PER CURIAM.
This case is before the Court on appeal from the conviction of Randall T. Deviney for the first-degree murder of Delores Futrell and sentence of death. A jury recommended death by a 10-2 vote. The trial court accepted that recommendation and sentenced him to death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons provided below, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
FACTS
On the evening of August 5, 2008, Officer Sherry Milowicki of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office was on patrol near the townhome of Delores Futrell. At approximately 10:00 p.m., the police dispatcher received an unverified 911 call1 from Fut-rell’s residence. The police dispatched Mi-lowicki and another officer to Futrell’s townhome. The officers, because they did not know who called 911, approached Fut-rell’s townhome quietly without the use of sirens or emergency lights and, upon parking, cautiously approached Futrell’s home on foot. The time of the officers’ arrival was approximately 10:35 p.m.
As the officers approached the front door, they noticed that the interior lights and the television were on. However, when the officers looked in the front window they saw no one and they received no response to a knock on the front door. They entered the premises through an unlocked front door. They found an elderly woman later identified as Futrell lying on the living room floor. The officers observed that the woman was dead and her throat had been cut from ear to ear. The victim was partially naked with her shirt pulled up over her torso, her pants were removed, the crotch of her underwear had been ripped open, and her underwear had been pulled up and over her hips. Fut-rell’s bra had been cut, and the left side of her bra was stained with blood. To Milow-icki, it appeared as though Futrell’s body had been purposely posed in this manner. Milowicki described the pose as “unnatural” because of the odd positioning of Fut-rell’s legs.
Inside the home, the officers also observed bloody blue jeans, probably worn by Futrell, by the back door near an ironing board. A table was in disarray, which was unusual given the orderly appearance of the rest of the townhome’s interior. On the table a cordless phone was off its charger base. Based on the phone’s call log, the police determined that someone had used the phone to call 911 at 10:01 p.m. There was no blood on the cordless phone. The contents of a purse had been emptied onto the couch in the living room, but Futrell’s wallet was found on the ironing board near the back door of the town-home. Someone had removed the credit cards and paper from the wallet and left [61] them on the ironing board. The police found no paper currency in the wallet, but did find fifty-six cents. There were no signs of a struggle inside the home, no signs of forced entry into the home or backyard, and the townhome was not otherwise disturbed.
After additional police units arrived, Mi-lowicki proceeded out the townhome’s back door, through a screened-in patio, and to the backyard. As she walked to the center of the back yard, her flashlight revealed a large pool of blood. In the northwest portion of the backyard, Milowicki observed a Koi fishpond with cornerstones stained with blood. She also located a small section of a knife blade a few feet from the large pool of blood. There was grass and blood on the blade. In addition, a trail of blood led to a chair near the back door, stopping on the chair’s armrest.
Detective Tracey Stapp of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office arrived at the scene around midnight that same evening. In addition to Milowieki’s observations, Stapp found more blood on the side of the Koi pond, along with droplets of blood on the pond’s ledge. Stapp noticed blood on the back door, the screen door of the porch, and the porch chairs, along with aspirated blood2 on the chair and on the chair’s edge. She found grass on Futrell’s shoulders, hands, back, fingers, and arms. There was also blood on the bottom of Futrell’s feet, and there were scrapes on her back near her panty line.
According to Stapp, there was very little blood inside the townhome. Based on Stapp’s observations, she believed that Futrell’s throat had been cut in the general area of the Koi pond and where the large pool of blood was found. It appeared that Futrell lost most of her blood in the backyard, and that she had been dragged inside after her throat was cut outside. Based on the location of the bloodstained blue jeans, Stapp believed that Futrell’s jeans had been removed inside the townhome.
Dr. Jesse C. Giles, M.D., a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on Futrell the day after her death. Futrell was sixty-five inches tall (5'5"), weighed 138 pounds, and was sixty-five years old. Giles determined that the cause of death was hypovolemic shock with asphyxiation due to incised wounds of her neck’s laryngeal transection, i.e., Futrell bled to death due to the large cut across her neck that sliced her larynx, which impeded her ability to breath. Giles opined that the manner of death was a homicide. Based on the nature of Futrell’s wounds, Giles concluded that a struggle occurred before Futrell’s throat was cut.
Giles described Futrell’s neck injury as caused by sharp force, i.e., a slicing of the skin caused by a sharp object, such as a knife. The wound was a deep cut that began on the right side of Futrell’s neck at the bottom of her ear, continued across the front of her neck, and stopped at the left side of her neck. The sharp object sliced completely through her voice box (i.e., larynx), and cut halfway through her esophagus, which is located behind the larynx. The cut also entered her jugular vein, which caused continuous, substantial, and unimpeded blood loss that flowed from the neck. Some of the blood proceeded down the inside of Futrell’s throat, with air continuing to come in and out of the neck wound as she bled to death. Giles stated that an individual is typically unable to speak after the infliction of such an injury.
[62] Giles believed that Futrell was still alive and breathing when someone inflicted the neck wound. The finding of aspirated blood inside Futrell’s neck, internal airway, and left lung supported this conclusion. Giles opined that the cut to the neck — especially the slicing of the jugular vein — was the fatal wound with the blood loss from the wound causing her death in a matter of seconds to minutes after the wound occurred. Giles opined that the cause of death was blood loss and not suffocation from the blood because there was not enough blood in Futrell’s lungs to cause suffocation. The pattern on the skin around the neck wound indicated that the instrument used was a serrated object similar to a steak knife. In Giles’s opinion, this wound was inflicted with a single, firm slice across the neck. Giles was of the view that an individual could survive this type of wound if qualified medical personnel had treated the wound immediately after it occurred.
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PER CURIAM.
This case is before the Court on appeal from the conviction of Randall T. Deviney for the first-degree murder of Delores Futrell and sentence of death. A jury recommended death by a 10-2 vote. The trial court accepted that recommendation and sentenced him to death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons provided below, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
FACTS
On the evening of August 5, 2008, Officer Sherry Milowicki of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office was on patrol near the townhome of Delores Futrell. At approximately 10:00 p.m., the police dispatcher received an unverified 911 call1 from Fut-rell’s residence. The police dispatched Mi-lowicki and another officer to Futrell’s townhome. The officers, because they did not know who called 911, approached Fut-rell’s townhome quietly without the use of sirens or emergency lights and, upon parking, cautiously approached Futrell’s home on foot. The time of the officers’ arrival was approximately 10:35 p.m.
As the officers approached the front door, they noticed that the interior lights and the television were on. However, when the officers looked in the front window they saw no one and they received no response to a knock on the front door. They entered the premises through an unlocked front door. They found an elderly woman later identified as Futrell lying on the living room floor. The officers observed that the woman was dead and her throat had been cut from ear to ear. The victim was partially naked with her shirt pulled up over her torso, her pants were removed, the crotch of her underwear had been ripped open, and her underwear had been pulled up and over her hips. Fut-rell’s bra had been cut, and the left side of her bra was stained with blood. To Milow-icki, it appeared as though Futrell’s body had been purposely posed in this manner. Milowicki described the pose as “unnatural” because of the odd positioning of Fut-rell’s legs.
Inside the home, the officers also observed bloody blue jeans, probably worn by Futrell, by the back door near an ironing board. A table was in disarray, which was unusual given the orderly appearance of the rest of the townhome’s interior. On the table a cordless phone was off its charger base. Based on the phone’s call log, the police determined that someone had used the phone to call 911 at 10:01 p.m. There was no blood on the cordless phone. The contents of a purse had been emptied onto the couch in the living room, but Futrell’s wallet was found on the ironing board near the back door of the town-home. Someone had removed the credit cards and paper from the wallet and left [61] them on the ironing board. The police found no paper currency in the wallet, but did find fifty-six cents. There were no signs of a struggle inside the home, no signs of forced entry into the home or backyard, and the townhome was not otherwise disturbed.
After additional police units arrived, Mi-lowicki proceeded out the townhome’s back door, through a screened-in patio, and to the backyard. As she walked to the center of the back yard, her flashlight revealed a large pool of blood. In the northwest portion of the backyard, Milowicki observed a Koi fishpond with cornerstones stained with blood. She also located a small section of a knife blade a few feet from the large pool of blood. There was grass and blood on the blade. In addition, a trail of blood led to a chair near the back door, stopping on the chair’s armrest.
Detective Tracey Stapp of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office arrived at the scene around midnight that same evening. In addition to Milowieki’s observations, Stapp found more blood on the side of the Koi pond, along with droplets of blood on the pond’s ledge. Stapp noticed blood on the back door, the screen door of the porch, and the porch chairs, along with aspirated blood2 on the chair and on the chair’s edge. She found grass on Futrell’s shoulders, hands, back, fingers, and arms. There was also blood on the bottom of Futrell’s feet, and there were scrapes on her back near her panty line.
According to Stapp, there was very little blood inside the townhome. Based on Stapp’s observations, she believed that Futrell’s throat had been cut in the general area of the Koi pond and where the large pool of blood was found. It appeared that Futrell lost most of her blood in the backyard, and that she had been dragged inside after her throat was cut outside. Based on the location of the bloodstained blue jeans, Stapp believed that Futrell’s jeans had been removed inside the townhome.
Dr. Jesse C. Giles, M.D., a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on Futrell the day after her death. Futrell was sixty-five inches tall (5'5"), weighed 138 pounds, and was sixty-five years old. Giles determined that the cause of death was hypovolemic shock with asphyxiation due to incised wounds of her neck’s laryngeal transection, i.e., Futrell bled to death due to the large cut across her neck that sliced her larynx, which impeded her ability to breath. Giles opined that the manner of death was a homicide. Based on the nature of Futrell’s wounds, Giles concluded that a struggle occurred before Futrell’s throat was cut.
Giles described Futrell’s neck injury as caused by sharp force, i.e., a slicing of the skin caused by a sharp object, such as a knife. The wound was a deep cut that began on the right side of Futrell’s neck at the bottom of her ear, continued across the front of her neck, and stopped at the left side of her neck. The sharp object sliced completely through her voice box (i.e., larynx), and cut halfway through her esophagus, which is located behind the larynx. The cut also entered her jugular vein, which caused continuous, substantial, and unimpeded blood loss that flowed from the neck. Some of the blood proceeded down the inside of Futrell’s throat, with air continuing to come in and out of the neck wound as she bled to death. Giles stated that an individual is typically unable to speak after the infliction of such an injury.
[62] Giles believed that Futrell was still alive and breathing when someone inflicted the neck wound. The finding of aspirated blood inside Futrell’s neck, internal airway, and left lung supported this conclusion. Giles opined that the cut to the neck — especially the slicing of the jugular vein — was the fatal wound with the blood loss from the wound causing her death in a matter of seconds to minutes after the wound occurred. Giles opined that the cause of death was blood loss and not suffocation from the blood because there was not enough blood in Futrell’s lungs to cause suffocation. The pattern on the skin around the neck wound indicated that the instrument used was a serrated object similar to a steak knife. In Giles’s opinion, this wound was inflicted with a single, firm slice across the neck. Giles was of the view that an individual could survive this type of wound if qualified medical personnel had treated the wound immediately after it occurred.
Giles also found blunt force injuries to Futrefl’s neck. Blunt force is the application of force onto the body with a non-sharp object, caused either by the object hitting the body, or the body hitting the object. Giles specifically observed evidence of crushing blunt force upon Fut-rell’s upper neck that fractured the hyoid bone. The fracturing occurred on both sides of the hyoid bone which broke the bone down the middle. In addition to this fracture was the fracture of the cartilage of Futrell’s voice box. This injury was consistent with manual strangulation by a blunt object, like a forearm. According to Giles, the cut to the throat occurred first because the fracture stopped above the cut. She believed that, had the fracture been first, it would have continued above and below the cut, and there would have been more bruising around the neck. She opined that Futrell was strangled either while she was dead or still dying from her neck wound.
In addition to the neck injuries, Futrell also had injuries to other parts of her body caused by blunt and sharp forces. These injuries included abrasions and contusions around her left eye, scrapes and linear scrape abrasions on the left side of her nose area around her lips, and abrasions on the left corner of her mouth with bruising and small tears to her lip. She had abrasions with a yellowish tint on the right side of her face and corner of her mouth. The tint indicated that the injury occurred after Futrell had lost a large amount of blood because the yellow color indicated that not much blood remained in her body when the injury occurred. The bruises on Futrell also included six small bruises on her arms and hands. Giles opined that these were defensive wounds. Giles also described other minor injuries and small cuts on Futrell’s chest, shoulders, arms, and forearms. Giles opined that the injuries were from Futrell being dragged, or, more likely, from the impact of a struggle. Giles also did not rule out the possibility that some of Futrell’s minor injuries may have been caused by the removal of her clothing.
The police used a sexual battery kit to test Futrell’s vaginal, anal, chest, and mouth areas for evidence of a sexual battery. In those areas, the police found no semen or DNA foreign to Futrell, and there was no evidence of trauma to Fut-rell’s sexual organs. There were also no injuries to the breast, anal, or genital area indicative of a sexual assault. Giles believed the evidence established that an actual sexual battery did not occur. However, Giles stated that the absence of such injuries does not negate a possible attempted sexual battery, and she could not definitively conclude that an attempted sexual battery did not take place. The [63] police also did not find foreign DNA in Futrell’s townhome or on any objects therein, including the cordless phone, wallet, purse, or blue jeans.
The police also swabbed Futrell’s fingernails for foreign DNA. The police found no DNA foreign to Futrell on her left hand fingernails. However, the police obtained a mixture of DNA, which contained the DNA of one male and one female from the nails of her right hand. The police identified the female DNA as belonging to Fut-rell. Jennifer Miller, a DNA analyst for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, placed the male DNA into the national database comprised of DNA profiles from violent crimes, known as the CODIS system. The CODIS system identified the DNA found under Futrell’s fingernails as belonging to Randall T. Deviney, a nineteen-year-old male and the defendant in this matter.3 Miller also determined that the probability of a person other than De-viney having a DNA profile that matched the DNA located under Futrell’s right fingernails was one in 2.5 million for Caucasians, one in 6.3 million for African Americans, and one in 9.7 million for Hispanics.
Miller sent her results to Detective Craig Waldrup of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office, the lead homicide detective in this case. Waldrup used the DNA evidence to obtain a search warrant authorizing him to take a sample of Deviney’s DNA. Waldrup arranged to have Deviney brought to the police station for an interview by Detective James Ottinger, who was part of the homicide team involved in the Futrell investigation.
Ottinger located Deviney and identified himself and his partner as police officers. They advised Deviney they were investigating the murder of Futrell and asked if he would come to the police station with them to discuss Futrell’s murder. Devi-ney consented.
Deviney was transported to the police station in Ottinger’s car. The officers did not handcuff Deviney, who sat in the front passenger seat next to Ottinger, and the officers did not question him about Fut-rell’s murder. Ottinger’s partner sat in the back seat behind Deviney. According to Ottinger, Deviney was not in custody at this time.
Upon arriving at the police station, the officers directed Deviney to an interview room. He walked with the detectives and was not placed in any type of restraints. When he entered the interview room, the police informed him that he was not in custody, he was not under arrest, the door was unlocked, and he could leave at any time. He specifically asked the detectives if he was free to leave and the detectives told him that he could. The police video-recorded the interview and provided the trial court with a DVD of that interview.
At the beginning of the interview, Waldrup and Ottinger cordially introduced themselves to Deviney. They reiterated to Deviney he was not under arrest, and he replied he understood, and he knew “you all just want me to help you all.” Deviney acknowledged that he understood that he was there voluntarily, that the door to the interview room was unlocked, and he could leave at any time. After Deviney stated that he understood he was free to leave, the detectives administered Miranda