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Thread: Charles William Finney - Florida Death Row

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    Charles William Finney - Florida Death Row




    Summary of Offense:

    The body of Sandra Sutherland was discovered on the bed of her apartment around 2:00 p.m. on January 16, 1991. She had been gagged, bound, and stabbed thirteen times in the back, with all but one wound penetrating the lungs. Sutherland’s bedroom had been ransacked, the contents of her purse dumped on the floor, and her VCR was missing. Numerous fingerprints were gathered from the apartment, including prints from a piece of paper and from a jar of face cream found in the bedroom. The VCR was located at a local pawn shop. Fingerprints found at the apartment and on the VCR matched a fingerprint on a pawn shop ticket for Charles W. Finney, who had pawned the VCR for a $30 loan. When questioned by police about his whereabouts on the day of the murder, Finney told police that he was home sick and never left his apartment. When police confronted Finney with the fact that he had pawned Sutherland’s VCR, he told police that he was taking out his garbage, found the VCR, and pawned it for cash. Finney was a neighbor of Sutherland, until she moved to a different apartment in the same complex eight months prior to the murder. Finney testified that Sutherland contacted him about screening in her patio at her new apartment, and that he had been in Sutherland’s apartment to help her move boxes in the apartment.

    Finney was sentenced to death in Hillsborough County on November 10, 1992.

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Case Information:

    Finney filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 12/31/92, citing the following errors: insufficient evidence to support convictions and the use of pecuniary gain as an aggravator; excluding evidence that the bondage was of a consensual and sexual nature; denying a defense request that Finney’s shackles be removed during the penalty phase; allowing the testimony and prohibiting cross-examination of the victim of the robbery and rape perpetrated two weeks after the Sutherland murder; denying the request for jury instructions on the specific nonstatutory mitigating circumstances; and instructing and finding three aggravating factors. On 07/20/95, the FSC affirmed the convictions and sentences.

    Finney filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on 12/04/95 that was denied on 01/22/96.

    Finney filed a 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court on 03/31/97 that was denied on 05/04/00.

    Finney filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 06/22/00, citing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. On 09/26/02, the FSC affirmed the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion.

    Finney filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the Florida Supreme Court on 02/19/01, citing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. On 09/26/02, the FSC denied the Petition.

    Finney filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the U.S. District Court, Middle District, on 01/24/03, and on 07/17/06, the USDC denied the petition.

    Finney filed a 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court on 07/11/03 that was denied on 03/16/04.

    Finney filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 05/21/04 that was denied on 05/06/05.

    Finney filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit on 08/03/06. On 11/09/06, the USCA denied the Certificate of Appealability.

    Finney filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on 02/05/07 that was denied on 06/11/07.

    On 06/21/07, Finney filed a Successive Motion to Vacate in the Circuit Court that was denied on 09/26/08.

    Finney filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 11/17/08 that was denied on 09/03/09.

    On 11/29/10, Finney filed a Successive Motion to Vacate in the Circuit Court. That motion was denied on 1/31/11.

  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    According to Amnesty International, Finney's case is now before Florida's clemency authorities. So, he may well be next murderer to be executed.

    http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/as...0302014en.html

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    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Another Duval County death row inmate loses appeal

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After issuing another batch of 10 rulings Friday, the Florida Supreme Court this week rejected a total of 40 death-penalty appeals on similar legal grounds.

    The 40 appeals all were filed on behalf of Death Row inmates who received their sentences before June 2002, though the Supreme Court’s decision to release four large batches of rulings in a week was highly unusual.

    The appeals stemmed from a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case known as Hurst v. Florida and a subsequent Florida Supreme Court decision.

    The 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found Florida's death-penalty sentencing system was unconstitutional because it gave too much authority to judges, instead of juries.

    The subsequent Florida Supreme Court ruling said juries must unanimously agree on critical findings before judges can impose death sentences and must unanimously recommend the death penalty.

    But the Florida Supreme Court made the new sentencing requirements apply to cases since June 2002.

    That is when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling known as Ring v. Arizona that was a premise for striking down Florida's death-penalty sentencing system in 2016. In each of the cases this week, the Death Row inmates had been sentenced to death before the Ring decision and argued that the new unanimity requirements should also apply to their cases.

    The inmates who lost their appeals Friday were Richard Harold Anderson in a Hillsborough County case; Charles William Finney in a Hillsborough County case; Kenneth Hartley in a Duval County case; Sonny Ray Jeffries in an Orange County case; William H. Kelley in a Highlands County case; Ian Deco Lightbourne in a Marion County case; Robert D. Morris in a Polk County case; Kenneth Allen Stewart in a Hillsborough County case; George James Trepal in a Polk County case; and Melvin Trotter in a Manatee County case.

    https://www.news4jax.com/news/florid...e-loses-appeal
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court DENIED Finney's certiorari petition.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Numbers: (SC17-985)
    Decision Date: January 26, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/17-9588.html

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the US Supreme Court DENIED Finney's certiorari petition.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Numbers: (SC18-1495)
    Decision Date: December 28, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/18-9464.html

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