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Thread: Carlton Anthony Francis - Florida Death Row

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    Carlton Anthony Francis - Florida Death Row




    Summary of Offense:

    On July 24, 1997, the bodies of 66-year-old twin sisters, Claire Brunt and Bernice Flegel, were found dead in their home, both the victims of multiple stab wounds. At the scene, investigators found several shoeprints inside the home, some of which were consistent with Carlton Francis’ shoe size; three knives found out of place, with one having blood residue. Claire Brunt received sixteen stab wounds, some of which were three to four inches deep, that severed her jugular vein and punctured her lung. Bernice Flegel received twenty-three stab wounds, some of which were four to five inches deep, that severed her jugular vein. Carlton Francis was a neighbor of the sisters, living with his mother, Eleanor Goods, his two nephews, and his elderly aunt.

    Mrs. Goods and the sisters were good friends, and Francis would occasionally get financial help or rides to school from the sisters. Francis’ nephews testified to seeing Francis near the sisters’ home around the time of the murders, with a red stain on the shoulder of his t-shirt. When Mrs. Brunt’s daughter came to visit at around 4:00 p.m. on the day of the murders, she noticed that the sisters’ car was missing and the front door was ajar. Upon entering the home, she found her mother’s body in the living room and her aunt’s body in the kitchen. Upon inspection of the house, a number of small items, including jewelry, antique coins, pocket watches, and a black radio were missing, as well as the vehicle belonging to the sisters.

    At approximately 3:40 p.m. on the day of the murders, Francis visited a friend named C.J., who admitted to selling heroin to Francis on numerous occasions. C.J. testified that the car Francis was driving was the same that was stolen from the sisters. After seeing a news report of the murders, Francis asked to borrow a wheelbarrow and gasoline and proceeded to burn some clothing, a duffel bag, and what appeared to be a ladies’ pocketbook and passport. Around 7:00 p.m., Francis returned to his neighborhood via taxi. Francis and his mother were questioned by police, and he could not produce the clothing that he was wearing during the day. At a later date, Francis attempted to get C.J. to pawn some items, including coins, jewelry, and a black radio, but C.J. declined. Upon further investigation, numerous items belonging to the sisters were found in a trash pile across from C.J.’s house.

    Francis was sentenced to death in Palm Beach County on October 23, 1998.

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    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    The Direct Appeal was pending from 11/20/98 – 12/20/01.

    Case Information:

    Francis filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 11/20/98, alleging sixteen errors, most of which focus on evidence and testimony issues and the sufficiency of evidence and constitutionality of aggravating circumstances in the case. On 12/20/01, the FSC affirmed the convictions and sentences.

    Francis filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on 07/11/02 that was denied on 12/16/02.

    Francis filed a 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court on 12/12/03 that is pending.

    On 03/10/08, Francis was found incompetent to proceed. A competency hearing is scheduled for 09/16/09.

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    Defense lawyers hope rulings will clear death row in Florida

    Recent rulings by the Florida Supreme Court are paving the way for the state to clear out death row, defense lawyers and death penalty advocates say.

    While prosecutors across the state can fight to uphold the death sentences of 379 men and four women facing execution, defense experts say the burden of doing so may be too unwieldy for the state to pursue. Palm Beach County has seven inmates on death row. Broward has 22, and Miami-Dade has 26.

    "At this point, no one on death row has had a constitutionally valid death penalty," said Karen Gottlieb, co-director of the Florida Center for Capital Representation at Florida International University's College of Law.

    A month ago, the state's high court ruled in Hurst v. State that juries must unanimously agree to a death sentence before a judge could impose it. The ruling negated a law passed earlier this year requiring at least a 10-2 vote. Now Florida has a death penalty but no legal way to sentence someone to it, at least until the legislature passes a new law that survives future legal challenges.

    Last week, the court removed two convicted killers from death row, changing their sentences to life in prison.

    On the surface, the court's decision to commute the sentences of inmates Terrance Phillips, 25, and Robert McCloud, 35, were not related to the earlier finding that the state's death sentence process is unconstitutional — their cases were argued prior to the new ruling. But the juries in both cases recommended death by 8 to 4 votes, which could have been the basis of later challenges.

    Phillips, of Jacksonville, was convicted of two 2009 murders. His sentence was changed to life in prison on the basis of his age (he was 18 at the time of the murders) and his mental capacity. McCloud, of Orlando, saw his sentence in a double murder changed to life in prison because three co-defendants received lesser sentences and the jury did not conclude he was the actual shooter.

    Gottlieb and other anti-death penalty advocates said the state is going to have a tough time keeping anyone on death row because everyone on it was sent there by a jury that was told that they did not have to reach a unanimous decision on various questions leading to a death sentence.

    Those questions include whether aggravating factors were proved beyond a reasonable doubt, whether those factors outweigh mitigating factors, and whether the death penalty is appropriate under the circumstances of the crime.

    Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has asked the supreme court for a clarification of its ruling, including whether it applies to cases already underway. The court's answer, when it comes, will have immediate impact in Broward, where State Attorney Mike Satz and a team of defense lawyers are in the middle of picking a jury in the trial of three men accused of murdering Sheriff's Deputy Brian Tephford in 2006.

    But defense lawyers say they're busy preparing appeals in their death row cases.

    Richard Rosenbaum, who represents death row inmate Randy W. Tundidor, said he plans to appeal despite the fact that the jury in his case recommended death 12-0 for the 2010 murder of Tundidor's landlord, Nova Southeastern University professor Joseph Morrissey.

    Tundidor, 49, was convicted in 2012, but in the penalty phase of his trial, he refused to present testimony to support a lesser sentence. Jurors could have recommended death by a simple majority, but Rosenbaum said Tundidor would have fought harder if he could have avoided the death sentence by persuading a single juror to vote against it.

    "He wouldn't have waived mitigation," Rosenbaum said. "That alone should entitle him to a new sentencing hearing."

    Broward's most recent death row inmate, James Herard, was sentenced in 2015 for the 2008 murder of Eric Jean-Pierre in Lauderhill. His case has parallels with McCloud's — the jury in Herard's case was not unanimous in its recommendation of death, and Herard was not the triggerman. The person who actually shot Jean-Pierre, Tharod Bell, was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

    Palm Beach County hasn't sentenced a killer to death since 2002, when John Chamberlain, now 38, and Thomas Thibault, now 41, were convicted of the Thanksgiving Day 1998 murders of Bryan Harrison, Daniel Ketchum, and Charlotte Kenyon in West Palm Beach.

    Thibault's sentence was changed to life in prison in 2003 because the judge in his case imposed death without a jury's recommendation. Chamberlain's sentence was reduced because Thibault, the shooter, was no longer facing death.

    The most recent inmate from Palm Beach County remaining on death row is Carlton Francis, 41, convicted in 1998 of the murders of twin sisters Clair Brunt and Bernice Flegel in West Palm Beach. The jury recommended death by an 8 to 4 vote in Francis' case.

    The more defense lawyers challenge death sentences, the more likely it is that the vast majority of cases will end up getting changed to life sentences, said Nancy Abudu, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

    "It just makes sense in terms of efficiency," she said. "New sentencing hearings for all of these inmates would be a daunting task. You could only imagine the burden of picking new juries and finding witnesses from cases that are 10, 20 years old and older...Commuting those sentences just makes sense. It's the best thing to do in light of the fact that Florida's system has been declared unconstitutional."

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/flo...126-story.html

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