Correll v. State

523 So. 2d 562, 1988 WL 33735
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJanuary 14, 1988
Docket68393
StatusPublished
Cited by104 cases

This text of 523 So. 2d 562 (Correll 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
Correll v. State, 523 So. 2d 562, 1988 WL 33735 (Fla. 1988).

Opinion

523 So.2d 562 (1988)

Jerry William CORRELL, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 68393.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 14, 1988.
Rehearing Denied April 13, 1988.

*563 James R. Valerino, Orlando, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Richard B. Martell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

*564 PER CURIAM.

Jerry William Correll appeals his four death sentences imposed for the first-degree murders of his ex-wife, Susan Correll, her sister, Marybeth Jones, their mother, Mary Lou Hines, and the Corrells' five-year-old daughter, Tuesday. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution.

On the morning of July 1, 1985, the bodies of the four victims were discovered in Mrs. Hines's home in Orlando. All had been repeatedly stabbed and died from massive hemorrhages; the three older victims had defensive type wounds on their hands. A sheriff's department investigator was called to the crime scene and approximately an hour and a half after his arrival encountered Jerry Correll there. Correll was asked for a statement and subsequently went to the sheriff's department where he gave first an oral and then a tape recorded statement. In his statement, Correll indicated that on the night of the murders he had been drinking and smoking marijuana with a woman, who later drove with him to Kissimmee. While at the sheriff's department, Correll consented to having his fingerprints taken and having pictures of the scratches, cuts and bruises on his hands and forearms taken. The next day, Correll was again interviewed and subsequently arrested. After being advised of and waiving his Miranda rights, Correll gave another statement after his arrest. Several bloody fingerprints and palm prints found at the murder scene were later matched to Correll's. Evidence that he had previously threatened to kill his ex-wife was also admitted. In addition, he could not be ruled out as the person whose bloodstains were found at the scene and whose sperm was found in Susan Correll's vagina.

The jury convicted Correll of four first-degree murders and recommended the death penalty with respect to each of them. The trial court found the following aggravating factors: Correll had been previously convicted of another capital offense; the murder of Susan Correll was heinous, atrocious and cruel and was committed during a sexual battery; the murder of Marybeth Jones was committed during a robbery and for the purpose of avoiding arrest; the murder of Tuesday Correll was heinous, atrocious and cruel, committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner and was for the purpose of avoiding arrest; and the murder of Mary Lou Hines was heinous, atrocious and cruel. Finding no mitigating factors, the trial court sentenced Correll to death for all four murders.

Correll raises sixteen issues in this appeal, only six of which require discussion.[*] The first issue concerns the statements he made to police on July 1, 1985, prior to his arrest the following day. Correll contends that these statements should have been suppressed because he was not apprised of his Miranda rights before he gave the statements. Under the dictates of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), a suspect involved in a custodial interrogation by law enforcement officials is entitled to the procedural safeguard of the Miranda warning, the key being that the suspect must be in custody. The ultimate inquiry in determining whether a suspect is in custody is "whether there is a `formal arrest or restraint *565 on freedom of movement' of the degree associated with a formal arrest." California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1125, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 3520, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983) (quoting Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 714, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977)).

The record indicates that a sheriff's department investigator asked Correll to go to the sheriff's office so that elimination fingerprints could be taken. Correll agreed to this and was taken to the sheriff's office by his brother and sister-in-law. After his arrival, a detective interviewed Correll for approximately half an hour to one hour because he was a family member of the victims and had information which might have been useful in solving the crime. Correll was not under arrest and was free to leave the station at anytime. He never objected to any of the questions and did not refuse to talk. When the interview was over, Correll left the station the same way he arrived, with his brother and sister-in-law. Therefore, we conclude that Correll was not in custody for the purposes of Miranda and the police were not required to advise him of his constitutional rights. See Roman v. State, 475 So.2d 1228 (Fla. 1985) (no requirement for Miranda warnings where suspect voluntarily accompanied investigators to the station house, was not handcuffed and was interrogated approximately three and one half hours prior to his confession), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1090, 106 S.Ct. 1480, 89 L.Ed.2d 734 (1986).

The next issue for consideration relates to the admissibility of certain statements made by a witness concerning Susan Correll's fear of Jerry Correll prior to the murders. During Donna Valentine's testimony, the following colloquy occurred:

[STATE]: All right. Now, during this period of time, did she display or exhibit fear of the Defendant?
[VALENTINE]: Yes, she had.
[DEFENSE]: Your Honor, I'm going to object to this once again. This is basically hearsay testimony and doesn't go to any question of whether or not Jerry Correll committed these particular acts.
This is merely a characterization on part of the witness, and I don't think that this is the kind of thing that is anything more than hearsay testimony and opinion testimony on her part.
[STATE]: I asked her to describe what she saw exhibited, not anything that she might have said to her.
[DEFENSE]: That was not the way the question was phrased.
[THE COURT]: With that understanding, the question is: Did she in fact at any time display any fear to you?
[DEFENSE]: Once again, Your Honor, I think that is something that is hearsay and an opinion, and she can say exactly what she did provided it's not merely hearsay.

Whereupon, the court overruled the objection and the following then occurred:

[STATE]: The question was, did Susan Correll display or exhibit fear of the Defendant?
[VALENTINE]: Was she afraid of Jerry?
[STATE]: Did she display anything that appeared to you as fear of the Defendant?
[VALENTINE]: Yes, in language.

Susan Correll's statements, as related by Valentine, were hearsay. In the absence of an applicable exception, hearsay evidence is inadmissible. § 90.801, Fla. Stat. (1985). It is well settled that the state-of-mind exception to the hearsay rule allows the admission of extra-judicial statements only if the declarant's state of mind is at issue in a particular case or to prove or explain the declarant's subsequent conduct. § 90.803(3)(a), Fla. Stat. (1985).

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

Related

Carter v. State
226 So. 3d 268 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
Correll v. State
184 So. 3d 478 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2015)
Keyne v. State
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2014
Kyne v. State
141 So. 3d 759 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2014)
Correll v. Secretary, Department of Corrections
932 F. Supp. 2d 1257 (M.D. Florida, 2013)
Ballard v. McNeil
785 F. Supp. 2d 1299 (N.D. Florida, 2011)
Rutledge v. State
1 So. 3d 1122 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Porter v. Attorney General
593 F.3d 1275 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
Pelto v. State
949 So. 2d 241 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2007)
State v. Hackett
944 So. 2d 399 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Buzia v. State
926 So. 2d 1203 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2006)
Tolbert v. State
922 So. 2d 1013 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Fitzpatrick v. State
900 So. 2d 495 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2005)
Solorzano v. State
835 So. 2d 374 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2003)
Murray v. State
838 So. 2d 1073 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2002)
Stevens v. State
782 So. 2d 550 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)
Hunter v. State
779 So. 2d 531 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2000)
Hodges v. State
740 So. 2d 1204 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1999)
Morrell v. State
779 So. 2d 304 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1999)
Wike v. State
698 So. 2d 817 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
523 So. 2d 562, 1988 WL 33735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/correll-v-state-fla-1988.