Robinson v. State (1991)

Robinson, 574 So.2d at 113 (footnotes omitted).

While this Court has held that "an instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire does not satisfy the aggravating circumstance of heinous, atrocious, or cruel," Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991), we have also indicated that such deaths can satisfy this aggravator if the State has presented other evidence to show some physical or mental torture of the victim.

Similarly, in Donaldson v. State, 722 So.2d 177, 186-87 (Fla. 1998), the Court addressed a defendant's claim that the trial court erred in finding HAC, stating, "[W]e have rejected application of the HAC aggravator where the evidence indicated that the defendant had not intended to cause the victim any prolonged suffering...." Id. (citing Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991)).

As recognized by the Court in Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991), the United States Supreme Court, in Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 669 , 102 S.Ct. 2083 , 72 L.Ed.2d 416 (1982), "made an exception to the general principle [that a mistrial to which the defendant consents will generally not bar retrial] whenever the state deliberately provokes the defendant into moving for a mistrial." The principle has been stated to include judicial misconduct calculated to …

Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991); see also Maharaj v. State, 597 So.2d 786 (Fla.1992) (rejecting HAC aggravator despite execution-style killing of victim after interrogating him).

Generally, an “instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire does not satisfy the aggravating circumstance of heinous, atrocious, or cruel.” Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991).

This Court struck the HAC aggravator, stating that “[t]he murder was not accompanied by additional acts setting it apart from the norm of capital felonies and the evidence disproved that it was committed so as to cause the victim unnecessary and prolonged suffering.” Id. at 907; see also Bonifay v. State, 626 So.2d 1310, 1313 (Fla.1993) (striking HAC aggra-vator and holding that “[t]he fact that the victim begged for his life or that there were multiple gunshots is an inadeq…

See, e.g., Preston, 607 So.2d at 408 ; Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991); Rose v. State, 461 So.2d 84, 87 (Fla.1984).

We have held that "an instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire does not satisfy the aggravating circumstance of heinous, atrocious, or cruel," Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991), and that "[e]xecution-style killings are not generally HAC unless the state has presented other evidence to show some physical or *287 mental torture of the victim." Hartley v. State, 686 So.2d 1316, 1323 (Fla.1996).

See Rimmer v. State, 825 So.2d 304, 327-28 (Fla.2002) (finding that evidence did not support HAC where the record did not reveal that the defendant tortured the victims or subjected them to pain and suffering), cert. denied, 537 U.S. *967 1034, 123 S.Ct. 567 , 154 L.Ed.2d 453 (2002); Donaldson v. State, 722 So.2d 177, 186-87 (Fla.1998) (striking HAC where the defendant forced the victims into a house at gunpoint and, along with accomplices, interrogated them for several hour…

On the other hand, this Court has held that "`an instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire' does not satisfy the HAC aggravating factor." Donaldson v. State, 722 So.2d 177, 186 (Fla.1998) (quoting Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla. 1991)).

On the other hand, this Court has held that "`an instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire' does not satisfy the HAC aggravating factor." Donaldson v. State, 722 So.2d 177, 186 (Fla.1998) (quoting Robinson, v. State. 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla. 1991)).

Indeed, as many courts have determined, “[ordinarily, an instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire does not satisfy the aggravating circumstance of heinous, atrocious or cruel.” Robinson v. State, 574 So. 2d 108, 112 (Fla.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 841 , 112 S. Ct. 131 , 116 L.

McKinney v. State. 579 So.2d 80, 82 (Fla.1991). [5] See, e.g., Finney v. State, 660 So.2d 674, 684 (Fla.1995), cert, denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S.Ct. 823 , 133 L.Ed.2d 766 (1996); Jones v. State, 612 So.2d 1370, 1375 (Fla. 1992), cert, denied, 510 U.S. 836 , 114 S.Ct. 112 , 126 L.Ed.2d 78 (1993); Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla.), cert, denied, 502 U.S. 841 , 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991). [6] See, e.g..

Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla.1991).

See Walls v. State, 641 So.2d 381, 389 (Fla. 1994), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 943 , 130 L.Ed.2d 887 (1995); Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 841 , 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991); Lara v. State, 464 So.2d 1173, 1179 (Fla. 1985).

However, as Ferrell's brief concedes, there is no "requirement in Florida law for the trial court to give the special requested instructions." See also Walls v. State, 641 So.2d 381, 389 (Fla. 1994) (the validity of the standard jury instruction on mitigating circumstances has been repeatedly upheld in this Court and the federal courts); Waterhouse v. State, 596 So.2d 1008, 1017 (Fla.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 418 , 121 L.Ed.2d 341 (1992) (Florida law does not …

Issue 15 also is without merit because the trial judge instructed the jury that it could consider any issue in mitigation "any aspect of the defendant's character or record and any circumstances of the offense." The trial court also instructed the jury that "[b]ecause the court has not read a list of mitigating circumstances does not prevent you from finding any mitigating circumstances in the case." See Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. __…

As we recently explained in Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991), "[o]rdinarily, an instantaneous or near-instantaneous death by gunfire does not satisfy the aggravating circumstance of heinous, atrocious, or cruel." Additionally, we explained in Williams v. State, 574 So.2d 136, 138 (Fla. 1991), that this aggravating "factor is permissible only in torturous murders — those that evince extreme and out…

Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991).

See Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108 (Fla.1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. *3 841, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991).

This Court held that HAC was improper because the evidence did not establish that “the defendant intended or that the victims suffered an acute awareness of their impending deaths, or that [the defendant] intended to cause them unnecessary pain or prolonged suffering.” Id. at 187 ; see also Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 112 (Fla.1991) (rejecting application of the HAC aggravator where the evidence indicated that the defendant had not intended to cause the victim any prol…

After first finding that any alleged error had not been preserved for review, we went on to conclude that "[e]ven if preserved for review, this testimony was relevant to discredit appellant's alibi and to explain the context of an incriminating admission; consequently, its admission at trial was not error." Id.; see also Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 113 (Fla.1991) (rejecting as "meritless" the black defendant's argument that his statement to police about shooting a "whi…

See, e.g., Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108 (Fla.1991).

See Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108 (Fla. 1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991); Sireci v. State, 587 So.2d 450 (Fla. 1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1500 , 117 L.Ed.2d 639 (1992); compare Jackson v. State, 545 So.2d 260, 263 (Fla. 1989) (reversal required when prosecutor asked defendant whether he "had been convicted when you were in prison") [e.s.]; Weber v. State, 501 So.2d 1379, 1380-81 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (reversal require…

Striking one aggravating factor when there are no mitigating circumstances does not necessarily require resentencing because, "[i]f there is no likelihood of a different sentence, the error must be deemed harmless." Rogers v. State, 511 So.2d 526, 535 (Fla. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1020 , 108 S.Ct. 733 , 98 L.Ed.2d 681 (1988); see Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108 (Fla.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991); Holton v. State, 573 So.2d 284 (F…

Striking one aggravating factor when there are no mitigating circumstances does not necessarily require resentencing because, “[i]f there is no likelihood of a different sentence, the error must be deemed harmless.” Rogers v. State, 511 So.2d 526, 535 (Fla.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1020 , 108 S.Ct. 733 , 98 L.Ed.2d 681 (1988); see Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108 (Fla.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991); Holton v. State, 573 So.2d 284 (Fla.19…

See Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla. 1991) (in the absence of any evidence of intoxication at the time of crime, defendant's hearsay statement to doctor that he was intoxicated during offense was insufficient to establish mitigating circumstance of intoxication), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991).

See Robinson v. State, 574 So.2d 108, 111 (Fla. 1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131 , 116 L.Ed.2d 99 (1991).