Happ v. State

596 So. 2d 991, 1992 WL 10617
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJanuary 23, 1992
Docket74634
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 596 So. 2d 991 (Happ 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
Happ v. State, 596 So. 2d 991, 1992 WL 10617 (Fla. 1992).

Opinion

596 So.2d 991 (1992)

William Frederick HAPP, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 74634.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 23, 1992.
Rehearing Denied March 9, 1992.

*992 James B. Gibson, Public Defender and Christopher S. Quarles, Asst. Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Barbara C. Davis, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

William Frederick Happ appeals his convictions for first-degree murder, burglary of a conveyance with a battery therein, kidnapping, and sexual battery likely to cause serious personal injury, and his resulting sentences, including the imposition of the death sentence for the first-degree murder. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed, we affirm Happ's convictions and sentences, including the death sentence.

The relevant facts indicate that on May 24, 1986, a fisherman found the partially clad body of a woman on the bank of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal in northwest Citrus County. The woman's shoulders were covered by a tee shirt that was pulled up to her underarms, and a pair of stretch pants were tied tightly around her neck. The medical examiner testified that her face and skull were badly bruised and hemorrhaged, that she had multiple scrapes on her back and right heel, that she had suffered ten to twenty hard blows to the head, and that she had been anally raped before death. The cause of death was found to be strangulation.

The victim had driven from Fort Lauderdale to Yankeetown to visit a friend. Several newspaper carriers claimed to have seen a small car at a Cumberland Farms store in Crystal River at approximately 2:40 a.m. on May 24, and to have heard a woman scream at approximately the same time. The victim's car was found on May 25 at a restaurant on U.S. Highway 19, approximately six-tenths of a mile south of the Cumberland Farms store. The window on the driver's side of the car had been shattered. The glass from the car was consistent with glass found at the Cumberland Farms store and at the canal where the victim's body was found. A shoe print found outside the driver's side of the car was later found to match one of Happ's shoes. Happ's fingerprints were also found on the exterior of the car.

Happ was indicted for first-degree murder, burglary of a conveyance with a battery therein, kidnapping, and sexual battery likely to cause serious personal injury. Happ's first jury trial ended in a mistrial caused by the prosecutor's violation of an order in limine prohibiting the State from revealing Happ's prior record. Before the second trial commenced, Happ filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on double jeopardy grounds. The motion was denied, and his petition to the Fifth District Court of Appeal for a writ of prohibition on this issue was also denied. At the second trial, a friend of Happ's testified that he had seen Happ walking down U.S. Highway 19 toward the barge canal at 11:00 p.m. on May 23, and that he saw Happ the next morning with a swollen right hand. Happ's former girlfriend testified that Happ had told her he broke a car window with his fist. Richard Miller, an inmate housed near Happ at the Citrus County Jail, testified at the first trial that Happ had described how he abducted a woman from a parking lot, took her to the canal, beat her, anally and orally raped her, and eventually strangled her. This testimony was read to the jury at the second trial because Miller refused to testify in that proceeding. The jury found Happ guilty of all charges.

At the penalty phase, the State produced evidence of Happ's prior convictions in California, including an incident of an abduction and armed robbery. The medical examiner testified that a person usually chokes for two minutes before losing consciousness and becomes brain dead after four or five minutes. An adult education teacher at the jail testified that Happ had average intelligence, knew right from wrong, was not mentally deficient, and helped teach math to other inmates. Happ's sister testified concerning Happ's age, poor upbringing, and drug and alcohol use. Happ's aunt testified that, when Happ lived with her, he looked for work *993 and helped her with her ailing husband. The jury in the penalty phase recommended the death penalty by a vote of nine to three.

The trial judge sentenced Happ to death for the murder of the victim and to three consecutive life sentences on the other three counts. The judge found the following four aggravating circumstances: (1) that Happ had prior convictions for violent felonies; (2) that the murder was committed during the commission of sexual battery, kidnapping, and burglary; (3) that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; and (4) that the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated. The trial judge also found three mitigating circumstances, including Happ's age, family history, and educational aid to other inmates. The trial judge concluded that the mitigating circumstances were outweighed by the aggravating circumstances and imposed the death penalty.

Happ raises nine claims in his appeal of the guilt phase of his trial. Specifically, Happ claims that the trial court erred in: (1) denying his motion to dismiss the indictment on double jeopardy grounds; (2) denying his motion to suppress evidence of his statements to the police and the fruits thereof; (3) refusing to answer a question asked by the jury during deliberations; (4) restricting the presentation of evidence that Richard Miller had admitted to lying during his first testimony; (5) failing to find that the State did not express nonracial reasons for striking one of the members of the venire; (6) allowing the reading of Miller's testimony; (7) commenting on the evidence and limiting defense counsel's closing arguments; (8) refusing to allow defense counsel to refer to the key state witness as a "snitch" or "squealer"; and (9) that Happ was denied a fair trial due to the cumulative effect of numerous errors that occurred below. After fully examining this record, we find that claims (3), (4), (7), (8), and (9), are without merit and require no further discussion.

Happ asserts in his first claim that his second trial and conviction were barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause in the United States and Florida Constitutions. This claim arises from the prosecutor's mentioning that Happ had committed an armed robbery during the cross-examination of Happ's aunt in the first trial. Prior to Happ's first trial, and as a result of a defense motion, the trial court had entered an order in limine which provided as follows:

Unless the Defense mentions, refers to or attempts to convey to the jury the following described statements or facts, the State and all witnesses in the case shall not mention, refer to, interrogate concerning or attempt to convey to the jury, in an[y] manner whatsoever, either by testimony, inference, directly or indirectly, [the Defendant's prior criminal conviction record except for proper impeachment purposes] without first obtaining permission of the Court, outside of the presence and hearing of the jury.

During the cross-examination of Happ's aunt by the State, the following colloquy took place:

Q So you knew in January of 1987 Bill had been charged and was being extradited from California for that murder; correct?
A But they were only back there one time after that, and I told them then —
Q That you didn't know.
A — that Bill didn't — couldn't do anything like that.

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Bluebook (online)
596 So. 2d 991, 1992 WL 10617, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/happ-v-state-fla-1992.