Troy Merck

Overview

Troy Merck, Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and remanded for resentencing, the death sentence was reversed and a complete new penalty-phase proceeding was ordered, and he was resentenced to death twice.

Timeline

• 10/10/91 — Troy Merck and his companion Neil Thomas attended a bar in Pinellas County and later got into an altercation in the bar’s parking lot.
• 09/07/93 — Troy Merck was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
• 12/10/93 — Troy Merck was sentenced to death.
• 09/12/97 — After resentencing, the trial judge imposed the death sentence.
• 07/13/00 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but reversed the death sentence and ordered a complete new penalty-phase proceeding before a jury.
• 08/06/04 — The trial court resentenced Troy Merck to death by a jury vote of 9-3.
• 01/21/94 — Merck filed a direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 10/12/95 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Merck’s conviction and remanded for resentencing.
• 10/13/97 — Merck filed a direct appeal for resentencing to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 09/27/04 — Merck filed another direct appeal for resentencing to the Florida Supreme Court, which was pending.

Background

Troy Merck, Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death on December 10, 1993. He was resentenced to death on September 12, 1997 and August 6, 2004.

Merck was also known as “Billy Joe Melton” or “Hillbilly.” The sentencing judge was The Honorable Claire K. Luten. Resentencing Judge (I) was The Honorable Nelly N. Khoutzam. Resentencing Judge (II) was The Honorable Brandt C. Downey, III.

Attorneys listed for trial were Frederick S. Zinober & James A. Martin – Private Attorneys. Direct appeal counsel listed were William Bennett, Richard Watts & Michael Schwartzberg – Private Attorney. Resentencing (I) counsel listed was Steven L. Bolotin – Assistant Public Defender Attorney. Resentencing (II) counsel listed was John C. Fisher – Public Defender.

Merck’s date of offense was 10/11/91. His date of sentence was 12/10/93. His date of resentense (I) was 09/12/97 and resentense (II) was 08/06/04.

Pinellas County was identified as the location for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Case# 91-16659.

The offence

On the night of 10/10/91, Troy Merck and his companion Neil Thomas, who came from North Carolina to Florida, attended a bar in Pinellas County. The bar closed at 2:00 a.m., and several patrons remained in the bar’s parking lot.

Several of the patrons and witnesses, including Merck and Thomas, consumed a substantial amount of alcohol during the evening at the bar.

In the parking lot, Merck and his companion were leaning on a parked car that contained multiple occupants inside. One of the occupants asked them to not lean on the car. Merck and his companion sarcastically apologized.

James Anthony Newton approached the car and engaged in a conversation with the car’s occupants. Merck made a snide remark to Newton after overhearing an occupant of the car, Katherine Sullivan, who had been drinking and was an off-duty bartender at the bar, congratulating Newton on his birthday. Newton told Merck to mind his own business, and Merck attempted to provoke a fight, which Newton refused.

Merck walked over to his car, unlocked his passenger-side door, took off his shirt, and threw his shirt in the back seat. Merck approached Newton once again and began punching him in the back. Sullivan testified that she saw a glint of light from some sort of blade and saw blood spots on Newton’s back.

Sullivan testified that she ran back into the bar and told bouncers to call 911. At trial, Sullivan described the person who stabbed Newton as a man wearing khaki pants and stated that it was Merck, not Thomas, who made snide remarks and goaded Newton to fight.

James Carter, the chief security for the nightclub, ran out to the parking lot after Sullivan reported the stabbing. Carter saw a car pulling out of the parking lot and was able to get the license plate number. Another coworker assisted Newton as Newton was moving and coughing up blood.

According to medical examiners, Newton died from multiple stab wounds, and the main fatal wound was to the neck.

At trial, Thomas acknowledged that he had eight or nine felony convictions and claimed to have changed his life since then. Thomas stated that he and Merck met just a few weeks before the incident at a bar in Ocala and became friends. Thomas stated that on the night of the incident, he had been drinking heavily, as was Merck. Thomas admitted he was trying to provoke Newton into a fight but was not getting a response out of him.

Thomas stated that Merck became very agitated with Newton and began beating Newton from behind, throwing punches. Thomas did not recall giving Merck the keys to his car, but remembered warning Newton to leave before the situation escalated.

Thomas stated that as the fight carried on for the next 15-20 seconds, his attention shifted away from the fight to the entire parking lot. When Thomas shifted his attention back to the fight, he noticed Newton bent over the hood of a blue car and his shirt appeared rather wet.

Thomas stated that Merck demanded it was time to leave and he agreed. Thomas stated that he noticed Merck holding his hand stiffly by his leg as if concealing something; Thomas had not seen a knife, but was starting to have suspicion.

Thomas drove away from the parking lot and asked Merck if he stabbed Newton. Merck admitted the stabbing while holding a bloody knife in the air, and said that if he did not kill Newton, he would find him at the hospital and “finish the job.” Thomas stated that Merck threatened to kill his grandmother if Thomas said anything.

Afterwards, Merck and Thomas drove into an apartment complex to change the license tag of the car. They then went to a Burger King and then a bowling alley where they shot pool for 20 minutes. They left their car at the Burger King after spotting a police cruiser and took a taxi back to their hotel room.

Thomas stated that Merck was demonstrating the stabbing repeatedly as if he was bragging about it. The next morning, Merck and Thomas went to retrieve their car, but it was missing.

When Merck and Thomas called their girlfriends from North Carolina, the police were there. Their girlfriends eventually drove down and met the two men at their hotel. The police tracked them to the hotel after Thomas called his grandmother.

Investigation

Deputy Charles Vaughn testified that when Merck and Thomas’ abandoned vehicle was discovered, a license plate and a knife were found inside the vehicle.

Merck was taken into custody by the lead investigator of the case, Detective Thomas Nestor. Nestor took the eyewitness statement from Sullivan on the night of the incident.

Arrest

Merck was taken into custody by Detective Thomas Nestor, who took the eyewitness statement from Sullivan on the night of the incident.

Trial

Jury and verdicts

On 11/14/91, Merck was indicted as follows: Count I: First-Degree Murder. The source also reflected that on 11/06/92, trial ended in mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

During the second trial, on 09/07/93, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment. On 09/14/93, the jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3.

Sentencing in trial court

On 12/10/93, Merck was sentenced as follows: Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death.

Sentencing

Resentencing (I) and (II)

On 07/15/97, resentencing trial events were associated with Resentencing (II) commencement on 07/18/97. On 07/18/97, the jury recommended death by a vote of 12-0. On 09/12/97, the trial judge imposed the death sentence.

On 08/06/04, the trial court resentenced Merck to death by a jury vote of 9-3.

Appeals

On 01/21/94, Merck filed a direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. He raised five issues:

1. Merck claimed that the trial court erred in imposing the death sentence.
2. Merck argued that the death sentence is invalid because the jury heard and the trial judge considered highly prejudicial testimony not relating to any statutory aggravating circumstance.
3. Merck contended the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial based upon a State witness’ reference to the first trial of this case.
4. Merck claimed that his conviction must be vacated as a result of the State’s bad-faith failure to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence.
5. Merck claimed the trial court erred in giving the jury an unconstitutionally vague and overbroad instruction on the “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel” aggravating factor.

On 10/12/95, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Merck’s conviction and remanded for resentencing.

On 10/13/97, Merck filed a direct appeal for resentencing to the Florida Supreme Court. On 07/13/00, the Court affirmed the conviction but reversed the death sentence based on the finding that juvenile adjudication as to a North Carolina shooting incident was not a “conviction” within the meaning of the statute making prior conviction of a violent felony an aggravating factor and that the trial court’s finding of the aggravator was harmful error.

The Court ordered a complete new penalty-phase proceeding before a jury.

On 09/27/04, Merck filed another direct appeal for resentencing to the Florida Supreme Court, and that appeal was currently pending.

Other details

Codefendant information stated that Neil Thomas was not charged as an accessory to the murder of Newton. The source also stated there was no evidence that Thomas had a prior incarceration history.

The source included the following case identifiers: Florida Supreme Court opinion 83063, opinion SC91581, and opinion SC04-1902. The DC# provided was 118167. Merck’s DOB was 01/09/72.

Trial and resentencing judges were: The Honorable Claire K. Luten, The Honorable Nelly N. Khoutzam, and The Honorable Brandt C. Downey, III.

The trial counsel listed for Resentencing (I) and (II) were Steven L. Bolotin and John C. Fisher, respectively.

Quotations included:

“finish the job.”

Merck threatened to kill his grandmother if Thomas said anything.