Derrick v. State

581 So. 2d 31, 1991 WL 118062
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMarch 21, 1991
Docket73076
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 581 So. 2d 31 (Derrick 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
Derrick v. State, 581 So. 2d 31, 1991 WL 118062 (Fla. 1991).

Opinion

581 So.2d 31 (1991)

Samuel Jason DERRICK, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 73076.

Supreme Court of Florida.

March 21, 1991.
Rehearing Denied June 27, 1991.

*32 James Marion Moorman, Public Defender and Robert F. Moeller, Asst. Public Defender, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Bartow, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Stephen A. Baker, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Samuel Jason Derrick appeals his conviction for first-degree murder and sentence *33 of death for the murder of Rama Sharma. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution.

On June 25, 1987, at 6:30 a.m., Harry Lee found the body of Rama Sharma in a path in the woods near Sharma's Moon Lake General Store in Pasco County. Blood trailed from the body to a blood puddle twenty feet away. The police found a piece of a tee shirt near the body as well as two sets of tennis shoe prints, one set belonging to Harry Lee. The medical examiner found that Sharma had died from over thirty-one stab wounds and that he had died approximately ten to fifteen minutes after the last wound was inflicted.

Derrick was implicated in the murder by his friend, David Lowry. At trial Lowry testified that he and his wife visited Derrick on June 24 at Derrick's mother's house and that Derrick had knives out. Lowry drove Derrick to another friend's house, at which time Lowry noticed that Derrick had a knife in the back of his pants. At the time, Derrick was wearing a tee shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. The friend's house was about two blocks from Sharma's store. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on June 25, Derrick showed up at Lowry's house in a sweaty condition and without a shirt. When Lowry drove Derrick home, Derrick told him that he had robbed the Moon Lake General Store. Derrick gave Lowry twenty dollars for gas. Later that day, after Lowry heard that Sharma had been killed, he asked Derrick whether he had killed him. Derrick admitted killing Sharma, stating that he had stabbed him thirteen times because Sharma kept screaming. Lowry testified that Derrick "kind of laughed and said it was easy." Lowry also noted that on June 25 Derrick had a new car that was worth approximately $200-$300. On June 29, Lowry notified the sheriff's department about Derrick's involvement in the murder.

After being arrested and advised of his rights, Derrick denied any knowledge of the murder to Detective Vaughn. Vaughn then advised Derrick that they had a witness, David Lowry. After denying that Lowry had told them anything, Derrick demanded, "I'd like to have him in front of me. Let him tell me." Vaughn then brought Lowry and Derrick into the same room and Derrick confessed to the murder. He stated that he went to Sharma's store to rob it and jumped Sharma as he left the store. Sharma turned to run back to the store. When Derrick grabbed him, Sharma turned around and saw that it was Derrick. Sharma started screaming and Derrick stabbed him "to shut him up." Derrick then took approximately $360 from Sharma's pocket. Derrick also admitted that he tore off a piece of his tee shirt at the scene because it had blood on it. After the murder, Derrick threw the knife into the woods and ran to Lowry's house. Derrick also stated that he lost the money and that he threw his shoes and some clothing into a pond. The police took Derrick to the Moon Lake General Store, and he showed them where he had attacked and murdered Sharma. The police never located the clothing, shoes, or knife.

At trial, several officers testified to Derrick's confession. They noted that after his initial confession his wife had been brought into the room. He had sobbed to her that he did not know why he killed Sharma and that he could not believe that he stabbed him over thirty times. He also had said that an aunt had always said that he was an "animal" and that she was right.

After the defense had presented two witnesses, they announced that they were calling Derrick to testify. At this point, the prosecutor announced that if Derrick testified that he had not committed the murder, he planned to call in rebuttal an inmate named Randall James. The prosecutor said that, after the first defense witness began to testify, he had received a note informing him that Detective Vaughn had just been told by James that Derrick told James that he had killed Sharma and that he would kill again. The prosecutor offered to make James available for a deposition.

Derrick's attorneys, who were public defenders, requested a recess to determine what to do because their office also represented *34 James[1] and they were therefore concerned about the implications of cross-examining James. The prosecutor indicated that it was his understanding that James was willing to waive the attorney-client privilege. After the recess, the judge removed the public defender's office from representing James in an effort to alleviate the conflict. Continuing to express concern over the dual representation,[2] Derrick's attorneys made a motion for mistrial which was denied. They then decided to rest without calling Derrick as a witness. The jury found Derrick guilty. Derrick's attorneys took James's deposition while the jury was deliberating.

At the penalty phase, the state again indicated it would call James as a witness. The defense objected both to the relevance of his testimony and to the limited amount of time they had had to conduct discovery concerning matters with which they might impeach James. The court denied the objection. As the first witness in the penalty phase, James testified that Derrick told him, "I killed the m____ f____, and I'll do it again." The court denied a motion for mistrial predicated upon James's testimony.

Derrick then presented several witnesses to testify that he was a good husband, father, and person and that he had suffered some physical and sexual abuse as a child. The jury recommended the death penalty by an eight-to-four vote. The judge imposed the death penalty, finding in aggravation that: 1) the murder was committed in the course of a robbery; 2) the murder was committed to avoid arrest; 3) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; and 4) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner.[3] In mitigation the judge found that Derrick was only twenty years old at the time of the murder. He found no other mitigation.

Derrick's first claim on this appeal is that the trial judge violated the principle of Richardson v. State, 246 So.2d 771 (Fla. 1971), when the prosecutor announced that James might testify during the guilt phase. Richardson requires that, when a discovery violation occurs, the trial judge must inquire into the circumstances of the discovery violation and its possible prejudice to the defendant. Smith v. State, 500 So.2d 125 (Fla. 1986). Derrick claims that the court did not make an adequate Richardson inquiry into the circumstances of the asserted discovery violation and the potential prejudice to Derrick. We reject this claim.

Under the facts of this particular case, we find no Richardson violation. First, we note that Derrick's attorneys specifically stated that they were not alleging a discovery violation; rather, they only claimed that because the state became aware of the witness so late that Derrick was prejudiced and a mistrial was the only adequate remedy.

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Bluebook (online)
581 So. 2d 31, 1991 WL 118062, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/derrick-v-state-fla-1991.