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Thread: Ricardo Ignacio Gill - Florida Death Row

  1. #1
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    Ricardo Ignacio Gill - Florida Death Row




    Summary of Offense:

    Gill was in jail from ages 17 to 30, then, within 11 months of his release, he killed a travel agent during a home invasion robbery, and attempted to murder another woman. During that sentencing he asked the judge to sentence him to death, but the judge imposed a life sentence. Then, while in prison, Gill strangled cellmate Orlando Rosello on July 25, 2001 with cloth strips torn from a bedsheet. Gill pleaded guilty, and again asked the sentencing judge for a death sentence, saying, “Please make the right decision and don’t be at fault of another loss of life.” The defense would have been able to present mitigating evidence of ongoing mental problems, and a horrific upbringing. This time the judge went along with Gill’s sentencing recommendation.

    Gill was sentenced to death in Union County on July 8, 2005.

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    July 11, 2009

    The Florida Supreme Court upheld a death sentence Thursday for a man convicted of killing his cellmate at a Union County prison days after he was sentenced to life in prison for the 1999 fatal beating and stabbing of a Gainesville travel agent.

    Richard Gill, 40, had appealed his conviction and death sentence for the 2001 murder of Orlando Rosello. Gill and Rosello had shared a cell at the Reception and Medical Center in Union County, where Gill was sent after getting the life sentence for slaying Gainesville resident Beverly Moore.

    After entering a guilty plea to Moore's death, Gill told Circuit Judge Stan Morris he would rather be put to death for a crime he didn't commit than spend life in prison and, if he didn't receive a death sentence, another judge would have to impose it.

    Morris notified prison officials of the threat. Four days after his sentencing in Moore's death, Rosello was found strangled to death with a strip of bedsheet around his neck, court record stated.

    Rosello had been serving a 20-month prison sentence for car theft and had been sent to the center for medical care.

    One issue raised on appeal was Gill's alleged mental illness and brain abnormality.

    Morris, in sentencing Gill in the Moore case, had noted Gill's mental health history.

    But the appellate court stated in its order upholding Gill's death sentence, "The existence of mental illness or mental mitigation does not automatically disqualify a defendant from receiving the death penalty."

    The court also found that Rosello's murder was committed in a manner that didn't involve frenzy, panic or rage.

    "Gill admits to coldly strangling Rosello while he slept," the order stated.

    Gill currently is being held at Florida State Prison in Bradford County, according to records from the Florida Department of Corrections.

    http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...99886&tc=yahoo

  3. #3
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    This case was pending in the trial court for three years prior to Gill’s guilty plea. The delay was due to Gill making numerous motions to remove his various attorneys. Gill’s mental health was also an issue, resulting in numerous mental health evaluations and competency hearings prior to sentencing. The direct appeal was also pending in the Florida Supreme Court for nearly three years.

    Case Information:

    On 08/07/06, Gill filed a direct appeal in the Florida Supreme Court citing the following issues: the disproportionate nature of the death sentence; the inappropriate application of the cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravating factor; and, the unconstitutional nature of Florida’s death-sentencing procedures. The appeal was denied on 07/09/09.

    On 10/04/10, Gill filed a 3.851 Motion with the Circuit Court. That motion was dismissed on 02/24/11.

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    RICARDO GILL vs. THE STATE OF FLORIDA

    In today's Florida Supreme Court opinions, the court upheld the circuit court's order finding Gill competent to discharge his postconviction counsel and waive postconviction proceedings.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  5. #5
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    I wonder how volunteers, one of whom Gill seems to be, fit into Governor Scott's death-warrant calculus.

  6. #6
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In this case it doesn't matter. Gill was challenging the circuit court's finding of competency simply because he has changed his mind.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Legend FFM's Avatar
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    Timely Justice Act Not Timely Enough for Death Row Inmate

    He’s been an inmate on Florida’s Death Row for a little more than 7 and a half years. He's also threatened to kill Gov. Rick Scott's wife because he wants to be executed immediately.

    Gill has qualified for execution for more than 2 years. He believes the Timely Justice Act, enacted last year, requires the governor to have already signed his death warrant—and he has been writing the governor insulting letters laced with expletives twice weekly telling him so.

    “If you have a real heart and know how to do your job, you will sign my death warrant!” Gill wrote in his first letter. “Charlie Crist is 7% up on you, don’t let it get to be double or triple because you’re scared.”

    Scott signed the Timely Justice Act of 2013 into law in June to speed up the death penalty appeals process. It sets deadlines for convicted killers to file appeals, and for the state to proceed with issuing warrants after the Florida Supreme Court upholds their sentences.

    Gill believes it requires the governor to sign his death warrant within 30 days of receiving certification from the Florida Supreme Court that he qualified for a warrant.

    “Within 30 days after receiving the letter of certification from the clerk of the Florida Supreme Court, the Governor shall issue a warrant for execution if the executive clemency process has concluded,” the law reads.

    Scott received the letter certifying Gill and 132 others for execution on Oct. 4. Gill has been warrantless for 128 days—96 more than the bill calls for.

    Gill thinks every one of those days has been a waste of taxpayer money. According to a staff analysis of the Timely Justice Act, each day Gill stays on Death Row comes at a cost of $61.53 to taxpayers.

    The current average time spent from sentencing to execution is 13 years, meaning Gill has a little more than 5 years (1,967 days) to go. The remainder of Gill’s sentence will cost taxpayers at least $121,029.51, using that average.

    “Stop wasting precious money and sign it,” Gill wrote in his next letter. “If not, you’re pure [expletive] and will lose your next election!”

    Gill first became incarcerated in 2001. He’s been convicted of murder twice—first, for fatally beating and stabbing Gainesville travel agent Beverley Moore in 1999.

    Gill pleaded guilty in that case and requested the death penalty.

    He told Circuit Court Judge Stan Morris at his sentencing hearing that he’d rather be killed for a crime he didn’t commit than spend the rest of his life in prison.

    Citing Gill’s mental health history, Morris denied his request and instead sentenced him to life in prison in 2001.

    Four days later, Gill strangled his cellmate Orlando Rosello—who was serving a 20-month prison sentence for car theft—with a torn bed sheet.

    Gill pleaded guilty to murdering Rosello in 2005. At a hearing, he told Circuit Court Judge Robert Cates to sentence him to death or expect another person to die. Cates obliged.

    In June 2011, Gill appeared in trial court to stop all of his appeals and fire his attorney—as well as be deemed competent to receive the death penalty.

    For more than 2 years, Gill has been waiting for Scott to sign the death warrant he’s been seeking since his first murder conviction in 2001.

    He didn’t have hope that it’d be anytime soon until last June when he read Scott had signed the Timely Justice Act into law.

    Gill believes that law guaranteed a death warrant within 30 days of the governor receiving that letter certifying which death row inmates are warrant-ready.

    Scott received that letter containing 132 names on Oct. 4 last year. Fifty-one days passed, but Gill’s death warrant never came.

    So Gill began writing the governor two taunting letters a week, hoping to irk him into signing his death warrant.

    As the weeks went on, the tone of Gill’s handwritten letters became darker and more frustrated. The Florida Department of Corrections disciplined him for the letter in which he threatened to kill the governor’s wife.

    Gill set a deadline of Dec. 20 for the governor to sign his death warrant in his letters—and when his deadline passed with no death warrant, he turned to the courts.

    On Jan. 13, Gill petitioned the state Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus order requiring the governor “to uphold the ‘Timely Justice Act of 2013’ he sought implemented” and thus sign his death warrant.

    “Petitioner has diligently sought the death warrant signed by writing Rick Scott threatening letters, including threatening his wife’s life,” wrote Gill in his petition for a writ of mandamus.

    Writs of mandamus are used to compel a public official perform a “ministerial duty,” which the law defines as an “official duty of a public officer wherein the officer has no room for the exercise of discretion.”

    The justices found that signing a death warrant, however, does not qualify as a ministerial duty, since the governor is allowed to grant any death row inmate clemency and that requires discretion.

    The Court denied Gill’s request for mandamus on Jan. 23.

    Now all that’s left for Gill to do is wait for his death with or without a warrant. He’s been without an appeal or an attorney for more than 2 years.

    There was a brouhaha among death penalty opponents when the Timely Justice Act passed the Legislature. The New York Times wrote an editorial denouncing the bill for its potential to send innocent men and women to their doom before DNA evidence could exonerate them.

    "Only God can judge," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Okaloosa, before voting in favor of the bill. "But we sure can set up the meeting."

    For Ricky Gill, however, justice under the new law couldn’t be less timely.

    http://www.wcjb.com/local-news-state...ath-row-inmate

  8. #8
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On June 6, 2018, Gill filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/fl...cv00725/350992

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    Habeas petition denied by the federal district court on October 14, 2022.

    COA also denied.

    https://law.justia.com/cases/federal...25/350992/112/
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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  10. #10
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    On February 27, 2023, Gill filed an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci.../ca11/23-10664
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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