin’s arrest, Batie was arrested in Starke. Ba-tie later entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder. After the conclusion of Martin’s trial, Batie was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for his role in the murder.

Martin’s case proceeded to a jury trial in 2012. The presentation of evidence during the guilt phase occurred solely during the State’s case-in-chief. The State presented eyewitness testimony in addition to testimony from the medical examiner and law enforcement officers. Multiple eyewitnesses, including codefendant Batie, testified and identified Martin as the person who shot Daniels. One of the eyewitnesses, Tasheana Hart, testified that in the days following the murder, Martin asked her “not to tell” what she saw on the day of the murder and offered her money in exchange for her silence.

The medical examiner, Dr. Valerie Rao, testified that Daniels sustained a total of twelve gunshot wounds. Daniels was shot in his left hand, left arm, right arm, left side, right side, right thigh, and chest. Four of the gunshot wounds produced fatal injuries to Daniels’ lungs, heart, liver, and stomach. Daniels endured significant internal and external bleeding, and a total of 700 cubic centimeters of blood was collected from his chest cavity. The gunshot wounds to each of Daniels’ arms broke the humerus in each arm, and the gunshot wound to his left hand broke two of the bones in his hand. These broken bones incapacitated Daniels and left him incapable of completing his attempted escape from the SUV.

At the conclusion of the State’s case-in-chief, the defense rested without presenting evidence. After the jury deliberated and returned with a guilty verdict, the case proceeded to the penalty phase. During the penalty phase, in its initial case, the State presented two victim impact witnesses. The defense also stipulated to Martin’s conviction for second-degree murder.

[1189]*1189In its penalty phase case, the defense presented the testimony of three witnesses: Martin’s mother, sister, and court-appointed mental health expert. Martin’s mother and sister testified about Martin’s personal life, including his childhood, family relationships, overall demeanor, work ethic, and health.

Martin’s mental health expert was Dr. Stephen Bloomfield, a psychologist. Dr. Bloomfield testified that he reviewed background records, visited with Martin in jail, and administered psychological testing. Dr. Bloomfield also interviewed multiple witnesses, including Martin’s mother and sister. Although Dr. Bloomfield testified that he reviewed thousands of pages of records, he was unable to conduct an exhaustive review of Martin’s Miami-Dade Public Schools records because the majority of the records were destroyed by the school district as a matter of course when Martin reached twenty-five years of age.

In order to evaluate Martin’s IQ, in 2011, Dr. Bloomfield administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, fourth edition, or the WAIS-IV. He also tried to administer the Wide Range Achievement Test 4 (WRAT-4), but Martin was unable to complete the test. Dr. Bloomfield testified that Martin’s WAIS-IV full-scale IQ score of 54 placed him in the mildly mentally retarded range. However, Dr. Bloomfield was unable to diagnose Martin as mentally retarded because he was unable to determine the onset of mental retardation prior to age 18 nor Martin’s adaptive functioning prior to age 18.1

Dr. Bloomfield testified that Martin’s Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) records revealed multiple mental health evaluations and IQ screening tests. According to those records, although Martin never showed signs of significant mental or emotional deficits and never demonstrated that he was incapable of living in the general population, he was deemed “low functioning.” DOC records documented that between 1992 and 2008, Martin took four IQ screening tests, with scores ranging from a low of 58 in 2002 to a high of 94 in 2008.2

Dr. Bloomfield concluded that Martin has low cognitive functioning, is functionally illiterate, and suffers from a learning disability because of his inability to read. Dr. Bloomfield observed that Martin’s grades in school were mixed and that Martin had numerous absences and caused frequent disruptions. However, Dr. Bloomfield conceded that Martin’s grades were not necessarily due to a lack of intellectual capability but due to his disruptive behavior and absences from school.

In rebuttal, the State offered the testimony of Miami-Dade Police Department Detective Chris Stroze. Detective Stroze was involved in a 1998 murder investigation that led to Martin’s conviction for second-degree murder. Detective Stroze testified that Martin did not have any problems reading or understanding the waiver form that advised him of his constitutional rights.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
151 So. 3d 1184, 39 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 577, 2014 Fla. LEXIS 2856, 2014 WL 4724564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arthur-james-martin-v-state-of-florida-fla-2014.