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Thread: Robert Earl Peterson - Florida

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    Robert Earl Peterson - Florida




    Summary of Offense:

    Robert Earl Peterson received the death penalty for the August 2005 murder of his stepfather, 64-year-old Roy Bryan Andrews, a retired Jacksonville Sheriff's Office patrolman. Circuit Judge L. Paige Haddock called the violent attack in a Jacksonville cemetery vicious and brutal, made worse by Andrews realizing he was about to die at the hands of a stepson he had supported financially in hopes he might someday get his life straightened out. A jury recommended the death penalty in September 2009 on a 7-5 vote following Peterson's conviction.

    Peterson was sentenced to death in Duval County on December 11, 2009.

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    December 10, 2009

    Killer of former Jacksonville cop gets death penalty

    Retired Jacksonville police officer Roy Andrews had supported his stepson financially and emotionally for decades.

    But when Andrews, 64, decided to cut Robert Earl Peterson off in 2005, the ex-cop paid with his life.

    A jury found Peterson, 45, lured his stepdad to Greenlawn Cemetery on Beach Boulevard under the guise of having car trouble, beat him savagely with brass knuckles then fatally shot him. Jurors recommended by a vote of 7-5 that he be executed for the murder.

    On Thursday, Circuit Judge L. Paige Haddock agreed and sentenced him to death, calling the attack vicious and brutal, made all the worse by Andrews realizing he was going to die at the hands of his “beloved stepson.”

    Before his sentence Peterson read a rambling 40-minute statement criticizing his court-appointed lawyers, the judge and prosecutors.

    “The blood of an innocent man is now on their hands,” he told Haddock. “I did not kill my stepdad. ... I loved him very much, and no one and nothing can take that away from me.”
    Under Florida law, appeals are automatic in death penalty cases.

    Jack Andrews, the victim’s son and Peterson’s stepbrother, said after court he stayed indifferent on whether Peterson should be executed. He said he was grateful that four years of court hearings and delays were over.

    He said he spoke with his stepbrother in the hallway as Peterson was led to court by bailiffs. It was the first time in more than four years.

    “I asked him how he was doing, and he just said he was doing the best he could,” Andrews said.

    The victim’s wife wasn’t in court, but Haddock said she opposed the death penalty for her son. But the judge said he couldn’t overlook the fact that Peterson deprived Patricia Andrews of her husband and “continues to leach his mother’s much-needed income.”

    “A good son does not murder his mother’s husband,” Haddock said.

    The judge said Patricia Andrews gave her son $35,000 in the year before the murder plus paid his $350-a-month child support. The money fueled Peterson’s drug habit and car racing hobby, but Peterson hadn’t held down a job in a decade, Haddock said.

    Finally, Roy Andrews had enough. He convinced his wife to stop giving Peterson money and told his stepson to move out.

    Roy Andrews was working as a substance abuse counselor near Greenlawn Cemetery when his son called him because he said he was having engine trouble. When Andrews turned his back to look at the car, Peterson hit him in the head nine or 10 times with brass knuckles, breaking his jaw, knocking out his teeth and dislodging an eye from its socket. With his stepfather still conscious, Peterson shot him twice, the judge said.

    Jack Andrews said it wouldn’t have been out of character for his father to stop to help, even though he was trying to force Peterson to make something of his life.

    “If Robbie needed help, he would have helped him. That’s just the way he was,” Andrews said.
    Haddock said the murder was clearly planned down to Peterson borrowing a truck to pull it off, so his wouldn’t be recognized. The judge said Peterson appears to have paid someone $3,000 to dispose of the truck.

    Assistant State Attorney Rich Mantei praised Jacksonville police for their investigation and said trying the case wasn’t difficult from an evidentiary perspective. What was difficult, he said, was balancing all the emotions of family members in an inter-family killing.

    http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/c..._death_penalty

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Robert Earl Peterson v The State Of Florida

    In today's opinions, the Florida Supreme Court AFFIRMED Peterson's convictions and sentence of death.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Peterson's petition for writ of certiorari was DENIED.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Nos.: (SC10-274)
    Decision Date: May 17, 2012
    Rehearing Denied: July 23, 2012
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Death sentence vacated by the Florida Supreme Court today due to Hurst.

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/d...7/sc16-289.pdf
    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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    On November 19, 2019, Peterson filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/fl...cv01351/371250

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Life, not death, for man who murdered former JSO officer

    After his 7-5 death penalty verdict was overturned by law, Robert Peterson was resentenced to life -- with another 7-5 verdict.

    By Anne Schindler
    First Coast News

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man who spent 8 years on Florida's death row will not be going back.

    A jury voted Thursday to give Robert Earl Peterson a sentence of life in prison, instead of the death penalty.

    Peterson was convicted in 2009 of murdering his stepfather, a retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officer. Reports at the time said Peterson lured retired JSO Officer Bryan Andrews, 64, to Greenlawn Cemetery on Beach Boulevard in August 2005, pretending his car had broken down. There, Peterson shot and beat Andrews to death.

    According to prosecutors, Peterson was angry because his stepfather had cut him from financial support in an effort to force him into self sufficiency. They said Peterson admitted to receiving $35,000 in assistance from his mom the prior year.

    Because the original jury’s death verdict was not unanimous, Peterson was required to be resentenced. That’s the result of a Supreme Court decision in 2016 that overturned many non-unanimous death sentences.

    Peterson's original verdict was 7-5. Thursday, the new jury returned the identical verdict.

    Florida doesn’t have parole, so Peterson will serve a life sentence without release.

    https://www.firstcoastnews.com/artic...b-a066e72461c3
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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