Campbell v. State

679 So. 2d 720, 1996 WL 350179
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJune 27, 1996
Docket83792
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 679 So. 2d 720 (Campbell 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
Campbell v. State, 679 So. 2d 720, 1996 WL 350179 (Fla. 1996).

Opinion

679 So.2d 720 (1996)

James Bernard CAMPBELL, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 83792.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 27, 1996.
Rehearing Denied September 6, 1996.

*722 Geoffrey C. Fleck, Gainesville, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Fariba N. Komeily, Assistant Attorney General, Miami, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the sentence of the trial court imposing the death penalty upon James Bernard Campbell following resentencing. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. We reverse due to improper conduct by the prosecutor.

The facts are set out fully in Campbell v. State, 571 So.2d 415 (Fla.1990). Campbell rang the doorbell to the Bosler home at 2:15 p.m. on December 22, 1986, and when Billy Bosler answered the door, Campbell stabbed him a number of times. Billy's adult daughter, Sue Zann Bosler, heard the commotion and came to her father's aid, and Campbell stabbed her. Billy died, Sue Zann lived.

Campbell gave oral and written confessions, was charged with and convicted of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to death in conformity with the jury's nine-to-three vote. The court found five aggravating circumstances[1] and one nonstatutory mitigating circumstance.[2] This Court struck one aggravating circumstance[3] and held that two others should have been combined.[4] We ruled that the court should have considered in mitigation the fact that Campbell suffered from impaired capacity and had a deprived and abusive childhood. We remanded for resentencing before the judge.

Because the original trial judge was unavailable on remand, Campbell was given a whole new sentencing proceeding before a different judge and jury. The State presented four witnesses: A technician related details of the crime scene; a detective told of Campbell's confession; the medical examiner described the victim's wounds; and Sue Zann gave an account of the crime. Campbell presented several witnesses: Psychologist Dr. Frumkin testified concerning Campbell's *723 abusive childhood and present emotional problems; the prior testimony of two of Campbell's aunts was read to the jury; and psychologist Dr. Toomer testified relative to Campbell's emotional problems.

After the jury recommended death by a vote of ten to two, the court heard testimony from Sue Zann who stated that both she and her father did not believe in the death penalty. The victim's mother testified, requesting imposition of the death penalty. The court imposed the death penalty, finding three aggravating circumstances,[5] one statutory mitigating circumstance,[6] and one nonstatutory mitigating circumstance.[7] Campbell raises five issues and a number of subissues.[8]

Campbell claims that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct in several ways. First, he asserts that the prosecutor improperly discredited the defense psychologist, Dr. Toomer, on cross-examination by saying that he frequently testified for killers of police officers. We agree. Not only did the prosecutor ask Dr. Toomer if he testified frequently for the defense in such cases, he quizzed him at length about the death of specific officers in the Dade County area:

Q. In terms of some of the cases you have handled at penalty proceedings, you have testified at least three times for and found mitigation for three individuals who have killed police officers.
MR. HOULIHAN: Objection. Can we have a sidebar?
....
THE COURT: I disagree with you. The objection is overruled.
....
Q. You have testified for at least three individuals who killed police officers at sentencing hearings; is that correct?
MR. LIPINSKI: Same objection, Judge.
THE COURT: Overruled.
A. I am unsure as to the number, but I have testified in those type of proceedings, yes.
Q. You have testified on behalf of Manny Valle who killed a Coral Gables police officer?
MR. LIPINSKI: Can we have a standing objection?
THE COURT: The objection is overruled. There will be a continuing objection to this line of questioning.
Q. You have testified on behalf of Manny Valle and you found mitigation?
A. Yes.
Q. You have testified on behalf of a Mr. Patton who killed a City of Miami police officer?
A. That's correct.
Q. And you found mitigation? You have testified on behalf of Charlie Street who killed two Metro [Dade County] police officers and you found mitigation?
A. No, I did not.
Q. You weren't called in that case, were you?
A. No, I was.
*724 Q. You were listed as a witness in that case?
A. I may have been, but I did not testify in that matter.
Q. All right. And finally you're preparing to testify for Leonardo Fronki and you have testified.
MR. LIPINSKI: We're going to object to something he is preparing to do and hasn't yet done in this particular case.
THE COURT: Objection overruled.
MR. LIPINSKI: Assumes facts not in evidence.
THE COURT: Okay. The objection is overruled.
Q. You have recently testified on behalf of Leonardo Fronki on a first-degree murder at the penalty proceeding?
A. Yes.
Q. You found mitigation?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And Mr. Fronki is facing yet another first-degree murder for the murder of Officer Baur, a North Miami Police Officer; is that correct?
A. I believe that's correct.
Q. But you haven't testified in that case yet, have you?
A. No, I am not scheduled to testify to my knowledge in that case.
Q. And that case won't be tried until May?
A. I don't know.

(Emphasis added.)

The prosecutor then emphasized this matter by commenting to the jury at closing:

Dr. Toomer testified that in at least ten times or maybe more he has testified to mitigating factors solely for the defense in the case of individuals who have murdered police officers he's found ... mitigation.

We have held that in a capital case the State may point out the frequency with which a defense expert testifies for capital defendants, since this is "relevant to show bias, prejudice, or interest." Henry v. State, 574 So.2d 66, 71 (Fla.1991). But the fact that an expert has testified for defendants in cases involving the murder of a police officer is prejudicial and irrelevant in a case, such as the present, where no officer was killed. This line of questioning both denigrated the testimony of Dr. Toomer and raised the specter of "cop-killers" where none was actually present. Further, Campbell's resentencing took place in Miami and each of the four cases mentioned by the prosecutor involved the death of one or more officers in Dade County.

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Bluebook (online)
679 So. 2d 720, 1996 WL 350179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campbell-v-state-fla-1996.