Leasure v. State

105 So. 3d 5, 2012 WL 5233623, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 18491
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided October 24, 2012·No. No. 2D11-1418·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

SILBERMAN, Chief Judge.

Tamra Suzanne Leasure was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to thirty years in prison after she shot and killed Arthur Tilley. Leasure argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion to dismiss the charge pursuant to section 776.032(1), Florida Statutes (2008), which is known as the “Stand Your Ground” law. She alternatively argues that the court erred in denying her motion for judgment of acquittal. We find no error in these rulings and affirm.

I. Facts

A. The Couple Meets at the Peabody Hotel: January 2009

At the time of the crime, Leasure was a forty-three-year-old single mother of a twelve-year-old son and a fourteen-year-old daughter. Leasure ran a home-based business through which she sold promotional products. In early January 2009, Leasure took her son, daughter, and her daughter’s boyfriend to Orlando to attend a trade show. At lunchtime, Leasure took [8] the children to the Peabody Hotel. Leas-ure sat at the bar and engaged in conversation with Tilley, a businessman in his mid-fifties from Maine.

Tilley told Leasure that he had come to town to purchase the Peabody. Leasure and Tilley spent some time talking, and Leasure thought she might be able to do some business with Tilley. Tilley offered to take Leasure and the children sightseeing and shopping for the afternoon. He also offered for them to spend the night in his three-bedroom suite at the Peabody. Leasure agreed.

During the course of the evening, Leas-ure discovered that Tilley was a very heavy drinker. When Leasure asked why he was drinking so much, Tilley simply replied that he was on vacation. At some point during the evening, Tilley gave Leas-ure an Irish wedding ring. When Leasure accepted the ring, Tilley declared that they were engaged. Leasure did not take him seriously.

The next morning, Leasure and Tilley were having breakfast at the hotel restaurant when several police officers arrested Tilley. Leasure did not stay to learn the details of the arrest; she gathered the children together and left the hotel. Tilley contacted Leasure from Maine several days later and explained away the arrest. The pair resumed their relationship via telephone.

B. Tilley Returns to Florida to Visit Leasure: February 2009

Leasure started to have feelings for Til-ley, and he returned to Florida to see her on February 17. Tilley flew into Tampa International Airport, and Leasure met him in the bar of the airport Marriott. Tilley confided that he could not check in at the Marriott because his mother had cancelled his credit cards. Tilley had contracted cirrhosis of the liver from his excessive drinking, and he had promised his mother that he would go to rehab. His mother was upset that he had flown to Florida to see Leasure instead. Leasure invited Tilley to spend the night at her house in Riverview.

Tilley stayed with Leasure on and off for about two weeks. Tilley was able to withdraw cash from the bank, and he alternated his time at the Marriott. Tilley showered Leasure and her friends and family with presents. He declared that he was going to marry Leasure, but Leasure rebuffed his entreaties. Tilley continued to drink excessively, and his demeanor became volatile, changing from kind to cantankerous as the day progressed. The relationship deteriorated. Tilley was scheduled to fly back to Maine on March 6, and Leasure eventually told him that she did not want to see him again after he left.

C. The Relationship Ends with a Shooting: March 4-5, 2009

On March 4, Leasure spent the night at the home of another man. She left her cell phone at her home, and she did not call Tilley all night. Tilley panicked when she did not return home and became convinced she had been arrested or involved in a car accident. He used Leasure’s cell phone to call several hospitals looking for her. At 2:00 a.m., Tilley woke up Leas-ure’s daughter to share his concerns. Leasure did not return home until around 8:00 a.m. the next morning. By that time, Tilley, who had been drinking, was pacing back and forth in the driveway with his packed suitcase in hand. Leasure told Tilley that her car had broken down and she had spent the night in the car.

Leasure’s employee, Jennifer Prochaska, arrived at Leasure’s home to start her workday shortly thereafter. The two spent some time discussing the day’s [9] schedule outside. When they walked inside, Tilley was still upset. He grabbed a plastic bag and some duct tape, put the bag over his head, and said he was going to kill himself because he had no reason to live. Leasure did not take him seriously.

Leasure and Prochaska had a business meeting scheduled at a restaurant in Tampa at noon. On the way there, they dropped Tilley off at a home improvement store. He took a cab back to Leasure’s home, stopping at a liquor store on the way. At the restaurant, Leasure had lunch and a few drinks. During the meeting, which lasted most of the afternoon, Tilley called Leasure on her cell phone over a dozen times.

Leasure and Prochaska returned to Leasure’s home at around 5:00 p.m. Tilley was still upset that Leasure had stayed out the previous night. Prochaska left at about 6:00 p.m. Approximately two hours later, Tilley was shot three times with a revolver in Leasure’s kitchen. He died almost immediately.

D. Leasure Lies to Explain the Shooting: March 5-6, 2009

Leasure called 9-1-1 at 8:16 p.m. She initially told the operator that she shot Tilley in the head after he attacked her. Moments later, she changed her story and said she grabbed the gun from Tilley and it accidently went off. Finally, she asserted that Tilley had shot himself in the head and then pointed the gun at her.

Deputy DeLuna responded to the 9-1-1 call. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Tilley on the floor. Tilley was lying on his right side in a pool of blood. The deputy noticed that a revolver appeared to have been placed in Tilley’s outstretched hand. There were no signs of struggle in the home. The deputy went outside to secure the crime scene. He noticed Leasure sitting on the porch and muttering to herself. She was repeating the version of the shooting that she would relate to the detectives.

Detectives Harris and Garcia arrived and interviewed Leasure in Detective Harris’s car at 10:22 p.m. During the interview, which was recorded, Leasure described the events of that day. She said she and Prochaska had dropped Tilley off at the home improvement store and had gone to a business meeting. She explained that she had come home and taken a nap but was awakened by her cell phone. When Leasure returned the missed call, she learned that Tilley had been calling hospitals looking for her the previous night. But Leasure did not tell the detectives she had spent the night at the home of another man; she said she was delayed for an hour when her car battery died.

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Leasure v. State, 105 So. 3d 5, 2012 WL 5233623, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 18491 (Fla. Ct. App. 2012).

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