& SC16-124 David Beasher Snelgrove v. State of Florida and David Beasher Snelgrove v. Julie L. Jones, etc.

217 So. 3d 992
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 11, 2017
DocketSC15-1659; SC16-124
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 217 So. 3d 992 (& SC16-124 David Beasher Snelgrove v. State of Florida and David Beasher Snelgrove v. Julie L. Jones, etc.) 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
& SC16-124 David Beasher Snelgrove v. State of Florida and David Beasher Snelgrove v. Julie L. Jones, etc., 217 So. 3d 992 (Fla. 2017).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

David Beasher Snelgrove appeals an order of the circuit court denying his post-conviction motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 and simultaneously petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm the denial of the postconviction motion and deny the petition for writ of habeas corpus, but- vacate the two death sentences and order that Snelgrove receive a new penalty phase proceeding based on the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, — U.S. —, 136 S.Ct. 616, 193 L.Ed.2d 504 (2016), and this Court’s decision in Hurst v. State, 202 So.3d 40 (Fla. 2016), petition for cert. filed, No. 16-998 (U.S. Feb. 13, 2017).

I. BACKGROUND

Following a jury trial in May 2002, Snel-grove was convicted and sentenced to death for the June 2000 murders of Glyn and Vivian Fowler. In Snelgrove’s initial direct appeal, this Court described the case as follows:

On Sunday, June 25, 2000, Glyn and Vivian Fowler were found dead in their home. The elderly couple had been brutally beaten and stabbed to death, as evidenced by multiple fractures and stab wounds spread throughout their bodies. Ultimately, Vivian died from a stab wound to the heart, and Glyn died of a brain injury caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
Evidence at the crime scene and in the surrounding area linked David Snel-grove, the twenty-seven-year-old nephew of one of the Fowlers’ neighbors, to the murder. Snelgrove had recently moved in with his aunt and his cousin, Jeff McCrae, after being expelled from a drug rehabilitation program. Blood droplets matching Snelgrove’s DNA were found throughout the house, as were bloody fingerprints and footprints matching Snelgrove’s. A trained bloodhound followed a scent from the blood on the Fowlers’ broken window to Snel-grove, and the police recovered a knife in the woods next to the Snelgrove home .with blood matching Snelgrove’s.DNA.
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Defense counsel ... offered a defense to the State’s .case. It admitted to the burglary, but denied the murders. Specifically, the defense claimed that Snel-grove did, indeed, enter the Fowlers’ home through the broken window, but only after the Fowlers had been killed by someone else. In the process of coming through the window, Snelgrove cut his hand....
The jury ... found Snelgrove guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of robbery with a deadly weapon, and one count of burglary of a dwelling with battery. On the two counts of first-degree murder, the jury found Snelgrove guilty of both premeditated and felony murder. In the penalty phase, the jury recommended the sentence of death by a vote of seven to five. However, this recommendation did not individually address the two capital murder convictions for which Snelgrove was to be sentenced....
The circuit court sentenced Snelgrove to death on both capital murder convictions ....

Snelgrove v. State, 921 So.2d 560, 562-65 (Fla. 2005) (footnote omitted).

On appeal, this Court affirmed Snel-grove’s convictions but reversed his death sentences, holding that they were invalid because “the jury returned only a single, [996]*996undifferentiated advisory sentence.” Id. at 566. Accordingly, the case was remanded for a new penalty phase. Id.

The second penalty phase began in January 2008. On the first day of jury selection, Snelgrove moved for a continuance for additional time to “test for mental retardation.” 2 Snelgrove v. State, 107 So.3d 242, 247 (Fla. 2012). This Court explained the circumstances as follows:

According to defense counsel, on the night before jury selection, Dr. Robert M. Berland, a forensic psychologist who examined Snelgrove and testified at the first penalty phase, notified defense counsel of his recommendation to again test Snelgrove to determine whether Snelgrove was mentally retarded.[FN2] As Dr. Berland later explained, his recommendation was based on his understanding of the “Flynn Effect,” which describes the tendency of revisions to the Weshler [sic] Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) test to produce lower scores for the same person than previous versions. Dr. Berland testified that, because Snel-grove’s previous score on the WAIS-R test was “borderline,” the WAIS-III test might produce a score in the retarded range. The trial court denied the motion to continue but allowed Snel-grove to proceed with the desired testing.
[FN2] In preparation for his first trial, Snelgrove completed the revised Weshler [sic] Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) test and scored a 78, within the “borderline range of intellectual functioning” and above the retarded range.
Following the second day of jury selection, Dr. Stephen Bloomfield, another forensic psychologist, conducted the requested WAIS-III test. Snelgrove indicated that his IQ score on the WAIS-III test was 70, a score consistent with “mild mental retardation.” Therefore, on the third day of jury selection, defense counsel renewed the motion for continuance, arguing that the WAIS-III results merited additional testing and that the trial court should conduct a hearing to determine mental retardation pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.203. The trial court denied the renewed motion after noting its belief that a delay was unnecessary because a determination on retardation could be made any time prior to sentencing.

Id. at 247-48.

After Snelgrove’s IQ was retested by Dr. Bloomfield, the parties presented the following evidence to the penalty phase jury:

[T]he prosecution presented extensive evidence detailing the scene of the crime, injuries to the victims, and incriminating injuries to Snelgrove. The prosecution’s evidence included expert testimony from forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Beaver, who testified that both victims bore defensive wounds and had been severely beaten, strangled, and stabbed in the context of a prolonged struggle involving significant pain and suffering. Dr. Beaver further testified that, unlike Mrs. Fowler, who lived through all inflicted injuries, Mr. Fowler was alive only through the beating and strangling and died just prior to the stabbings. There was no sign of sexual assault.
Snelgrove presented testimony from corrections officers, family members, and experts. Dr. Drew Edwards, an expert in cocaine addiction, testified that cocaine impairs one’s judgment, decision-making, and behavioral control. Dr. [997]*997Edwards also provided his opinion that Snelgrove was addicted to cocaine at the time of the murders, and he further expressed his opinion on cross-examination that Snelgrove would not have committed the crime if he was not intoxicated. Dr. Joseph Wu, an expert in PET scanning, testified that Snelgrove’s temporal lobe and subcortical areas were asymmetrical, abnormalities “consistent with a history of possible trauma” and producing a “disproportionate response to an insult or provocation or threat.” Dr. Wu also testified that cocaine can exacerbate abnormal functioning of the brain. Dr. Berland testified that Snel-grove exhibited signs of psychotic disturbance, specifically, depression and delusional paranoid thinking. Based on that result, Dr.

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217 So. 3d 992, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sc16-124-david-beasher-snelgrove-v-state-of-florida-and-david-beasher-fla-2017.