Ferrell v. State

686 So. 2d 1324, 1996 WL 528457
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 19, 1996
Docket83076
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 686 So. 2d 1324 (Ferrell 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
Ferrell v. State, 686 So. 2d 1324, 1996 WL 528457 (Fla. 1996).

Opinion

686 So.2d 1324 (1996)

Ronnie FERRELL, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 83076.

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 19, 1996.
Rehearing Denied December 10, 1996.

*1325 Teresa J. Sopp, Jacksonville, for Appellant.

*1326 Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Curtis M. French, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Ronnie Ferrell appeals his convictions and sentences for armed robbery, armed kidnapping, and first-degree murder, including a sentence of death for the first-degree murder conviction. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed, we affirm Ferrell's convictions and sentence of death.

The record reflects the following facts. Ferrell, Kenneth Hartley and Sylvester Johnson were all convicted of the first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping of seventeen-year-old Gino Mayhew (the victim). They were each tried separately. Hartley was convicted as charged and sentenced to death.[1] Johnson was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The following evidence was presented at Ferrell's trial.

On April 20, 1991, the victim ran into the apartment of Lynwood Smith acting very excited and upset. The victim told Smith that he had just been beaten up and robbed by two men, one of whom looked like Kenneth Hartley and one of whom had his face covered. Later that evening, a witness saw Ferrell and Johnson at a pool room and the witness overheard Ferrell state that he had beat and robbed the victim.

Sidney Jones worked for the victim in the victim's crack cocaine business. He testified to the following information. On April 22, the victim was selling crack from his Chevrolet Blazer at an apartment complex. On that date, Jones saw the three codefendants together near the Blazer. He saw Hartley holding a gun to the victim's head and saw him force the victim into the driver's seat. Hartley climbed into the back seat behind the victim. Ferrell climbed into the front passenger seat. Johnson was outside the Blazer talking to Hartley. After Hartley, Ferrell, and the victim entered the Blazer, Jones saw it leave the apartment complex at a high speed and heard Ferrell shout out of the Blazer that the victim would "be back." Johnson followed soon thereafter in a truck.

Another witness confirmed that the victim, Ferrell, and another individual left the apartment complex together in the victim's Blazer at a high rate of speed.

On April 23, police found the victim's Blazer parked in a field behind an elementary school. The victim's body was found slumped over in the driver's side seat of the Blazer. He had been killed by bullet wounds to the head (he had been shot five times: one shot was fired into his forehead, three shots were fired into the back of his head, and one shot was fired into his shoulder).

Several weeks after the victim was found, Jones told police what he had seen on April 22, and Ferrell, Hartley, and Johnson were arrested for the victim's murder. Ferrell provided police with several conflicting stories as to his whereabouts on the night of the murder, which were rebutted at trial.

While in jail, Ferrell talked to a cellmate about the crime. The cellmate testified as follows. Ferrell told him that Hartley and Johnson had previously robbed the victim and that Ferrell was involved in that robbery; that Johnson and Hartley had been recognized by the victim; and that Ferrell, Hartley, and Johnson conspired to murder the victim to prevent him from retaliating for the robbery. Ferrell told the cellmate that the three of them agreed on a plan to purchase a large amount of crack from the victim to get the victim off by himself. Ferrell was the one who approached the victim about the sale because the victim knew him and had not recognized him in the previous robbery. Ferrell further stated that Hartley entered the Blazer with his gun and told the victim "you know what this is." They took the victim to the isolated field where they robbed him of drugs and money and then *1327 Hartley shot the victim in the head four or five times. Johnson met them at the field in the truck and drove them away from the scene. The cellmate's testimony included details about the crime that had not been released to the public.

Ferrell presented no evidence or witnesses in his defense and was convicted as charged. At the penalty phase proceeding, the State introduced Ferrell's convictions for a 1984 armed robbery and a 1988 riot. A correctional officer testified regarding Ferrell's actions during the 1988 riot. Again, the defense presented no evidence. The jury recommended, by a seven-to-five vote, that the death penalty be imposed.

The trial judge postponed sentencing until Hartley and Johnson were tried and sentenced. Hartley received the death penalty; Johnson received a sentence of life imprisonment. The trial judge sentenced Ferrell to death after finding and giving great weight to five aggravating circumstances (prior violent felonies; committed during the course of a kidnapping; committed for financial gain; heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC), and cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP)). He also found but gave slight weight to the mitigating circumstance that Ferrell was not the actual shooter. Although not considered in aggravation, the trial judge noted that Ferrell was just as culpable as the shooter because he used his friendship with the victim to lure the victim to his death.

The trial judge sentenced Ferrell to consecutive sentences for the other two convictions: thirty years as a habitual felony offender for the robbery conviction and life imprisonment as a habitual felony offender for the kidnapping conviction.

Ferrell raises twelve claims in this appeal, asserting that: (1) the trial judge improperly commented on the biblical origins of the commandment "thou shalt not kill"; (2) the trial judge erred in admitting evidence that Ferrell and Hartley robbed the victim two days before the murder; (3) the trial judge erroneously admitted, as an excited utterance, a statement made by the victim regarding the robbery that occurred two days before the victim was murdered; (4) insufficient evidence exists to support Ferrell's first-degree murder conviction; (5) insufficient evidence exists to support Ferrell's armed robbery conviction; (6) the trial judge erred in sentencing Ferrell as a habitual felony offender; (7) the trial judge erroneously instructed the jury on CCP; (8) the trial judge erred in finding that the murder was CCP; (9) the trial judge erred in finding that the murder was committed for financial gain; (10) the trial judge erred in finding that this murder was HAC; (11) the trial judge improperly doubled the aggravating factors of kidnapping and committed for pecuniary gain; and (12) the trial judge erred in denying Ferrell's request for a special verdict.

Ferrell's first claim involves comments made by the trial judge to prospective jurors. During voir dire, a prospective juror indicated that she was recalling biblical sources to help her with her personal feelings on the death penalty. The trial judge then interjected comments before the prospective jurors regarding the origins of the commandment "thou shalt not kill." Specifically, the trial judge stated:

THE COURT: Let me add one thing here, counsel, every time this comes up we have different opinions about it.
This is not the first time this has come up during the course of a jury selection in a capital case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
686 So. 2d 1324, 1996 WL 528457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ferrell-v-state-fla-1996.