Hempstead v. State

980 So. 2d 1254, 2008 WL 1986710
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 9, 2008
Docket2D06-2064
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 980 So. 2d 1254 (Hempstead v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hempstead v. State, 980 So. 2d 1254, 2008 WL 1986710 (Fla. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

980 So.2d 1254 (2008)

Harold HEMPSTEAD, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 2D06-2064.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

May 9, 2008.

*1255 Harold Hempstead, pro se.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Richard M. Fishkin, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

SILBERMAN, Judge.

Harold Hempstead appeals the denial of his motion for postconviction relief after evidentiary hearing on three of the seventy-seven issues he raised in his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We reverse the summary denial of claims 9, 27 (with respect to count 38 of the charged crimes), and 64. The postconviction court must consider the motions for leave to supplement claims 9 and 64 on remand and allow Hempstead a *1256 reasonable time to file a facially sufficient claim on claim 27 with respect to count 38. We reverse the summary denial or dismissal of facially insufficient claims 26, 42, 45-47, 66, 72-74, and 76 and remand for the postconviction court to consider the motions for leave to supplement those claims. Finally, we reverse the denial of claim 77, regarding cumulative error, for the postconviction court to reconsider it after the court has resolved the remaining claims. As to the denial of the balance of the claims, we affirm without discussion.

FACTS

The State charged Hempstead with thirty-three counts of burglary of a dwelling, second-degree felonies; four counts of armed burglary, first-degree felonies; and one count of organized dealing in stolen property, a first-degree felony. The offenses allegedly occurred between September 30, 1998, and March 25, 1999.

A highlight of some of the trial testimony follows. The State presented the testimony of burglary victims and neighbors. The victims, for the most part, testified that their homes had been burglarized and described the property stolen and the property recovered from the police or from pawn shops. Some victims saw a faded, red car near the time of the burglaries, and a few testified that they saw the defendant outside their homes. For example, Mr. Cook (count 14) testified that he saw Hempstead peering in his window two to three weeks before the burglary, and Ms. Wilkins (count 22), identified Hempstead in court as the person she saw in her backyard on the day of her burglary and testified that he drove off in a faded, red car.

Fingerprint evidence linked Hempstead and his accomplice, Kaleb Stockwell, to some of the burglaries. Hempstead's fingerprint was found at the Sheridan residence (count 32) and on stolen property, a coin proof set. Stockwell's fingerprint was found at the Barrett residence (count 13) and the Ghianuly residence (count 17).

Officers located the red car on March 25, 1999, and saw Hempstead and Stockwell getting into the car. When the officers approached, Hempstead and Stockwell fled, but the officers ultimately arrested them. Hempstead directed Detective Schmidt to the Treasure Island Motel where a U-Haul was out front, and Hempstead's wife, Margaret Rich, was sitting outside a motel room in a patio area. When they went into the motel room, Hempstead indicated that a boom box in the room belonged to him. The officers discovered that the boom box was taken on the previous day in the Galambos burglary (count 5). When questioned about some of the recent burglaries, Hempstead stated that he remained outside while Stockwell committed certain of the burglaries.

The police recovered stolen property from Hempstead's Onyx Drive residence, the U-Haul, the motel room, a Citrus County trailer, and the red car. Approximately 100 items were recovered from the Onyx Drive residence. Pawn slips were introduced into evidence showing that Rich, Stockwell, and Wendy Hempstead, Hempstead's sister, pawned property stolen in the burglaries regarding counts 12-14, 16-17, 19-24, 26-28, and 30-33.

Kaleb Stockwell testified that he had committed about twenty burglaries at Hempstead's direction. Hempstead drove him to the burglaries in a red Dodge Shadow or Duster. Stockwell went on a "show and tell" with Detective Herron, and Stockwell pointed out houses he recognized. Stockwell testified to the burglaries in detail and stated that Hempstead went inside the homes during some of the burglaries. Stockwell testified that he was *1257 not involved at all in the burglaries committed in 1998 and that he had no personal knowledge of Hempstead being involved in burglaries in January of 1999. In addition, Stockwell testified that when he went on the "show and tell" with the police, he did not remember one residence, which was the Wilson residence, burglarized on March 23, 1999, and charged in count 9. Detective Herron testified that the first burglary that Stockwell believed he was involved in was the Wallace residence which occurred on March 8, 1999, and was charged in count 20. Stockwell did not testify regarding the earlier burglaries, which occurred from October 29, 1998, through March 2, 1999 (counts 22 through 36). Thus, Stockwell did not testify about the burglaries regarding counts 9 and 22-36.

Stockwell testified that he never kept any property from the burglaries and that Hempstead had given him all of the property that he had pawned. Stockwell saw Hempstead throw two bags of "stuff" underneath a trailer in Citrus County. Stockwell was charged with three burglaries and received a non-incarcerative sentence. He testified that he had no deals with the prosecution for testifying.

Margaret Rich, Hempstead's wife, testified that for all the pawn slips with her signature identified at trial, Hempstead had given her the property to pawn. Hempstead got the money for the property that she pawned. Hempstead rented the house on Onyx Drive. Rich testified that she rented a U-Haul but that it was not her idea to rent it. She testified that Hempstead was the primary user of the red car. She also testified that she did not make the decisions regarding pawning the property or spreading out the pawns. She was on two and one-half years' probation for failure to return a hired vehicle and grand theft auto regarding vehicles involved in this case. She testified that she received no deal or promises for her testimony.

The jury found Hempstead guilty of three counts of armed burglary (counts 4, 5, and 35), thirty-one counts of burglary (one as a lesser-include offense of armed burglary in count 1), one count of trespass (a lesser-included offense of count 15), and one count of organized dealing in stolen property (count 38). He was found not guilty of the burglaries in counts 34 and 37. The judgments and sentences reflect that Hempstead received thirty-year sentences on the armed burglary and organized dealing counts, fifteen-year sentences on the burglary counts, and time served on the trespass. The court ordered some counts to run consecutively and some to run concurrently, for what appears to be a total sentence of 165 years. On direct appeal this court issued a per curiam affirmance. Hempstead v. State, 821 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (table).

Hempstead timely filed a sworn motion for postconviction relief alleging seventy-seven claims. On November 24, 2004, the postconviction court rendered its Order Dismissing in Part, Denying in Part Motion for Postconviction Relief and Order to Show Cause. Hempstead filed motions for leave to supplement many of his claims after the postconviction court entered its original order. On appeal, Hempstead recognizes in his initial brief that his first motions for leave to supplement were filed without the required oath.

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Bluebook (online)
980 So. 2d 1254, 2008 WL 1986710, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hempstead-v-state-fladistctapp-2008.