Rodgers v. State

113 So. 3d 761, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 305, 2013 WL 1908640, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 952
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 9, 2013
DocketNo. SC11-2259
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 113 So. 3d 761 (Rodgers 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
Rodgers v. State, 113 So. 3d 761, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 305, 2013 WL 1908640, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 952 (Fla. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Theodore Rodgers, Jr., appeals an order of the circuit court denying his motion to vacate his conviction of first-degree murder and his sentence of death filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the circuit court’s order.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2003, Theodore Rodgers, Jr., was convicted of the 2001 first-degree murder of his wife, Teresa Henderson. On direct appeal, this Court set out the facts of the crime:

Theodore Rodgers, then sixty years old, was self-employed in Orlando, installing lawn irrigation systems and doing other plumbing work. On the morning of February 14, 2001, he took his stepson to a .court appearance and then went to work on a plumbing job at a customer’s (the Jacksons) home. After determining that he needed more supplies, Rodgers drove to the daycare business that his wife Teresa operated and where he stored some materials. As he walked down the interior hallway, his wife’s ex-husband ran past him, wearing only a pair of pants and carrying his shirt and [765]*765shoes. Rodgers confronted his wife, saying that he was leaving her. Then he loaded his supplies and returned to his earlier job.
Later, Rodgers drove to Kissimmee, where he met his longtime friend and occasional business partner James Cor-bett. Together they estimated a job for a potential client. Rodgers acted normally and did not mention the morning’s incident to Corbett. Afterwards, Rodgers drove to his mechanic’s shop to discuss a problem with his work truck, and then called Verna Fudge, another longtime friend and former girlfriend. He wanted to talk to her about finding a place to stay, but she was working and told him to call later. Rodgers again returned to his customer’s home to complete the job. The Jacksons, who had known Rodgers for many years, testified that he did not seem upset and was “just the same Ted [they had] always known.”
Rodgers went home and talked to Corbett on the phone about a job. Later, Rodgers called Corbett and said that he was going to kill his wife because he was “tired of her doing what she’s doing”; he was “fixing to take care of this problem.” Rodgers drove to the daycare. Three young children present there witnessed what happened next. Teresa unlocked the door and admitted Rodgers. They argued and Rodgers slapped and kicked her and knocked her down. Then he walked into a back room of the daycare. Teresa tried to open the front door while talking on the telephone. Rodgers returned "with a gun, fired several shots at her, and left.
Meanwhile, Tashunda Lindsey, the victim’s daughter, was returning to the daycare after running an errand when she called her mother during the argument. Teresa screamed for help, and as Lindsey approached the daycare, she heard gunshots and saw Rodgers walk to his truck and drive away. She found her mother dying in the doorway of the center.
Rodgers drove to a pool hall, where he encountered two friends — Wendy Hammock and Cleveland Reed — sitting in a car. Rodgers told them, “I just shot my wife,” and asked to borrow Hammock’s cell phone. He dialed a number and said, “James [Corbett], man, I did it. I killed Teresa. It’s been nice knowing you. Thank you for everything you did. But I got to go.” He told Hammock and Reed that he killed Teresa because he caught her with another man. He added that he had to kill himself because he could not go to jail. Walking a short distance away, Rodgers shot himself in the head.
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Rodgers testified that he killed his wife accidentally in self-defense. According to appellant, after he finished the job for the Jacksons, he went home and discussed business with Corbett on the phone, but did not threaten to kill his wife. Rodgers then received a call from a woman in Rosemont requesting a job estimate. While he was en route to Rosemont, his wife called twice on his cell phone, but he refused her requests to go to the daycare to talk. On an impulse, however, he decided that he would go but did not tell her.
When he arrived, his wife was lying on a chair, and'he saw that the children were in an adjoining room. He and his wife were talking, not arguing, when his wife walked toward him saying, “You all about to run me crazy.” She then fired a gun at him. He reached for the gun, and during their struggle over it, the gun fired several times. Realizing Teresa had been shot, Rodgers took the gun and left because he was “scared and upset.” He was not injured in the struggle. Rodgers denied telling Cor-[766]*766bett, Hammock, or Reed that he killed Teresa, saying that he told them she was shot when they struggled over a gun.

Rodgers v. State, 948 So.2d 655, 659-61 (Fla.2006).

During the penalty phase, the State presented Rodgers’ 1963 conviction for robbery and his 1979 conviction for manslaughter of his live-in girlfriend, two witnesses who testified to the circumstances of the latter conviction, and Dr. Greg Prichard, a clinical psychologist, who concluded that Rodgers was not mentally retarded. The defense called several lay witnesses and Dr. Eric Mings, a psychologist, who described Rodgers’ difficult youth, inadequate education, and adult life. Dr. Mings testified that Rodgers had an IQ of 69 and was mentally retarded. Id. at 661. In addition, the trial court held a combined mental retardation and Spencer v. State, 615 So.2d 688 (Fla.1993), hearing. Dr. Mings again testified that Rodgers was mentally retarded, and two independent experts testified that Rodgers was not mentally retarded. Rodgers, 948 So.2d at 661.

The jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of eight to four. The trial court concluded that Rodgers was not mentally retarded and followed the jury’s recommendation. The trial court found the aggravating factor of a prior violent felony— based on the robbery and manslaughter convictions — the statutory mitigating factor of other factors in the defendant’s background — based on Rodgers’ impoverished upbringing — and several nonstatuto-ry mitigating factors, such as Rodgers’ borderline intelligence, his fatherless childhood, his lack of access to education, his generosity and kindness to others, and the love and support of his family. The trial court concluded that the aggravating factor was entitled to “extremely great weight” and outweighed the mitigating factors.

Rodgers raised seven issues on direct appeal. He asserted that the trial court erred: (1) by excusing a potential juror for cause; (2) by admitting hearsay testimony during the penalty phase; (3) by admitting Rodgers’ IQ scores from the Department of Corrections’ records; (4) in determining that Rodgers is not mentally retarded; (5) in finding the mitigating circumstances, weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and determining proportionality; (6) in denying Rodgers’ motion for disqualification; and (7) in failing to find Florida’s death penalty scheme unconstitutional. Rodgers, 948 So.2d at 662. This Court determined that the trial court erred in admitting certain hearsay testimony during the penalty phase, but the majority concluded that the error was harmless. Accordingly, this Court affirmed Rodgers’ conviction and sentence. Id. at 662-74.

In June 2009, Rodgers filed a motion for postconviction relief, raising seven claims.

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Bluebook (online)
113 So. 3d 761, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 305, 2013 WL 1908640, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodgers-v-state-fla-2013.