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Thread: Robert Ira Peede - Florida Death Row

  1. #1
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    Robert Ira Peede - Florida Death Row




    Facts of the Crime:

    Robert Ira Peede drove his motorcycle from Hillsboro, North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida on March 30, 1983 with the intent of getting his estranged wife, Darla Peede, to return to North Carolina with him. The full extent of his plan was to use Ms. Peede as a decoy to lure his former wife, Geraldine, and her current boyfriend, Calvin Wagner, to a motel where he was going to kill them. He sold his motorcycle and flew to Miami, Florida. At approximately 5:15 p.m., Peede called Darla and requested that she come pick him up at the airport.

    Darla agreed but prior to her departure she left strict instructions with her daughter to call the police if she was not back by midnight and to give them the license plate number of her car. Darla also gave her daughter both Geraldine’s and the Hillsboro Police Department’s phone numbers. Darla feared that she would be forced to return to North Carolina and would be killed with the others. She purposefully only took her purse with her when she left her home.

    According to Peede’s statements, Darla picked him up at the airport. He then directed her to drive north on Interstate 95. The two mistakenly got on to the turnpike heading toward Orlando. As some point the song “Swinging” came on the radio. Due to Peede’s belief that Darla and Geraldine had placed an ad for sexual partners in the national magazine “Swinger,” Peede superficially cut Darla in the side with his knife. On the way to Orlando, the two picked up a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker drove the car while the two had intercourse in the back seat. Darla remained in the back seat and the hitchhiker was dropped off in Orlando. Peede drove toward Daytona Beach on I-4.

    The two began discussing Peede’s idea about the advertisement in the magazine “Swingers.” About five or six miles outside of Orlando, Peede stopped the car on the shoulder of the road, jumped into the back seat, and stabbed Darla in the neck. This wound resulted in Darla bleeding to death within five to fifteen minutes. Peede continued to drive to North Carolina. He discarded Darla’s body in a wooded area in Camden, Georgia. Peede threw his knife out of the car window at some point during the drive. Peede still had intentions of carrying out the murders of Geraldine and Calvin; his shotgun was loaded and placed by the door when he was arrested. Peede was arrested at his home in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Darla’s car was parked outside of his residence. The car’s interior was heavily bloodstained. Peede wrote out a confession stating that he killed Darla by stabbing her in the throat. Peede also asked for the death penalty and for this sentence to be carried out as soon as possible.

    Peede was sentenced to death in Orange County on March 5, 1984.

  2. #2
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Factors Contributing to the Delay in the Imposition of the Sentence:

    The main delay in this case was that the 3.850 motion was pending in the circuit court for eight years. The Florida Supreme Court stated the following in reference to this delay:
    “At the onset we feel obliged to comment on the inexplicable delay in this case. As previously mentioned, on 07/05/88, the trial court stayed Peede’s execution and on 10/07/88, it scheduled an evidentiary hearing for 11/28/88. At this point, the State and Peede filed several motions for continuance. The trial court granted the motion on 09/15/89, and continued the case indefinitely until a future date to be determined by the court. On 10/06/89, Peede filed a notice of supplemental authority. This was the last action on the case until Peede filed his amended motion on 02/21/95, some six years later. There is no explanation for this time lapse in the record. However, we stress that the State is the party especially charged with the burden to see that these cases are disposed of in a timely matter, especially in cases where the State has received the final continuance.” See Peede V. Florida, 748 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 1999). Since being remanded to the circuit court by the Florida Supreme Court, the 3.850 motion has currently been pending for almost three years.

    Case Information:

    Peede filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court 04/05/84. The main issue that Peede raised was that the trial judge erred in allowing Peede to excuse himself from attending his capital trial. The Court ruled the record supported the trial court’s finding that Peede knowingly and voluntarily excused himself from the courtroom. The Court also stated a defendant can waive his right to be present at stages of his capital trial if he personally chooses to voluntarily absent himself; therefore, no reversible error was committed by the trial court. The Court affirmed Peede’s conviction and sentence on 08/15/85. The rehearing was denied on 09/04/85 and the mandate was issued on 10/11/85.

    Peede filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 12/05/85. The Petition was denied on 06/23/86.

    Governor Bob Martinez signed Peede’s death warrant on 05/06/88. Peede then filed a 3.850 motion to the Circuit Court on 06/06/88. A stay of execution was granted by the Circuit Court on 06/24/88, but the motion was denied on 06/21/96.

    Peede filed an appeal of the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion to the Florida Supreme Court on 03/03/97. The main issue raised in this appeal was the fact that the trial court and the State conceded for the need for an evidentiary hearing on certain claims and the trial court had scheduled a four-day evidentiary hearing, but the hearing never took place and the motion was denied. The Court affirmed the trial court summary denial of many of the claims, but remanded the case to the circuit court, on 08/19/99, for an evidentiary hearing to be held on Peede’s Brady claim, the majority of his ineffective assistance of counsel claims, his mental competence claims, and his public records request. The motion was denied on 08/12/04.

    On 10/29/04, Peede filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. Peede raised six claims during the appeal. First, Peede claimed the trial court erred in finding him competent to proceed with post-conviction proceedings. Second, he argues that his counsel was ineffective during the penalty phase of his trial. Third, Peede claimed he was denied an adequate mental health examination in violation of Ake v. Oklahoma. Fourth, Peede claimed the State withheld evidence from his murder conviction in violation of Brady v. Maryland. Fifth, Peede claimed he was incompetent to stand trial in 1984, which was denied by the trial court as “wholly without merit.” Finally, Peede claimed the Florida death penalty statute is unconstitutional under Ring v. Arizona. The Court concluded there is no merit to Peede’s claims. On 01/11/07, the Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Peede’s 3.850 Motion. On 01/26/07, the Court denied Peede’s Motion for a Rehearing. The mandate was issued on 05/09/07.

    On 10/07/05, Peede filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court. Peede raised the following three claims: (1) ineffectiveness of appellate counsel, (2) his right to confrontation under Crawford v. Washington was violated during his trial, and (3) the trial court and the State unconstitutionally minimized his jurors’ sense of responsibility in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi. The Court concluded there is no merit to Peede’s claims. On 01/11/07, the Court denied Peede’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. On 01/26/07, the Court denied Peede’s Motion for a Rehearing. The mandate was issued on 05/09/07.

    On 05/05/08, Peede filed a Habeas Petition in the United States District Court, Middle District. This case is currently pending. http://dockets.justia.com/docket/flo...cv00732/213542

    On 11/23/10, Peede filed a Successive 3.850 Motion in the State Circuit Court. This motion is currently pending.

  3. #3
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, following the Florida Supreme Court's denial of his motion for post-conviction relief, Peede's petition for writ of certiorari was DENIED.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...es/12-6874.htm

  4. #4
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On March 10, 2015, Peede filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit over the presumable denial of his habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir.../ca11/15-10982

  5. #5
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On May 12, 2015, Peede filed another appeal before the Eleventh Circuit.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir.../ca11/15-12077

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On February 23, 2017, oral argument will be heard in Peede's appeal before the Eleventh Circuit.

    http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/sites/d...e%20Public.pdf

  7. #7
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Peede's petition for a writ of certiorari was DENIED. Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor dissented.

    Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
    Case Numbers: (15-10982, 15-12077)
    Decision Date: November 8, 2017
    Rehearing Denied: January 10, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/17-8491.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  8. #8
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Refused Death-Penalty Case Sparks Misgivings

    Though they agreed that the case did not merit review, Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg voiced grave concerns Monday at the rejection of a death-penalty challenge.

    Awaiting execution in Florida, Robert Peede petitioned for habeas relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing.

    Though a federal judge agreed, finding it probable that Peede would have received a different sentence had the attorney present mitigating evidence concerning Peede's mental health and difficult childhood, the 11th Circuit reversed.

    "In its view," Sotomayor summarized, "Peede could not establish that he was prejudiced by any deficiency of counsel because the 'new mitigation evidence .... posed a doubled-edge-sword dilemma' in that 'the new information could have hurt as much as it helped.'"

    While the Eleventh Circuit concluded that double-edged "post-conviction evidence is usually insufficient to warrant habeas relief," Sotomayor said Monday that the court's precedent flatly bars blanket rules that foreclose a showing of prejudice because the new evidence is double-edged.

    Joined in her 3-paragraph opinion by Ginsburg, Sotomayor said courts have a duty to consider the evidence in context, not in isolation, "regardless of whether it is considered to be double-edged."

    "Considering the posture of this case, under which our review is constrained by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, I cannot conclude the particular circumstances here warrant this court's intervention," Sotomayor added. "That said, the Eleventh Circuit's consideration of Peede's claim is deeply concerning. The ultimate question at issue in a case like this is whether 'there is a reasonable probability that [the jury] would have struck a different balance.' A truncated consideration of new mitigating evidence that simply dismisses it as double edged does nothing to further that inquiry."

    Sotomayor noted that she made a similar point about postconviction evidence consideration earlier this year when she dissented from the denial of certiorari in Trevino v. Davis.

    (Source: Courthouse News)
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  9. #9
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Today the Florida Supreme Court denied his Hurst appeal.

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/d.../sc17-1674.pdf

  10. #10
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Peede's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Numbers: (SC17-1674)
    Decision Date: July 19, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/18-6378.html

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