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Thread: Harold Albert Blake - Florida

  1. #1
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    Harold Albert Blake - Florida




    Summary of Offense:

    At approximately 6 A.M. on August 12, 2002, Trisha Alderman heard a gunshot coming from Del’s Go Mart across the street from her house. The victim, Maheshkumar “Mike” Patel was the owner of Del’s Go Mart. Alderman testified that she looked out the window and saw two black men running toward a vehicle in the parking lot of Del’s, and one of the men was holding a gun. Denard Keaton was driving in the area of Del’s that morning when he heard the gunshots. Keaton testified that he saw three or four black men driving away from the store in a light-colored car. Keaton parked his car in Del’s parking lot and called 911 from the pay phone in front of the store.

    Donovan Steverson lived in the apartment complex next to Del’s. He testified that while outside his apartment that morning, he saw a black man walking through the grass towards a car in the apartment complex’s parking lot. A few moments later Steverson heard screaming from Del’s. He testified that he saw a man run from the store and get into a gold Oldsmobile. He also testified that it was the same man who had been walking through the apartment complex that morning. Steverson then entered the store and found Patel bleeding and unable to speak. Deputy Laura McManus arrived at the store and found Patel gasping for air. She went to her car to retrieve her CPR mask, and when she returned Patel was no longer breathing. The autopsy revealed that Patel had a gunshot wound to his left arm and armpit, as well as a bullet lodged in his right chest cavity. A bullet jacketing was recovered from his left forearm. Forensic technicians found a 9-mm shell casing inside the store. Detective Glenda Eichholtz found a light-colored Oldsmobile abandoned on the side of the road near Recker Highway. Eichholtz determined the vehicle was stolen. Richard Green’s and Demetrius Jones’s fingerprints were found in the vehicle by forensics technicians.

    Deputy Billo, a K-9 officer, arrived at the scene and allowed his dog to sniff the vehicle. The dog tracked the scent to the residence of Ms. Teresa Jones. Jones was the girlfriend of the codefendant, Richard Green. Jones testified that Green, Blake, and a male known as “Red Man” came to her apartment that day at approximately 7 A.M. She then drove the men to the Oldsmobile and one of the men removed two guns from the car. She also testified that, during the car ride, Blake said something about shooting someone. Jones dropped off Blake at a motel, “Red Man” at a store, and Green at her apartment. She then took her children to school. When she returned the police were outside her apartment building. Jones told the police that Blake and another person came to her apartment that morning. On August 14th, Jones informed the police that Green was also involved in the murder.

    Demetrius Jones, a friend of both Blake and Green, testified that Blake, Green, and Kevin Key (aka “Red Man”) were at his house at approximately 3 or 4 AM that day. The men arrived in a light-colored, older-model car. Earlier Jones had made plans to join Green and Key on a trip to Lakeland to rob drug dealers. Jones decided not to go, but stated that he may have touched the car while it was at his house. Jones also testified that, later in the day, he ran into Blake, who told him that they were trying “to do” somebody and someone got shot. Blake also asked Jones to sell a gun for him. Later that day Jones also accompanied Green to a lake, where Green threw a gun into the water. Police searched Blake’s apartment and recovered a pair of tennis shoes. Forensics technicians found eight glass fragments imbedded in the bottoms of the shoes that matched fragments found in the Oldsmobile. The police recovered a 9-mm gun from the lake. A forensic technician stated that the shell casing found on Patel’s body was fired from the 9-mm. Detectives interviewed Green, after which Blake was arrested. Blake confessed to stealing the Oldsmobile and to shooting Patel. Blake claimed the gun accidentally went off.

    Blake was sentenced to death in Polk County on May 13, 2005.

    Co-defendant information:
    The co-defendant Richard Reginald Green was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    The case progression appears to be within acceptable time parameters.

    Case Information:

    Blake filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 07/18/05, citing the following trial court errors: denial of motion to suppress defendant’s recorded statement; failure to advise defendant that he could exercise his right to self-representation; and disproportionate application of the death sentence. On 12/13/07, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences.

    On 03/10/08, Blake filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court which was denied on 05/12/08.

    On 04/17/09, Blake filed a 3.851 Motion in the State Circuit Court. This motion is pending.

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    HAROLD BLAKE v STATE OF FLORIDA and HAROLD BLAKE v. TIMOTHY H. CANNON,etc.

    In today's opinions, the Florida Supreme Court AFFIRMED the post conviction court's denial of Blake's motion to vacate his conviction and death sentence under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851, and also DENIED his habeas petition
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    I think the opinion only dealt with Blake's guilt phase claims. The order states that his death sentence was vacated earlier in the post conviction proceedings and I don't think the prosecutor appealed it.

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    HAROLD BLAKE v THE STATE OF FLORIDA

    Court: Florida Supreme Court

    Opinion Date: September 17, 2015


    In 2005, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for the murder conviction. The Supreme Court affirmed on appeal. In 2009, Defendant filed a second amended motion for postconviction relief, alleging several claims. The postconviction court denied Defendant’s motion to the extent it requested a new guilt phase but granted the motion to the extent that it requested a new penalty phase. Defendant appealed and, in addition, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, asserting four claims. The Supreme Court affirmed the postconviction court’s order that denied Defendant’s request for a new guilt phase trial and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding (1) the postconviction court did not err in its rulings; and (2) Defendant was not entitled to relief on his habeas corpus claims.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Death penalty dropped in 2002 murder resentencing trial

    Convicted killer to be sentenced to life in prison

    BARTOW — Prosecutors on Tuesday withdrew plans to seek the death penalty against a man convicted of fatally shooting a Winter Haven convenience store owner in 2002.

    Harold Blake, 36, was sentenced in 2005 to die for killing Maheshkumar Patel, 37, while trying to rob Del's Go Shop on Coleman Road. Blake was also convicted of grand theft and attempted armed robbery. A co-defendant, Richard Reginald Green, was also convicted in Patel's death and was sentenced to life in prison.

    In a post-conviction hearing in 2012, Circuit Judge Roger Alcott ordered a new death penalty sentencing phase trial for Blake. Alcott wrote that Blake's lawyer, Al Smith, did not present jurors "with sufficient available mitigation to come to a knowing recommendation regarding an advisory sentence for the Court."

    "The Court finds that the deficiency of counsel with regard to the presentation of the penalty phase establishes a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the sentence of death imposed on Mr. Blake," Alcott wrote.

    Prosecutors never appealed Alcott's decision and the Florida Supreme Court upheld Alcott's decision in 2015.

    The decision by prosecutors Tuesday before Chief Judge Donald Jacobsen means that Blake will be sentenced to life in prison.

    Brian Haas, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, said Tuesday prosecutors will seek a life sentence to run consecutively with a life sentence Blake is currently serving for the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Kelvin Young in Lakeland.

    A hearing is scheduled for April 8.

    Byron Hileman, chief of the Homicide Division at the Florida Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, said a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Florida's sentencing system for death penalty cases played a role in the case.

    The death penalty phase would have gone to trial in March, which would have likely been before courts receive additional guidance from the Legislature and the Florida Supreme Court on changes to the death penalty, Hileman said.

    Before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, judges were required to give great weight to a jury's recommendation.

    Haas acknowledged the U.S. Supreme Court ruling played a role, but he said Alcott's ruling and the issue of trying a case nearly 15 years after the shooting played a greater role.

    "The information we didn't have at the time of sentencing was the reason why we did what we did today," Haas said.

    Jurors convicted Blake in 2005 of first-degree murder. While arguing for a death sentence, prosecutors emphasized that he was already serving a life sentence for killing Young. Blake admitted during the Patel trial that he stole the getaway car for the robbery. He said two other men — one being Green — took him against his will to the store.

    Alcott sentenced Blake in May 2005 to die, weeks after jurors voted 12-0 to recommend the death penalty for Blake. Alcott wrote that Blake was "the leader who stole the car, invited others to participate, and approached the store with a loaded handgun."

    Patel was getting ready to open when he became an "unwilling victim" to Blake's "senseless violence," Alcott wrote.

    http://www.theledger.com/article/201...ws00?p=2&tc=pg

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Blake's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Nos.: (SC12-2102, SC13-1065)
    Decision Date: December 4, 2014
    Rehearing Denied: December 8, 2015

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.a...es/15-8526.htm

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