Jackson v. State

767 So. 2d 1156, 2000 WL 92119
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJanuary 27, 2000
DocketSC93925
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 767 So. 2d 1156 (Jackson 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
Jackson v. State, 767 So. 2d 1156, 2000 WL 92119 (Fla. 2000).

Opinion

767 So.2d 1156 (2000)

Andrea Hicks JACKSON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC93925.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 27, 2000.
Rehearing Denied March 20, 2000.

*1157 Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and W.C. McLain, Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Carolyn M. Snurkowski, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the judgment and sentence of the trial court imposing a sentence of death upon Andrea Hicks Jackson. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we reverse.

Jackson was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1983 first-degree murder of *1158 Jacksonville police officer Gary Bevell. The facts of this case are set forth in detail in Jackson v. State, 498 So.2d 406 (Fla. 1986). The procedural history as set forth in Jackson v. State, 704 So.2d 500 (Fla. 1997) (Jackson IV), is as follows:

On direct appeal, this Court affirmed [Jackson's] conviction and sentence. Jackson v. State, 498 So.2d 406 (Fla. 1986) (Jackson I). In 1989, the Governor signed a death warrant, and Jackson filed a 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. The trial court denied the motion. Jackson appealed the denial and petitioned this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We affirmed the trial court's denial of Jackson's 3.850 motion, but granted her petition for habeas corpus because we concluded that the trial court had erroneously admitted victim impact evidence in violation of Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S.Ct. 2529, 96 L.Ed.2d 440 (1987). Jackson v. Dugger, 547 So.2d 1197, 1198 (Fla.1989) (Jackson II). We vacated Jackson's death sentence and remanded for a new sentencing hearing before a new jury. Jackson II, 547 So.2d at 1201. The trial court again sentenced Jackson to death, and on appeal, this Court vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new sentencing hearing. Jackson v. State, 648 So.2d 85, 92 (Fla.1994) (Jackson III). The Court vacated the sentence a second time because the standard jury instruction given to the jury on the cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravating factor was unconstitutionally vague, and we could not say beyond a reasonable doubt that the invalid instruction did not affect the jury's recommendation. Jackson III, 648 So.2d at 90. On remand, the trial court again sentenced Jackson to death....

Jackson IV, 704 So.2d at 501-02 (citations and footnotes omitted).

In Jackson IV, this Court again vacated the death sentence after finding that the trial court failed to expressly evaluate each mitigating factor as mandated by Campbell v. State, 571 So.2d 415 (Fla.1990).[1]See Jackson IV, 704 So.2d at 506-507. In remanding to the trial court for a reweighing and resentencing in accord with Campbell, we explained that:

Contrary to the dictates of Campbell, the trial court's order in this case summarily disposes of the statutory and nonstatutory mitigators. With regard to the statutory mitigators, the sentencing order does not even refer to the testimony of the three experts who all opined that these mitigators existed. Nor does it refer to any evidence to the contrary. Instead, the order indicates without explanation that the trial court found all the testimony offered in support of the statutory mitigators noncredible. We have recognized that a trial court may reject expert opinion testimony even if that testimony is unrefuted. However, a more thorough explanation as to why the court rejected the expert testimony is necessary here where three experts, including an expert who often testifies for the State, found these mitigators to exist.
The sentencing order also fails to adequately address the nonstatutory mitigating circumstances. The order merely lists the nonstatutory mitigators before rejecting them. The order should address the relevant testimony and explain why the experts' testimony, in conjunction with the testimony of Jackson's family and friends, does not support the nonstatutory mitigators the court rejects. Additionally, because the court rejects the statutory mental mitigators, the order should explain why the evidence offered by the experts does not amount to nonstatutory mental mitigation.
*1159 To ensure meaningful review in capital cases, trial courts must provide this Court with a thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the mitigating evidence in the record. Because the instant sentencing order does not meet that requirement, we remand to the trial court for a reweighing and resentencing to be conducted within 120 days. We direct the trial court to reweigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and if the trial court again determines that death is the appropriate penalty, the court must prepare a sentencing order that expressly discusses and weighs the evidence offered in mitigation in accord with Campbell, Ferrell,[[2]] and their progeny. Because we remand for a new sentencing order we do not address proportionality.

Id. (citations and footnotes omitted).

On remand, the trial court accepted sentencing memoranda from both parties but did not otherwise hold a sentencing hearing. Although counsel did not request the opportunity to present argument, Jackson herself filed a pro se motion requesting to be transported to the court for the hearing. The trial court entered an order denying the motion, stating:

The Supreme Court of Florida reversed the defendant's death sentence and remanded the case back to this Court for the sole purpose of entering a new written sentencing order, setting forth this Court's evaluation of each of the sentencing mitigators pursuant to the court's decision in Campbell v. State, 571 So.2d 415 (Fla.1990). No additional hearings will be held and this Court will not be entertaining any new evidence beyond that which is already in evidence. Accordingly, the defendant's presence is neither necessary nor required. Sinks v. State, 661 So.2d 303 (Fla.1995).

The trial court thereafter entered the sentencing order under review in the absence of both Jackson and her counsel.

After the trial court entered the sentencing order, this Court issued its decision in Reese v. State, 728 So.2d 727 (Fla. 1999). In Reese, this Court held that when a trial court receives a case that was remanded based upon a Campbell error "the court is to conduct a new hearing, giving both parties an opportunity to present argument and submit sentencing memoranda before determining an appropriate sentence. No new evidence shall be introduced at the hearing." Id. at 728.

In Reese, "[t]his Court accept[ed] responsibility for any confusion" in cases involving Campbell errors because "[w]e have been less than specific in outlining the exact procedure to be followed in a Campbell error case like this." Id. In the present case, therefore, although we vacate the sentence and remand for a new sentencing procedure, we do not fault the trial judge.

Fundamental fairness, however, requires that at a minimum Jackson have a right to be present at her resentencing. A reweighing under Campbell

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Bluebook (online)
767 So. 2d 1156, 2000 WL 92119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-state-fla-2000.