Brown v. State

126 So. 3d 211, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 653, 2013 WL 5270444, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 2016
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 19, 2013
DocketNo. SC11-2300
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 126 So. 3d 211 (Brown 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
Brown v. State, 126 So. 3d 211, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 653, 2013 WL 5270444, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 2016 (Fla. 2013).

Opinion

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. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Brown’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 20, 2009, Thomas Brown was indicted for the first-degree murder of Juanese Miller. Brown was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, which was later severed from the murder charge.

A. Guilt Phase

Ms. Miller and Brown were both coworkers at a Wendy’s restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. It is clear that they did not get along with each other. On Sunday, June 14, 2009, Ms. Miller poured ice and salt down Brown’s back. Brown, who was twenty-seven years old at the time, became visibly upset and told Ms. Miller that he did not want her to bother him. The following day (Monday), Brown and Ms. Miller were both present at a meeting held at the restaurant. At or around the time of the meeting, Ms. Miller called Brown a “p*ssy n*gger,” which offended Brown. Angelette Harley, who was both Brown’s girlfriend and a Wendy’s manager, testified that she thought Ms. Miller and Brown were both “written up.” Brown and Ms. Miller’s work hours were “cut.” Brown, who was upset, wondered why he was in trouble.

Mike Emami, the Wendy’s franchisee, testified that it was brought to his attention that there was a conflict between Brown and Ms. Miller. Emami said he discussed the issue with Brown in a fairly calm manner. Emami maintained that no one was reprimanded for the ice incident. Emami was told that everything was okay between Brown and Ms. Miller. While Ms. Miller and Brown did not work together on Tuesday and Wednesday, they both worked at Wendy’s on Thursday, the day Ms. Miller was killed.

On Thursday, Wendy’s employees testified that they did not notice any problems between Brown and Ms. Miller. At around 11:00 a.m., Brown made a telephone call to Ms. Harley, desiring to know why his work hours were “cut.” Emami testified that a manager informed him that Brown was upset regarding his work hours. According to Emami’s testimony, Brown could not keep up with the work demand and was consequently moved to perform a different task.

At approximately 12:15 p.m., Emami observed Brown working very slowly and looked unhappy. As a result, Emami pulled Brown to the back of the restaurant in order to talk with him.1 Emami asked Brown what was wrong and questioned Brown about his attitude. Brown became “very, very upset.” Brown and Emami were first arguing inside an office and then proceeded to argue outside of the office. Brown asked why his hours were “cut”; Emami responded that Brown would need to discuss his hours with a manager, not Emami. Brown pointed his hand in Ema-mi’s face and said, “[Y]ou don’t Peking know me ... it ain’t going to be no more Wendy’s.” Brown was yelling and scream[214]*214ing. Emami and Brown were “fussing” loudly at each other in what was described as a “heated exchange.” Both men were mad and frustrated. An employee testified that Brown told Emami that “someone was going to kick his a* *.” Emami testified that he told Brown to leave Wendy’s at least five or six times and that if he did not leave, the police would be called; Ema-mi, in fact, did call 911. Brown casually walked out of Wendy’s and drove off in his vehicle. An employee testified that Ema-mi said “don’t come back,” however, Ema-mi denied making such statement. Emami also maintained that he never told Brown that he was fired.

Ms. Harley testified that she received a telephone call from Brown’s mother, which prompted Ms. Harley to “keep an eye out” for Brown. Ms. Harley arrived at Wendy’s at about 1:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Brown returned to the restaurant. While in the parking lot, Ms. Harley told Brown, who was still in his work uniform, that she wanted to talk to him. Brown declined and said, “[S]he [is] the reason why I don’t have my job.” Ms. Harley tried to stop Brown from going inside the restaurant. An employee of Wendy’s testified that Brown was upset, given his facial expressions. When Brown was inside the restaurant, he asked where Emami was; Emami was no longer there. Ms. Miller was ordering her lunch at the register, while standing on the customer-side of the counter. Ms. Harley testified that it appeared that Brown had no issue with Ms. Miller. Brown left the restaurant, got into his car, and put the car in reverse.

Brown then got out of his car. Ms. Harley again attempted to stop Brown from coming back inside Wendy’s. Brown pushed her aside and went back inside the restaurant. Ms. Miller, who had her back to the door, did not see Brown come inside. Brown proceeded to walk toward Ms. Miller. Brown, who was not trying to conceal his identity, reached under his shirt, into his waistband, and pulled out a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson semi-automatic firearm. From a range of two to three feet, Brown fired a shot at Ms. Miller. Brown then asked, “[Wjhere the Pck Mike [Emami] at[?]” Brown fired more shots at Ms. Miller. Brown then walked toward the door and pushed the door open a little. Brown turned around and walked back to Ms. Miller, who was lying on the floor. Brown stood over Ms. Miller, and angrily said, “I told you I would kill you, you Peking b*tch.” Brown fired his final shot at Ms. Miller. Before leaving Wendy’s and driving off, Brown said, “Now, you can go and tell Mike, tell Mike thanks.” There were about ten customers inside of the restaurant at the time of the shooting. In describing Brown, witnesses testified that he snapped, was agitated, angry, focused, pissed-off, and had a mad and blank look on his face.

The next day (Friday), Brown was taken into custody after law enforcement located his vehicle at a Jacksonville hotel. A .40 caliber Smith and Wesson semi-automatic firearm was discovered on a dresser inside of the hotel room where Brown was apprehended. Testimony established that four shell casings recovered from the crime scene were fired from the Smith and Wesson pistol. A notebook was discovered inside Brown’s vehicle. In the notebook, there was a passage titled “My life!!!” which stated, in pertinent part:

I’ve lost the only two jobs I’ve had in my life for no reason at all, but do people care? No!! The only time people in this world care, is when a person is a threat ... I just offed a B*tch cause she was the cause of my life being Pcked up, this time. If she ain’t dead, then she will learn how serous [sic] words can be. I [215]*215wanted “Mike the owner” to be there, but I guess it ain’t his time yet.

The medical examiner testified that Ms. Miller received injuries to her arm, back, neck, lungs, trachea, aorta, rib, kidneys, and abdomen. The medical examiner found that Ms. Miller was also shot in the back of her head, but was unable to determine whether the head wound was inflicted as the final injury. The medical examiner opined that Ms. Miller bled to death, suffering from multiple organ and vascular perforations with hemorrhage.

After the State rested, Brown moved for a judgment of acquittal, claiming that there was no evidence of premeditation. The trial judge denied the motion. The defense did not present a case. Brown then renewed his motion for judgment of acquittal, which the trial court again denied.2 The jury, which was instructed on only first-degree premeditated murder, convicted Brown of first-degree murder.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
126 So. 3d 211, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 653, 2013 WL 5270444, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 2016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-state-fla-2013.