Spivey v. State

529 So. 2d 1088, 1988 WL 73550
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 14, 1988
Docket67010
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 529 So. 2d 1088 (Spivey 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
Spivey v. State, 529 So. 2d 1088, 1988 WL 73550 (Fla. 1988).

Opinion

529 So.2d 1088 (1988)

Herbert Lander SPIVEY, Jr., Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 67010.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 14, 1988.
Rehearing Denied September 23, 1988.

*1089 Michael E. Allen, Public Defender and David A. Davis, Asst. Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Patricia Conners, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Herbert Spivey, Jr. appeals his conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. We affirm the conviction but remand for the imposition of a life sentence without eligibility of parole for twenty-five years.

Spivey and his codefendant, Crofton, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the first-degree and with the first-degree murder of Crofton's husband. Spivey was also charged with robbery.[1] The jury returned verdicts finding Spivey guilty of all charges and Crofton guilty only of conspiracy to commit murder. The evidence at trial showed the following. Crofton decided to have her estranged husband murdered. On her own, and through an acquaintance, Ellison, she set out to hire someone to commit the murder. She contacted a relative and offered $20,000 for the murder and, through Ellison, made the same offer to a petty criminal, McDonald. Neither solicitation was successful but it appears that McDonald accepted some money up front prior to his arrest and jailing on an unrelated charge. Ellison, *1090 who was himself an illegal drug dealer, focused his attention on Spivey who had a pregnant wife, no visible means of support, and a drug habit. Using money provided by Crofton, Ellison gave Spivey up-front money, bought him a car, and promised him the ubiquitous $20,000 for committing the murder. Crofton's and Ellison's plan was to disguise the premeditated murder as a felony (robbery) murder. Spivey was told that the victim normally carried large sums of cash on his person, which Spivey could keep as an additional bonus. Ellison, using information provided by Crofton, briefed Spivey on the victim's habits, his residence, his place of business, his hangouts, his car, and provided him with a photograph of the victim. Ellison also gave Spivey guided tours to show him where he could locate the victim at opportune times. On the afternoon of the murder, Spivey and his wife set out in search of the victim. En route, Spivey enlisted two male acquaintances, Ouchida and Hawkins, to assist him in a purported robbery. Spivey also received up-to-the-moment intelligence from Ellison that the victim had visited his estranged wife and left with a large sum of cash. Spivey and company located the victim's car, followed the victim home where Spivey gave one of his cohorts a gun, and the three men entered the victim's home. Using the gun and physical force, the three men subdued the victim and took a small amount of cash and other valuables from him. Using a large pillow case obtained from the victim's bedroom by Spivey, the victim was strangled to death. The medical examiner testified that the victim suffered from advanced emphysema and that the strangulation would have quickly caused ruptures in the lungs and death. The victim was left dead or dying on the floor and Spivey and Ouchida left the scene in Spivey's automobile. They were joined in a few minutes by Hawkins driving the victim's vehicle. The victim's vehicle was then abandoned some distance from the home in order to delay discovery of the crime. Later that night, Spivey reported the death to Ellison and, in the ensuing months, received approximately $17,500 in payment for the murder. Approximately $4,000 of this sum was paid to Hawkins for his role in the murder. However, Ouchida told a friend about the robbery-murder and this friend told the police. Ouchida was given immunity and Ellison and Hawkins were allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder charges. All three testified for the state.

Spivey raises only two issues on appeal. The first concerns the conviction itself. Spivey took the stand in his own behalf. In his testimony, he admitted participating in the conspiracy to murder but claimed that he never intended to commit the murder; he only intended to commit a robbery. He admitted soliciting the help of Hawkins and Ouchida in committing the robbery, neither of whom knew the victim; he admitted providing the gun and driving the robbers to the victim's home; he admitted entering the home and participating in the robbery; and he admitted obtaining the pillow case used for the strangulation. However, he denied that he strangled the victim, contrary to Hawkins' and Ouchida's testimony, and testified that the victim was alive when he and Ouchida left the home. Following this testimony, Crofton's defense counsel cross-examined Spivey in an attempt to show that his testimony concerning the conspiracy was a recent fabrication. Over objection of Spivey's counsel,[2] Crofton's counsel was permitted to question Spivey as follows concerning his post-arrest Miranda[3] silence.

Q At the time that you were arrested did you make any statement to anybody at that time?
[Spivey Counsel]: I object, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right, sir. Overruled.
A No, sir, I didn't.
Q You didn't say anything?
*1091 [Spivey Counsel]: I object and move for a mistrial.
THE COURT: I will overrule the objection.
Q Did you tell anybody at that time that you had been involved in the killing of Mr. Crofton?
A No, sir, I hadn't.
Q Did you tell anybody at that time that you had been contacted by Mr. Ellison to do a contract murder?
A No, sir.
Q Did you tell anybody at that time that you had ever heard anything about Mickey Finch, or Mickey?
A No, sir.
Q When was the first time — Did you ask for a lawyer?
A Excuse me, sir.
Q Did you ask for a lawyer at that time?
A No, sir.
Q Did you ever thereafter ask for a lawyer?
A Yes, sir.
Q When was that?
A In Court, sir, when I came to a bond hearing.
Q How long after?
A The next day.
[Spivey Counsel]: Once again, I object, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
[Spivey Counsel]: May I ask for a continuing objection?
THE COURT: Yes, sir, and that will be overruled.
Q When was the first time that you ever told anybody the story that you told here today with regard to the contract and Mickey. And those things?
A The first day I seen my lawyer.
Q When was that sir?
A Approximately four days after my arrest.
Q Did you tell anybody else?
A No sir.
Q Did you ever tell a law enforcement officer any such thing.
A No, sir.
... .
Q Did you ever talk to anybody about the matter of how this murder had occurred?
A No, sir, because I didn't kill anybody.

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Bluebook (online)
529 So. 2d 1088, 1988 WL 73550, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spivey-v-state-fla-1988.