Long v. State

610 So. 2d 1276, 1992 WL 289675
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedOctober 15, 1992
Docket74017
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 610 So. 2d 1276 (Long 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
Long v. State, 610 So. 2d 1276, 1992 WL 289675 (Fla. 1992).

Opinion

610 So.2d 1276 (1992)

Robert Joe LONG, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 74017.

Supreme Court of Florida.

October 15, 1992.
Rehearing Denied January 27, 1993.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender and Steven L. Bolotin, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Robert J. Landry, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Robert Joe Long appeals his conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. We reverse the conviction *1277 and sentence and remand for a new trial.

Long was indicted for first-degree murder in this case on December 6, 1984. Originally, he was convicted and sentenced to death in April 1985. However, on appeal, we reversed that conviction on the grounds that Long's confession was obtained in violation of his right to counsel under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). See Long v. State, 517 So.2d 664 (Fla. 1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1017, 108 S.Ct. 1754, 100 L.Ed.2d 216 (1988). On remand, an attempt to impanel a jury for his new trial in Pasco County failed and venue was changed to Fort Myers where the new trial, which is the subject of this appeal, was conducted.

At the new trial, the State first introduced evidence to establish the victim's identity. The facts reflect that the remains of Virginia Johnson, the murder victim in this case, were discovered on November 6, 1984, off a dirt road in Pasco County. The body was badly decomposed. There was a piece of cloth tied around the victim's neck and a little bit of dark or grey hair on the skull. Additionally, a shoelace was found around the victim's neck and appeared to have been used as a ligature. A mass of blonde hair and a pair of women's underpants were found near the body. An autopsy was performed and it was determined that the victim had been dead from ten to fifteen days. The medical examiner noted that the shoelace was wrapped twice around the neck and double knotted. A second shoelace was also found at the crime scene near the small bones of one hand. There were two loops tied in this shoelace, each big enough for a human wrist. The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was "homicidal violence, probably garrotment," although she could not absolutely rule out other causes of death. Additionally, she could not tell whether the victim was conscious or unconscious at the time of death.

Although the body had been found on November 6, 1984, testimony reflected that it was not until November 18 that the victim was reported missing. A friend reported that she had been missing for about a month, and evidence established that she had officially last been seen by a Hillsborough County nurse on October 15, 1984. After she was reported missing, her parents were contacted and she was identified through the use of her dental records.

After the victim's identity had been established, the State introduced testimony, over defense counsel's objection, from Lisa McVey, a woman who had been raped by Long. In connection with that rape, Long was convicted of kidnapping and sexual battery. The court instructed the jury that the evidence of these other crimes was to be considered only for the limited purpose of proving Long's motive, plan, and identity.

McVey testified to the following. In November 1984, she was working at a doughnut shop in Tampa. On November 3, she got off work around 2:30 a.m. and began to ride home on her bicycle. Before she got home she was abducted at gunpoint and blindfolded. Her abductor dragged her into the passenger seat of his car, loosely tied her hands, and told her to strip. She did so. Because she was blindfolded, she never saw her abductor. However, from underneath the blindfold, she saw that she was in a maroon car with a white interior that had the word "Magnum" on the dashboard. Judging from sounds, it appeared they were driving on the interstate.

They arrived at an apartment building. She had gotten dressed again and her abductor took her up a flight of stairs. Once inside, he raped her four or five times in rapid succession. She saw and felt a gun and believed he had a knife. Several hours before daybreak, the rapes stopped and her abductor slept most of the following day. He untied her hands and feet before daybreak. However, she did not try to get away because she felt that if she cooperated he might not kill her.

Around three o'clock the next morning, her abductor awakened her, told her it was *1278 time to go, and asked where she lived. On the way, they stopped at an automatic bank teller machine. When they stopped, she could see a Howard Johnson's and a Quality Inn located nearby. Her abductor then dropped her off in a parking lot at the intersection of Hillsborough and Rome. He told her to describe him to the police as an "ugly man with a beard." However, as far as she could see or feel, he appeared to have a pockmarked face, a mustache but no beard, small ears, and brown hair. After he left the area, she walked home and called the police.

The investigating officer stated that the police located the only automatic teller machine in Tampa that was near both a Quality Inn and a Howard Johnson's. The bank had recorded a transaction on its automatic teller machine at 3:49 a.m. on the day the victim was taken to the parking lot. Bank records revealed that the personal identification number used in the automatic teller machine transaction belonged to Long. The officer also testified that a motor vehicle records search indicated that Long owned a Dodge Magnum automobile.

Further testimony reflected that two other detectives received information that a maroon Dodge Magnum automobile was possibly involved in the rape. On November 15, 1984, they saw such a vehicle driven by a man matching the description McVey had provided. The detectives stopped the vehicle and asked the driver for identification. The driver produced a driver's license that identified him as Long. The officers then fabricated a story to see if they could get Long to consent to a search. He declined but did allow them to photograph him and his car. Going to the address Long provided as his residence, the officers found a strip of stores with what appeared to be apartments upstairs. Based on this information, warrants were subsequently obtained for his arrest and for searches of his automobile and apartment. Long was arrested on November 16, 1984, and was interrogated at the police department, where he admitted abducting and raping McVey.

Other testimony revealed that the police impounded Long's car at the time of his arrest. Subsequently, sweepings from his vehicle were evaluated to determine if there was any evidence to connect Long with the murder of Virginia Johnson. A specialist in hair and fiber analysis testified that he found one forcibly removed, bleached-blonde Caucasian hair that was consistent with Johnson's hair. The expert also testified that he found a single "red lustrous nylon carpet fiber" in the mass of blond hair found by Johnson's body and that this carpet fiber matched the carpet found in Long's automobile. However, the expert acknowledged that this was a very common carpet fiber that was manufactured throughout the country.

The State next produced, over defense counsel's objection, a videotaped interview of Long by CBS News as

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Bluebook (online)
610 So. 2d 1276, 1992 WL 289675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-state-fla-1992.