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Thread: Paul Durousseau - Florida

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    Paul Durousseau - Florida




    Facts of the Crime:

    Convicted and sentenced to death in the murders of five Florida women and suspected in other murders including a Georgia woman. The first Jacksonville victim was Nicole L. Williams, 18, who was found December 19, 2002 in a ditch, wrapped in a blanket.

    Two weeks later on New Year's night, Nikia Shanell Kilpatrick was discovered bound and strangled in her apartment. Police say Kilpatrick, who was 19 and pregnant, could have been dead two days. Her two small children were found unharmed in the apartment.

    On January 10, 2003, 20-year-old Shawanda Denise McCalister, who was also pregnant, was found bound and strangled in her apartment in the same neighborhood.

    The last two victims were found together February 5 in a vacant lot. Surita Ann Cohen, 19, and Jovanna Tyrica Jefferson, 17, were last seen with a cab driver.

    A police report states that Cohen was found with her hands bound behind her back with a telephone cord. There was bruising on Jefferson's wrists, which the medical examiner said was consistent with being bound before her death.

    A search of Durousseau's previous residence turned up a bed sheet that contained DNA from Jefferson, police said. A search of his car turned up jewelry belonging to Cohen and Jefferson, and the pair's cell phone records showed that they had placed calls to him, police said. The Georgia victim was Tracy Habersham, whose nude body was found September 7, 1997, by someone walking a dog near the neighborhood where the 26-year-old grew up. She was last seen two days earlier at a party at a Fort Benning, Georgia club. Police had believed she was strangled shortly after the party.

    Durousseau was sentenced to death in Duval County on December 13, 2007.

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    December 13, 2007

    A man accused of killing seven women and convicted of one murder was sent to Florida's death row on Thursday.

    Paul Durousseau was convicted in June of the rape and slaying of 24-year-old Tyresa Mack in 1999. The same jury voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty.

    Durousseau's attorneys argued that his life should be spared because he suffers from brain damage and other mental illnesses that impaired his behavior. But prosecutors said Durousseau was well aware of what he did when he killed the woman and deserved the death penalty.

    On Thursday, Judge Jack Schemer formally sentenced Durousseau to death by lethal injection.

    "This was a consciously hideous crime," Schemer said from the bench. "Durousseau is manipulative, devious and crafty."

    Schemer said the brutality of the slaying was among the reasons why he agreed with the jury's recommendation that Durousseau should die.

    Durousseau was arrested in 2003 and is charged in the deaths of Mack and five other women in Duval County. He is also accused of killing a woman in Columbus, Ga., while he was in the Army and stationed at Fort Benning stationed in 1997.

    Last month, the State Attorney's Office dropped the other five murder charges.

    Prosecutors were concerned that an acquittal in one of the remaining Jacksonville cases would jeopardize the conviction in the Mack case. Additionally, prosecutors worried an overturned conviction in the Mack case could present problems for the remaining cases.

    Durousseau is expected to stand trial in the Georgia slaying. Tracy Habersham's nude body was found Sept. 7, 1997, two days after a party at a club on base. Police said they believe she was strangled shortly after the party.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In yesterday's Florida Supreme Courts opinions, Durousseau's conviction and death sentence were affirmed.

    Opinion here

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    DUROUSSEAU, PAUL (Black/Male)
    DC# J19087
    DOB: 08/11/70

    ***Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, Duval County Case #03-10182

    Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Mark H. Mahon

    Attorney, Trial: Waffa Hanania – Public Defender’s Office

    Attorney, Direct Appeal: Nada M. Carey – Public Defender’s Office

    Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA

    Date of Offense: 07/26/99

    Date of Sentence: 12/13/07

    Trial Summary:

    09/04/03 Indicted as follows:

    Count I: First-degree murder

    06/08/07 Jury returned guilty verdict

    06/28/07 Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2

    12/13/07 Sentenced as follows:

    Count I: First-degree murder – Death

    Appeal Summary:

    Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

    FSC# 08-68

    01/22/08 Direct appeal filed

    12/09/10 Conviction and sentence affirmed

    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    It took almost four years for Durousseau’s case to go to trial.

    Case Information:

    On 01/22/08, Durousseau filed a direct appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, in which he raised the following issues: (1) admission of Williams rule evidence of the collateral murders, (2) evidence was legally insufficient to support the pecuniary-gain aggravator, (3) rejection of expert’s testimony regarding mental mitigation in favor of conflicting lay testimony, (4) the evidence was insufficient to support a first-degree murder conviction, and (5) Ring v. Arizona. On 12/09/10, the Florida Supreme court upheld Durousseau’s conviction and sentence.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis DENIED.

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    I was watching a rerun on ID network about this case the other night. The jury came back with a 11-1 vote for the DP.

    Its disturbing to think that this serial killer could have his death sentence thrown out, if Scotus rules that a sentence of death must be unanimous.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Taxi driver killer's lawyer wants him removed from death row

    Paul Durousseau convicted in 1999 murder of Tyresa Mack.

    A high-profile murder case will go before the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee Thursday.

    Paul Durousseau's new lawyer wants him to be removed from death row, based on the U.S. Supreme Court's Hurst ruling that found Florida's death penalty law unconstitutional.

    Durousseau was a taxi driver convicted in the 1999 murder of Tyresa Mack. He was sentenced to death in 2007.

    He was also accused in the murders of six other women, but never tried.

    Five women were found strangled and killed between January through February 2003. Two of the women were pregnant.

    The Florida Supreme Court upheld Durousseau's sentence on the automatic appeal.

    Now, Dorousseau's lawyer is seeking post-conviction relief, on grounds of ineffective counsel and the U.S. Supreme Court's Hurst ruling.

    http://www.news4jax.com/news/taxi-dr...from-death-row

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Hearing for taxi driver killer turns into death penalty debate

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - An appeal from Jacksonville death row inmate Paul Durousseau quickly turned into a discussion Thursday at the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee about whether all 389 people on death row should be retried or be automatically sentenced to life in prison.

    The court has been grappling with the decision since the way inmates are sentenced to death was declared unconstitutional in January. Lawyer Rickard Kurtiz said it's clear Durousseau's sentence can’t remain in place.

    Afterward, claims lawyer Neal Roth called the legislative action political payback.

    The court asked tough questions about the wording of the fee arrangement and of legislative intent. A ruling is expected in several months.

    Durousseau was a taxi driver convicted in the 1999 murder of Tyresa Mack. He was sentenced to death in 2007.

    He was also accused in the murders of six other women, but never tried.

    Five women were found strangled and killed between January through February 2003. Two of the women were pregnant.

    The Florida Supreme Court upheld Durousseau's sentence on the automatic appeal.

    Now Dorousseau's lawyer is seeking post-conviction relief on grounds of ineffective counsel and the U.S. Supreme Court's Hurst ruling that found Florida's death penalty law unconstitutional.

    http://www.news4jax.com/news/hearing...penalty-debate

  10. #10
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On October 11, 2016, Durousseau filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/fl...cv01275/329311

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