Combs v. State

403 So. 2d 418
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 30, 1981
Docket59425
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 403 So. 2d 418 (Combs 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
Combs v. State, 403 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 1981).

Opinion

403 So.2d 418 (1981)

Robert Ike COMBS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 59425.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 30, 1981.
Rehearing Denied October 5, 1981.

*419 Jack O. Johnson, Public Defender, and David A. Davis, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and James S. Purdy, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, Robert Ike Combs, was convicted of murder in the first degree. The trial judge imposed the death sentence in accordance with the jury's advisory sentence recommendation. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. (1980). The appellant has asserted no trial errors in this appeal but contends the sentence of death was improperly imposed. We have reviewed the entire record and find the evidence is clearly sufficient to support the conviction. We further find the imposition of the death sentence for this robbery-execution slaying was appropriate.

The relevant facts presented at trial principally by a surviving victim, Robert Perry, are as follows:

On June 1, 1979, Robert Perry was paid approximately $100 for one week's work, which he placed in an envelope in his pocket. He and a friend, Darrell Sharpe, went to a bar in Bonita Springs to drink beer and shoot pool. About midnight they moved on to a second bar and drank some more beer. Sometime later, appellant Combs approached Perry, who knew Combs slightly, and asked him for a ride home. Perry was not leaving yet, but Combs said he would wait. About that time, Perry's girl friend, Gay Lynn Parks, drove up in her mother's car. After smoking some marijuana, Perry, Parks, and Sharpe decided to leave the bar. Combs came out of the bar as they were leaving and got inside Perry's van with Perry and Sharpe. Parks followed in her car. They drove to Sharpe's house where Sharpe left the group and Parks parked her car and climbed into the van with Perry and Combs.

As the three drove off, they began talking about a party and Combs said he knew where one was. Perry then took Combs to his house and then to a trailer where Combs bought a gram of cocaine for Parks and Perry. After testing the drug, Perry paid Combs $80 for it. Combs then told Perry about a shortcut to the party, and after traveling along some dirt roads, they pulled into a cleared area. The three climbed out of the van and walked into the woods about 30 or 40 yards. Combs, who was in the lead, stopped, turned and pointed a western-type revolver at Parks. Parks became angry, saying, "Oh, goddamn. I should have known better than this. What are you doing?" In response, Combs told them to lie down. They refused, and Parks continued cursing Combs, saying, "I ain't laying down, you motherfucker. What the hell do you think you're doing?" Combs insisted they lie down since they were dead anyway. Eventually, Parks and Perry sat down.

Combs demanded money and the cocaine, and Parks kept cursing him. Perry never did give Combs any money, but Parks took a small purse containing the cocaine from her pants and threw it several feet from Combs, saying, "Here, go find it motherfucker." Combs, angered by this, said he was going to shoot Perry first so Parks could see him die. Parks started to cry, she told Perry she loved him, Perry told Parks he loved her, and then Combs shot Parks in the head. (He eventually fired two other shots into her head. Any of the three could have caused death and either of two of them would have caused instant death.) Perry charged Combs after the first shot into Parks, but he was shot in the head and fell to the ground unconscious. He awakened *420 shortly and felt someone stuffing something into his pocket. (He later found the envelope but without the remaining money.) Perry played dead and in a few minutes heard the person move off into the bushes.

Perry crawled out of the woods to the van but did not attempt to get in. Instead he sat on the ground a few minutes, and soon the van drove away. Perry went to the nearest house and summoned help. The police arrived and, with the assistance of police dogs, Parks' dead body was found. At 7:45 that morning, the van was found about two miles from the murder scene and one-half mile from Combs' house.

Shortly after the van was found, the appellant, Combs, was arrested at his home and taken to the police station, where he was immediately identified by Perry. Combs and Perry knew each other, and there was no issue concerning identity. There was a search made of appellant's room and van. None of the items seized were critical in the conviction, and no motion to suppress was filed by the appellant.

The appellant testified in his own behalf and admitted being with the principal witness, Perry, and the victim, Parks, on the evening of the murder and further testified that they smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine together on that evening. The appellant denied taking Perry and Parks into the woods and committing this murder. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder.

At the sentencing hearing neither party presented additional testimonial evidence in aggravation or mitigation, but each side presented argument based upon the testimony presented in the cause. The jury returned a recommendation of death.

The judge imposed the death penalty, finding that "the murder of GAY LYNN PARKS ... was committed while the defendant was engaged in, or was attempting to engage in, another violent felony, to wit: The robbery of ROBERT PERRY." Further, "the murder of GAY LYNN PARKS ... was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification when according to his plan and design, the defendant lured the victim to her death in a remote, wooded located [sic]." Further, "[t]he capital felony was especially heinous and cruel in that the victim was defenseless, yet the defendant coldly and cruelly taunted the victim about her imminent death and proceeded to execute GAY LYNN PARKS despite her pleas and entreaties." The trial court determined that "the defendant, who is twenty years of age, had no significant history of prior criminal activity although he had previously pled guilty to third degree burglary and had been placed on probation for two years" and that "the defendant, throughout the day prior to the murder, had, by his own account, consumed alcoholic beverages and indulged in cocaine. However, the Court finds that despite indulgence in these substances, the defendant's capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and to conform his conduct with the requirements of law had not been substantially impaired." The trial court concluded that "the aggravating circumstances substantially outweigh the mitigating circumstances and require the imposition of the death penalty."

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403 So. 2d 418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/combs-v-state-fla-1981.