Gerald Delane Murray

Case record: Gerald Delane Murray

Background

Gerald Delane Murray was prosecuted in Florida, Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County. His date of birth was 02/05/69, and his case number was 92-3708 (DC# 291140). The sentencing judge was The Honorable Alban E. Brooke.

Murray had a trial retrial history with different judges and attorneys for different proceedings:

• Retrial (I): The Honorable William Wilkes, L. Haldane Taylor
• Retrial (II): The Honorable Hudson Olliss
• Trial: Roberto Arias & Stephen Weinbaum — Court-appointed Attorneys
• Direct Appeal: Fletcher N. Baldwin, Richard W. Smith & Sheppard — Assistant Public Defenders
• Direct Appeal (Retrial I): Tom Fallis — Court-appointed Attorney
• Direct Appeal (Retrial II): Pro Se & Richard Kuritz — Private

The offence

At around midnight on 09/15/90, Murray and his friend, Steven Richard Taylor, were dropped off at a mobile home neighborhood by a friend (James “Bubba” Fisher), where the victim, 59-year-old Alice Vest, lived.

A Ford Ranchero was reported stolen from a residence near the place where Murray and Taylor had been dropped off. At around 4:30 a.m., a passing motorist noticed the vehicle parked in a driveway next door to the mobile home where Vest lived. Later that day, the Ford Ranchero was found abandoned behind a used car dealership, located only a few blocks away from where Taylor lived at the time.

That same morning of 09/15/90, residents of the mobile home neighborhood where Vest lived discovered Vest’s badly beaten body in the bedroom of her mobile home.

According to the testimony of the medical examiner:

• Vest had been vaginally and anally raped.
• Vest was strangled and stabbed approximately 20 times.
• Most stab wounds were made with a knife, and the remaining stab wounds were made with a pair of scissors, both of which were found at the scene of the crime.
• Vest was alive while she was being stabbed, and she was strangled with an electrical cord after the stabbings.
• Multiple fractures were found on Vest’s lower jaw, indicating several blows to the head, which were done with a bottle, metal bar, and candlestick. These items were also found at the scene of the crime.
• Vest’s breasts were bruised as a result of “impacting, sucking, or squeezing” while she was alive.
• Vest was alive for approximately ten minutes from the first stabbing to the strangulation.
• The examiner was unsure whether Vest was conscious during all or any part of the attack.

Other trial testimony described additional circumstances:

• The phone line to Vest’s mobile home had been cut.
• The mobile home had been burglarized.
• Various pieces of jewelry were missing.

During trial, the State admitted hair evidence recovered from Vest’s mobile home. Hair evidence was also sent to an FBI lab in Washington, D.C., for comparison with known hair samples from three persons: Murray, Taylor, and Vest.

The hair expert from the FBI concluded that the hairs found on Vest’s nightgown and body were pubic hairs that had the same microscopic characteristics of Murray’s hairs. Taylor was excluded as a possible source of the hairs.

Investigation and evidence

Hair evidence was recovered from Vest’s mobile home and compared with known hair samples from Murray, Taylor, and Vest. The hairs found on Vest’s nightgown and body were concluded to be pubic hairs matching the microscopic characteristics of Murray’s hairs, while Taylor was excluded as a possible source.

Arrest and custody history

Murray escaped from Duval County Jail and was accompanied by a fellow inmate, Anthony Smith. Smith testified for the State that Murray confessed to the rape, robbery, and murder of Vest.

Approximately seven months after his escape, on 06/09/93, Murray was captured in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying two false identification cards.

Codefendant

Steven Richard Taylor was identified as a codefendant. His case information was DC# 288500.

Taylor was convicted and sentenced to death for first-degree murder. He received:

• 15 years for burglary of a dwelling
• 27 years for sexual battery

Taylor was tried separately for his offenses (CC# 91-2456).

Timeline

• 09/15/90 — Murray and Steven Richard Taylor were dropped off at a mobile home neighborhood; a Ford Ranchero was reported stolen; Vest’s badly beaten body was discovered in the bedroom of her mobile home.
• 03/09/94 — A jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment.
• 04/15/94 — Murray was sentenced: death for first-degree murder; life for burglary with an assault; life for sexual battery with great force.
• 02/24/94 — Murray was indicted on Counts I–III.
• 03/28/94 — Jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1.
• 03/06/98 — A jury was unable to reach a verdict.
• 10/12/98 — Judge L. Haldane Taylor presided.
• 02/03/99 — A new jury was impaneled and sworn.
• 02/12/99 — A jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts and recommended death by a vote of 12-0.
• 03/19/99 — Murray was resentenced to death.
• 05/22/03 — A new jury was impaneled and sworn.
• 06/19/03 — A jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.
• 06/26/03 — Murray was resentenced to death by a vote of 12-0.
• 04/20/94 — Murray filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 04/17/97 — The Court reversed Murray’s convictions and remanded for retrial.
• 04/29/99 — Murray filed a Direct Appeal (Retrial I) to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 10/03/02 — The Court reversed Murray’s convictions, vacated sentences and death sentence, and remanded for a new trial.
• 07/14/03 — Murray filed for a Direct Appeal (Retrial II) to the Florida Supreme Court, currently pending.
• 11/22/92 — Murray was indicted for Vest, and approximately six months later he escaped from Duval County Jail.
• 06/09/93 — Murray was captured in Las Vegas, Nevada; he was carrying two false identification cards.

Trial

Murray was indicted as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder
• Count II: Burglary with Assault
• Count III: Sexual Battery with Great Force

On 03/09/94, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.

Jury recommendation and sentencing in the initial trial were:

• 04/15/94 — Sentenced as follows:
  • Count I: First-Degree Murder — Death
  • Count II: Burglary with Assault — Life
  • Count III: Sexual Battery with Great Force — Life

Retrial (I)

During retrial proceedings:

• 03/06/98 — Jury unable to reach a verdict.
• 10/12/98 — Judge L. Haldane Taylor presiding.
• 02/03/99 — New jury impaneled and sworn.
• 02/12/99 — Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts and recommended death by a vote of 12-0.
• 03/19/99 — Resentenced to death.

Retrial (II)

In the second retrial:

• 05/22/03 — New jury impaneled and sworn.
• 06/19/03 — Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.
• 06/26/03 — Resentenced to death by a vote of 12-0.

Appeals

Murray filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 04/20/94. He raised numerous issues:

1. Murray claimed the trial court abused its discretion in ten ways, including:
   • Permitting the state to peremptorily challenge three jurors
   • Denying Murray’s motion to suppress hair evidence seized pursuant to an allegedly defective search warrant
   • Allowing the state’s expert to testify about the results of DNA typing because the state’s method of DNA typing and probability calculations do not meet the Frye test for admissibility
   • Admitting hair evidence recovered from the victim’s body and from the victim’s nightgown because the evidence had been tampered with
   • Denying Murray’s motions for continuance at trial and penalty phase
   • Admitting evidence of Murray’s pre-trial escape, theft of automobiles, and possession of false identification
   • Excluding the testimony of three defense witnesses concerning Murray’s true motive for escape
   • Overruling Murray’s objection to the standard heinous, atrocious, or cruel instruction and denying Murray’s requested instruction on that aggravator
   • Rejecting Murray’s statutory and nonstatutory mitigating factors
   • Admitting hearsay evidence concerning Murray’s prior violent felonies at the penalty phase
2. The prosecutor’s comments during the guilt phase closing argument deprived Murray of a fair trial.
3. The evidence at trial was insufficient to support Murray’s convictions.
4. The trial court erred in finding the especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating factor.
5. The trial court improperly doubled the felony murder and pecuniary gain aggravating factors.
6. The trial court erred in finding that the murder was committed for pecuniary gain.
7. The prosecutor’s comments during the penalty phase closing argument deprived Murray of a fair trial.
8. Section 921.141 (7), Florida Statutes (1995), which allows presentation of victim evidence in a capital sentencing proceeding is unconstitutional.
9. The trial court’s use of Murray’s contemporaneous convictions for burglary and sexual battery to support the felony murder aggravating factor violated Murray’s right against double jeopardy.
10. The trial court improperly instructed the jury regarding its role in the sentencing process.
11. The record does not support the death penalty.
12. Florida’s death penalty statute is unconstitutional because electrocution constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
13. Murray’s death sentence is disproportionate.
14. The trial court erred in enhancing Murray’s sentence for burglary and imposing it to run consecutively to his death sentence.

On 04/17/97, the Court reversed Murray’s convictions and remanded for retrial. The Court questioned the admissibility of DNA evidence because no semen or fingerprints were found at the scene to connect Murray to the crime, and Murray’s case relied heavily on extensive DNA evidence.

On 04/29/99, Murray filed a Direct Appeal (Retrial I) to the Florida Supreme Court.

On 10/03/02, the Court reversed Murray’s convictions, vacated sentences and death sentence, and remanded for a new trial because the testing of DNA evidence in his case did not meet scientific standards.

On 07/14/03, Murray filed for a Direct Appeal (Retrial II) to the Florida Supreme Court; it was currently pending.

Outcome

Murray was sentenced to death on 04/15/94 for first-degree murder and received life sentences for the other two offenses at that time. He was resentenced to death on 03/19/99 and again on 06/26/03.

Other details

At the scene of the crime, a knife and scissors were found. An electrical cord was used to strangle Vest after the stabbings.

Items found at the scene of the crime associated with blows to Vest’s head included a bottle, metal bar, and candlestick.

The medical examiner testified that Vest was alive while she was being stabbed and that Vest was alive for approximately ten minutes from the first stabbing to the strangulation. The medical examiner was unsure whether Vest was conscious during all or any part of the attack.