Faunce Pearce

Case information

Faunce Pearce was sentenced to death on February 14, 2002. He was indicted and tried in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pasco County, Florida (Case# 99-3110).

The case had court references including Florida Supreme Court opinions SC02-476 and SC07-476, and an additional designation DC# 741988. Faunce Pearce’s date of birth was 03/20/62. The trial judge was The Honorable Maynard F. Swanson, Jr.

Trial counsel was Paul C. Helm – Private Attorney. Direct appeal counsel was Alfred J. Ivie, Jr. – Private Attorneys. Collateral appeal counsel was Richard E. Kiley & James V. Viggiano – CCRC-M.

Timeline

• 09/14/99 — Date of offenses.
• 07/20/01 — A conviction occurred for murder and attempted murder.
• 09/13/99 — Pearce visited his place of business and sought a teenage stepson, Ken Shook, for LSD gel tablets; the events leading to the shootings occurred.
• 09/17/99 — Indicted on Count I and Count II.
• 03/01/02 — Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.
• 03/12/02 — A Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court was denied.
• 02/14/02 — Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2; Pearce was sentenced.
• 02/28/02 — Pearce filed a direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 07/01/04 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Pearce’s convictions and death sentence.
• 09/01/05 — Pearce filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court, currently pending.

Background

On the evening of 09/13/99, Faunce Levon Pearce visited his place of business and sought his coworkers’ teenage stepson, Ken Shook, for LSD gel tablets.

Shook and his friends, Stephen Tuttle and Robert Crawford, contacted Amanda Havner, who had a connection with an LSD saleswoman. Havner contacted Tanya Barcomb, who had close connections with an LSD supplier.

Pearce gave Shook, Tuttle, Havner and Crawford $1,200 and sent them to purchase a book of LSD gel tablets from Barcomb’s apartment. Before leaving to pick up the drugs, Pearce warned them against returning without the drugs or the money.

The offence

When the four teenagers arrived at the Barcomb’s apartment complex, Barcomb and her boyfriend approached their car, took the $1,200, and told them to stay in the car while they bring the LSD out to them. Barcomb and her boyfriend had planned on stealing the money upon their arrival.

As Barcomb and her boyfriend entered the apartment complex, Barcomb’s boyfriend hid the money in his own shoe and punched himself in the mouth, to appear as though he was mugged. Minutes later, Barcomb and her boyfriend returned to the car and claimed the drug supplier stole their money.

As a result of Barcomb’s deception, the four teenagers had no choice but to return to Pearce without his drugs or money. Before the group of teens told Pearce about the situation, he received a call from Barcomb explaining that his money was stolen by the supplier and, consequently, his drugs were not available for him.

Pearce became very angry and, once the teenagers arrived at his worksite, Pearce pointed his gun at them and ordered everyone to go into his office. According to witness testimony, Pearce’s mood became calm and threatening inside his office.

Havner made phone calls in an attempt to recover Pearce’s money, but was unsuccessful. Pearce slammed Havner’s head into the wall and threatened to shoot her in the head. Moments later, Havner was released when her brother arrived to pick her up.

Some time later, Pearce ordered Tuttle to perform oral sex on him while at gun point.

Pearce later called his friend, Theodore Butterfield, and requested that he bring weapons to his workplace. On the way over, Butterfield was accompanied by Lawrence Joseph Smith and Heath Brittingham.

Pearce planned on beating and then interrogating Shook, Tuttle, and Crawford as to who had stolen his money. Pearce’s coworker refused to allow Pearce to handle his stepson in such a manner and offered to drive Tuttle and Crawford home. Pearce assured him that he just wanted to “rough them up” a bit until he got his money.

Pearce, Butterfield, Smith, Brittingham, Tuttle, and Crawford crammed into Pearce’s two-door Trans Am, and were driven by Pearce to a deserted area. Pearce ordered Tuttle out of the car and left it to Smith to “rough him up.” Smith shot Tuttle in the back of his head with a .40-caliber pistol.

Afterwards, Pearce drove 200 yards down the road and stopped at another site. Pearce ordered Crawford out of the car and, despite Crawford pleading for his life, he shot Crawford in the arm and the head with the same pistol Tuttle was shot with.

Once the men left the scene, Smith threatened Butterfield and Brittingham that he would kill them if they “snitched.”

Investigation

On the morning of 09/14/99, police located and interviewed Butterfield and Brittingham. Later in the day, Smith was arrested. Pearce was arrested a few weeks later.

Arrest and cooperation

Upon Pearce’s indictment, Butterfield and Brittingham agreed to cooperate with the State and testify against Pearce and Smith for assurance that they would not be charged with any the crimes related to these offenses.

Tuttle survived the gunshot wound to his head and also agreed to testify against Pearce and Smith.

People involved

Faunce Pearce

Faunce Pearce was the defendant. He was indicted as described under Count I and Count II and was sentenced as described in sentencing.

Victims

• Robert Crawford, whose murder was charged and occurred.
• Stephen Tuttle, whose attempted second-degree murder was charged; Tuttle survived the gunshot wound to his head.

Other named individuals

• Ken Shook, described as Pearce’s coworkers’ teenage stepson; sought for LSD gel tablets.
• Amanda Havner, contacted regarding LSD purchases; her head was slammed into the wall and she was threatened with being shot in the head.
• Tanya Barcomb, with close connections to an LSD supplier; stole the $1,200 as part of a deception.
• Theodore Butterfield, Pearce’s friend who was called to bring weapons; later cooperated with the State.
• Lawrence Joseph Smith, codefendant (DC# R24256).
• Heath Brittingham, who was interviewed by police and later cooperated with the State.
• Pearce’s coworker, who refused to allow Pearce to handle his stepson as described and offered to drive Tuttle and Crawford home.
• Pearce’s coworkers’ teenage stepson is Ken Shook; he and his friends were part of the events leading up to the shootings.

Charges and trial

Indictment

On 09/17/99, Pearce was indicted as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder with a Firearm
• Count II: Attempted Second-Degree Murder with a Firearm

Trial verdicts

On 07/20/01, Faunce Levon Pearce was convicted of the murder of Robert Crawford and the attempted second-degree murder of Stephen Tuttle.

On 03/01/02, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment.

Jury recommendation

On 02/14/02, the jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2.

Sentencing

On 02/14/02, Pearce was sentenced as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder — Death
• Count II: Attempted Second-Degree Murder — 25 years

The sentencing judge was The Honorable Maynard F. Swanson, Jr.

Codefendant

Lawrence Joseph Smith (DC# R24256) was a codefendant. Pearce and Smith were indicted separately for the same offenses.

Smith was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder and sentenced to death (CC#01-2103).

On Direct Appeal, Smith’s convictions and life sentence for attempted murder were affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court. Because of erroneous statements in the sentencing order, however, the Court remanded the case for resentencing for the first-degree murder conviction.

Appeals

Habeas corpus

Prior to Pearce’s direct appeal, Pearce filed a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court, which was denied on 03/12/02.

Direct appeal

On 02/28/02, Pearce filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, raising multiple issues:

1. The trial court erred by refusing to allow defense counsel to impeach Butterfield and Brittingham’s statement that was previously videotaped.
2. Concern regarding whether Crawford’s murder was premeditated, which also questioned the jury recommendation of death.
3. Insufficient evidence supporting the trial court’s finding of cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP) aggravating circumstances.
4. The death sentence was disproportionate.

On 07/01/04, the Florida Supreme Court found the trial court did not err and affirmed Pearce’s convictions and death sentence.

Collateral appeal

On 09/01/05, Pearce filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court, which is currently pending.

Outcome

Faunce Pearce was convicted of the murder of Robert Crawford and the attempted second-degree murder of Stephen Tuttle and was sentenced to death for Crawford’s murder and sentenced to life for Tuttle’s attempted murder. The jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Pearce’s convictions and death sentence on 07/01/04.

Other details

Code information included:

• DC# 741988
• Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pasco County
• Case# 99-3110
• FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us home last updates contact
• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Maynard F. Swanson, Jr.
• Attorney, Trial: Paul C. Helm – Private Attorney
• Direct Appeal: Alfred J. Ivie, Jr. – Private Attorneys
• Collateral Appeals: Richard E. Kiley & James V. Viggiano – CCRC-M
• Direct Appeal outcome: affirmed convictions and death sentence on 07/01/04
• Additional opinion references: Florida Supreme Court opinion SC02-476 and opinion SC07-476