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Thread: Richard E. Lynch - Florida

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    Richard E. Lynch - Florida




    Facts of the Crime:

    Richard Lynch pled guilty to the March 5, 1999 murders of Roseanna Morgan and her 13-year-old daughter, Leah Caday. Lynch admitted to having an extramarital affair with Roseanna Morgan between August 1998 and February 1999. During that time, they had run up credit card bills. When Morgan ended the affair, Lynch asked her to assist in the credit card debt they had acquired together. Additionally, Lynch wrote a letter to his wife prior to the events on March 5, 1999, admitting to the affair. In the letter, he had directed his wife to letters and pictures Morgan had given Lynch during the affair. Lynch asked his wife to send the letters and pictures to Morgan’s family. He wrote: “I want them to have a sense of why it happened, some decent closure, a reason and understanding…” A doctor for the State testified that this was evidence of a murder-suicide plot.

    On March 5, 1999, Lynch went to her apartment with three handguns with the intent of getting Morgan to pay off the credit card bills. When he arrived at the apartment, Morgan was not there, but Caday was. He showed her the gun he had on him and forced her to stay there with him until her mom returned. Lynch told detectives that he just planned on showing Morgan the guns to make her sit down and talk to him. He further confessed to shooting her four or five times with one gun, bringing her into the apartment and then shooting her in the back of the head with a different gun. Lynch then admitted that he shot Caday in her back. Both Morgan and Caday died of their gunshot wounds.

    Lynch had called 911 and admitted to the operator all of the above events and said he was going to kill himself. He also called his wife three times during the events, and she testified that she could hear a woman screaming in the background. The second time he called, she testified that he admitted to shooting someone. A few of Morgan’s neighbors testified to the events of March 5, 1999 as well. One neighbor testified to looking out a peephole after hearing the first gunshots and seeing Morgan being dragged into her apartment by Lynch. The neighbor further testified that Morgan was screaming and appeared to be bloody from the waist down. The neighbor also testified that, after Lynch closed the door, three more gunshots were heard. Another neighbor also testified to hearing three more shots five or seven minutes after the first shots.

    After a standoff with the police, Lynch was arrested. During the interview after his arrest, he confessed to all the events described.

    Lynch was sentenced to death in Seminole County on April 3, 2001.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Case Information:

    On 04/12/01, Lynch filed his Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. During his appeal, Lynch made several claims. The first claim was the trial court erred in the finding of HAC as an aggravating factor in Caday’s murder. He also argues the trial court erred in the finding of CCP as an aggravating factor in Morgan’s murder. The FSC found that the trial court did not err in finding either the HAC or the CCP as aggravating factors. They found that the suffering and emotional strain placed on Caday by holding her hostage and watching her mother be murdered before her own death was, in fact, enough to find the HAC aggravating factor. They also found that the murder of Morgan was cold, calculated and premeditated in that Lynch shot her 4 or 5 times before switching guns and then shooting her execution style. Lynch also claims that the written sentencing order was not clear as to whether the judge found the mental health mitigators to be statutory or nonstatutory mitigators. Although the Court found that the sentencing order was not as clear as it could have been, it was not a reversible error. The Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on 01/09/03. Subsequently, Lynch’s Motion for Rehearing was denied on 03/21/03.

    On 06/19/03, Lynch filed for a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on 10/06/03.

    On 07/26/04, Lynch filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court. The lower court issued an order denying Lynch’s 3.850 Motion on 03/30/06. On 04/03/06, the lower court issued an amended order denying Lynch’s 3.850 Motion. Lynch’s Motion for a Rehearing was denied on 10/09/06.

    On 11/13/06, Lynch filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. On 11/06/08, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the disposition of the lower court. On 11/20/08, Lynch filed a Motion for Rehearing, which was denied on 01/30/09. On 02/16/09, the Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in accordance with the opinion rendered on 11/06/08.

    On 07/03/07, Lynch filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court, which was denied on 11/06/08. On 11/20/08, Lynch filed a Motion for Rehearing, which was denied on 01/30/09. On 02/16/09, the Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in accordance with the opinion rendered on 11/06/08.

    On 04/24/09, Lynch filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court, Middle District. This petition is currently pending.

  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On September 25, 2012, Lynch was granted a new sentencing proceeding by US District Judge Charlene Honeywell on an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.

    http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal...715/226223/28/

    On October 9, 2012, the State of Florida filed an appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir...ca11/12-15188/

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    Lynch v. Secretary, FL Dept. of Corr.

    Opinion Date: January 8, 2015

    Court: Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

    Petitioner, sentenced to death for the murder of a mother and daughter, appealed from the district court's grant in part and denial in part of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 federal habeas petition. The State appealed from the part of the judgment granting petitioner relief based on his claim that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because counsel advised him, after he had entered a guilty plea, to waive his right to a jury in the sentence stage of his capital trial. Applying the prejudice standard from Hill v. Lockhart, the court concluded that petitioner was not prejudiced by counsel's deficient advice regarding the waiver of a jury trial and the state court's decision was not an unreasonable application of clearly established law. The court rejected petitioner's remaining ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Accordingly, the court affirmed the part of the district court's judgment denying habeas relief to petitioner and reversed the part of the judgment granting him relief.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On April 20, 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit DENIED Lynch's petition for en banc rehearing.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.a...es/15-6191.htm

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Lynch's petition for certiorari.

    Appeals exhausted decision could result in an execution date.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Today the Florida Supreme Court denied a couple of claims that Lynched presented. Also some of testimony from his trial is included.

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/d.../sc17-2235.pdf

  8. #8
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court DENIED Lynch's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Numbers: (SC17-2235)
    Decision Date: September 20, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/18-7118.html

    Richard E. Lynch died on August 5th, 2021.

    http://www.dc.state.fl.us/offenderSe...&TypeSearch=IR

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