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Thread: Sean Hector Smith aka Dolan Darling - Florida

  1. #1
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    Sean Hector Smith aka Dolan Darling - Florida




    Summary of Offense:

    Sean Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Grazyna Mlynarczyk. On October 29, 1996, Mlynarczyk was found dead her bedroom by her boyfriend, Zdzislaw Raminiski. Mlynarczyk was naked from the waist down and had been shot in the head. The morning of Mlynarczyk’s murder, she had told Zdzislaw that she had a doctor’s appointment and would call him afterwards. Mlynarczyk never called, and Zdzislaw was not able to contact her by phone. At this time, Zdzislaw went to Mlynarczyk’s residence and entered using his key. Zdzislaw found Mlynarczyk, naked from the waist down, lying in her bedroom and moved her to the bed. He noted that she was cold and covered in blood. Smith then called the police. Firefighters responded to Zdzislaw’s call and determined that Mlynarczyk was dead.

    Officers secured items from the scene, including a lotion bottle, a woman’s undergarment, a pillow with a gun shot entering one side and exiting the other, two AmSouth Bank envelopes holding a total of $1,200, a shoe box holding $1,000 and a wallet holding $58. The officers also canvassed the area for possible witnesses. The police contacted Smith during the canvassing because he lived in an apartment close to Mylnarczyk’s, but he told police that he had been working and did not know about the incident. A medical examiner determined that Mlynarcyk was shot at close range through the pillow. According to the medical examiner, there was semen in Mlynarczyk’s vaginal area; furthermore, Mlynarczyk had a tear to the labia majora caused by trauma to the vagina, which was associated with nonconsensual sex. The DNA of the semen collected from Mlynarczyk’s body matched the DNA obtained from Smith’s blood sample. Furthermore, a trial expert, using statistical analysis, determined that Smith’s DNA profile would be found in 1 out of 101 billion African Americans. Finally, Smith’s fingerprints were matched to the lotion bottle secured by the police from Mlynarczyk’s home.

    Smith was sentenced to death in Orange County on December 18, 1998.

  2. #2
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    Smith (aka Dolan Darling) was denied a subsequent writ concerning method of execution by the Florida Supreme Court on July 1, 2010.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/d...0/sc09-555.pdf

    The US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Certificate of Appealabilty for Darling on September 14, 2010.

    Opinon is here:

    http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinion...1013408ord.pdf

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    SMITH, Sean AKA Dolan Darling (B/M)

    DC # X06883

    DOB: 05/28/76


    ***Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County, Case #97-7497

    Sentencing Judge: The Honorable John Adams

    Attorney, Trial: R. LeBlanc and F. Iennaro – Special Public Defenders

    Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher Quarles – Assistant Public Defender

    Attorneys, Collateral Appeals: Mark Gruber and David Hendry – CCRC-M


    Date of Offense: 10/29/96

    Date of Sentence: 12/18/98

    Trial Summary:

    06/12/97 Smith was indicted on the following:

    Count I: First-Degree Murder

    Count II: Armed Sexual Battery

    Count III: Armed Robbery

    12/03/98 Smith was found guilty on Counts I and II.

    Smith was found not guilty on Count III.

    12/15/98 Upon advisory sentencing, the jury, by an 11 to 1 majority, voted for the death penalty.

    12/18/98 Smith was sentenced as follows:

    Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death

    Count II: Armed Sexual Battery – 21 Years, 4 months and 15 days

    Appeals Summary:

    Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

    FSC #94,691

    808 So. 2d 145

    01/14/99 Appeal filed.

    01/03/02 FSC affirmed the conviction and sentence.

    02/12/02 Rehearing denied.

    02/12/02 Mandate issued.


    United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari

    USSC #01-10548

    537 U.S. 848

    05/13/02 Petition filed.

    10/07/02 Petition denied.


    State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion

    CC #97-7497

    09/24/03 Motion filed.

    04/26-30/04 Evidentiary hearing held.

    11/02/04 Motion denied.


    Florida Supreme Court – 3.850 Appeal

    FSC # 04-2379

    966 So.2d 366 (2007)

    12/17/04 Appeal filed.

    07/12/07 FSC affirmed denial of motion.

    07/26/07 Motion for Rehearing filed.

    09/26/07 Motion for Rehearing denied.

    10/12/07 Mandate issued.


    Florida Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus

    FSC# 05-2020

    966 So.2d 366 (2007)

    11/02/05 Petition filed.

    07/12/07 FSC denied petition.

    10/12/07 Mandate issued.


    United States District Court, Middle District – Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus

    USDC# 07-cv-01701

    10/24/07 Petition filed.

    06/17/10 Petition denied.


    United States Court of Appeals, 11th District – Habeas Appeal

    USCA# 10-13408

    619 F.3d 1279

    07/16/10 Appeal filed.

    09/14/10 Certificate of Appealability denied.


    State Circuit Court – 3.851 Motion

    CC# 97-7497

    11/08/07 Motion filed.

    02/27/08 Order holding motion in abeyance pending FSC opinion.

    03/05/08 State’s Motion for Rehearing filed.

    06/05/08 Motion for Rehearing granted; Stay lifted.

    10/06/08 Amended motion filed.

    02/20/09 Amended motion denied.


    Florida Supreme Court – 3.851 Appeal

    FSC# 09-555

    03/27/09 Appeal filed.

    07/01/10 FSC affirmed denial of postconviction motion.

    07/16/10 Motion for Rehearing.

    09/15/10 Motion denied.

    10/04/10 Mandate issued.


    United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari

    USSC# 10-7932

    (Pending)

    12/09/10 Petition filed.


    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    The Direct Appeal was pending for three years prior to a decision being rendered.


    Case Information:

    Smith filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 01/14/99. The issues addressed included that the trial court erred in denying Smith’s motion for judgment of acquittal, in admitting DNA evidence and testimony of a medical expert, in limiting defense questioning of prospective jurors and that the death penalty was not proportional. The Florida Supreme Court did not find errors that warranted reversing the conviction or sentence and affirmed the conviction and sentence on 01/03/02. Rehearing was denied on 02/12/02. A mandate was issued on 02/12/02.

    Smith filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court on 05/13/02. The petition was denied on 10/07/02.

    Smith filed a 3.850 Motion in the circuit court on 09/24/03. The motion was denied on 11/02/04.

    On 12/17/04, Smith filed a 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. On 07/12/07, the FSC affirmed denial of motion. On 07/26/07, Smith filed a Motion for Rehearing in the Florida Supreme Court, which was denied 09/26/07. The Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in accordance with the 07/12/07 opinion on 10/12/07.

    On 11/02/05, Smith filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida Supreme Court. On 07/12/07, the FSC denied the petition. The Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in accordance with the 07/12/07 opinion on 10/12/07.

    Smith filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court, Middle District, on 10/24/07. This petition was denied and dismissed with prejudice on 06/17/10.

    On 07/16/10, Smith filed a Habeas Corpus Appeal in the United States Court of Appeals. A Certificate of Appealability was denied on 09/14/10.

    On 11/08/07, Smith filed a 3.851 Motion in the Circuit Court. On 02/27/08, the Circuit Court ordered this motion be held in abeyance pending the Supreme Court’s opinion. On 03/05/08, the State filed a Motion for Rehearing. The Circuit Court granted rehearing as well as lifted the stay on 06/05/08. On 10/06/08, Smith filed an amended 3.851 motion in the Circuit Court. This motion was denied on 02/20/09.

    On 03/27/09, Smith filed a 3.851 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 06/30/09. On 07/01/10, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the postconviction motion. A Motion for Rehearing was filed on 07/16/10 and denied on 09/15/10. A mandate was issued on 10/04/10.

    Smith filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court on 12/09/10. This petition is currently pending.

    SCOTUS

    No. 10-7932 *** CAPITAL CASE ***
    Title:
    Dolan Darling, aka Sean Smith, Petitioner
    v.
    Walter A. McNeil, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al.
    Docketed: December 13, 2010
    Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
    Case Nos.: (10-13408)
    Decision Date: September 14, 2010

    Dec 9 2010 Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due January 12, 2011)

  4. #4
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Darling's petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis was DENIED.

    Order here

  5. #5
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    On January 17, 2017, Smith filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/fl...cv00070/332592
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  6. #6
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    Three death sentences vacated in Orange County

    Orange County prosecutors gave few answers Friday during the first death-penalty hearings since State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced that her office will no longer be seeking capital punishment for defendants.

    During the hearings, three judges vacated the death sentences of three men who were sentenced to death years ago without unanimous jury decisions: Derrick McLean, Sean Smith and David Frances.

    “Those will be assessed on a case-by-case basis,” Assistant State Attorney Ken Nunnelley said Friday, when Judge Bob LeBlanc asked whether his office intends to seek the death penalty again for Frances.

    Since the three men were sentenced, courts have ruled that Florida’s former practice of requiring only a majority of jurors to recommend the death penalty is unconstitutional. Jurors now have to be unanimously in favor of sending defendants to death row.

    Courts across the state have been vacating non-unanimous capital punishment sentences and preparing to give death-row inmates new proceedings in front of new juries, which will decide whether the defendants should be put to death or get life in prison.

    But those proceedings require prosecutors, and it is not clear whether attorneys from Ayala’s office will push again for capital punishment.

    Ayala last week was vague about how her office will handle the cases of 10 people sent to death row by non-unanimous juries.

    “I have absolutely no guidance on that issue,” Nunnelley said Friday, when Judge Julie O’Kane asked what his office plans to do in McLean’s case.

    In Smith’s case, Judge Marc Lubet cautioned prosecutors not to wait too long to come to a decision. “I don’t think I can allow the state to wait until the last minute,” he said.

    All three cases are scheduled for another status hearing in early May.

    McLean, now 39, was sentenced to death by a 9-3 jury vote for the murder of 16-year-old Jahvon Thompson during a home invasion in 2004. When a neighbor heard noise coming from the home and came to ask the family to keep quiet, McLean shot him in the back. The neighbor survived.

    Smith, who is also known as Dolan Darling and is now 40, was convicted of raping and murdering a 39-year-old woman named Grace Mlynarczyk in her apartment in 1996. A jury sent him to death row by a vote of 11-1 in 1998. At the time of the murder, Smith was 22 and a fugitive, having escaped from jail in the Bahamas.

    Frances and his younger brother, Elvis Frances, were convicted of strangling 41-year-old Helena Mills and her 17-year-old niece, Jo Anna Charles, in Mills’ home in 2000. Mills’ son, who was 13, found their bodies. David Frances, now 36, was sentenced to death by a vote of 9-3 on one count and 10-2 on the other. His brother, who was 16 at the time of the murders, was sentenced to life in prison.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...321-story.html

  7. #7
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    July 24, 2017

    Sentence reduced to life in prison for 3 Orange County death row inmates

    wftv.com

    Death sentences in three long-running Orange County murder cases were thrown out Friday. The defendants will instead serve a life sentence in prison, unless State Attorney Aramis Ayala agrees to re-try the punishment portions of their cases and purse the death penalty a second time.

    The three defendants had asked to have their death sentences thrown out based on having been sentenced by a non-unanimous jury, in violation of a recent and partially retroactive ruling from the state Supreme Court known as the Hurst ruling.

    Derrick McLean was 27 years old at the time of his 2004 crime. He was convicted of killing 15-year-old Jahvon Thompson during a home burglary, originally meant to net either cash or marijuana for McLean, a cousin of his, and an acquaintance. A jury voted 9-3 to sentence him to death.

    David Frances was 20 years old when he killed Helena Mills, a family friend who he was said to have known for some time, and JoAnna Charles, a visitor in Mills’ home. The murders were committed in conjunction with a car burglary and jewelry theft, potentially motivated by a demand that Frances move out of the home in which he’d been living. The jury voted 9-3 for death as it related to Mills’ murder and 10-2 for death as it related to Charles’ murder.

    Sean Smith, also known as Dolan Darling, was 20 years old when he raped and murdered an Orange County woman after breaking into her home. During the penalty phase of Smith’s trial, a taxi driver from the area testified Smith was the same man who shot him while he was working one night. The jury ultimately sentenced Smith to death in an 11-1 vote.

    The defendants have had their cases remanded to local courts for the purposes of determining whether they fall under the retroactive protections of the Hurst case. In court Friday, the attorney general’s office opposed the defendants’ motions for post-conviction relief, arguing that none of the three are entitled to new punishment hearings.

    In McLean’s case, Orange and Osceola County State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s office has also signed on in opposition to a new punishment hearing or the discarding of McLean’s original death sentence.

    The prevailing theory from the state was that each of the crimes was awful enough to have convinced a jury to vote unanimously for death should such a vote have been required at the time. Modern trials involving the death penalty would include written instructions for jurors requiring that a death sentence be unanimously voted upon.

    However, Ayala’s recent affirmation of her unwillingness to seek the death penalty while in office raises questions for old cases that find themselves newly in-flux. Should a judge rule that the Hurst ruling applies, any or all of these cases and eight others could end up having the defendants’ punishment retried in front of a new jury if Ayala and her associates are willing to fight for the death penalty for a second time.

    Ayala’s unwillingness to fight for the death penalty against any defendant who wins relief from his original death sentence would likely result in his temporary life without parole sentence becoming permanent.

    For two weeks, Ayala’s and her spokesperson have confined their remarks on the future of cases like these to saying cases would be examined individually, and that any outcome was dependent upon an unspecified mandate from the state supreme court.

    Ayala’s office has been unable to specify what form that mandate might take, what might prompt it or when it might come.

    By contrast, WFTV Legal Analyst and former Chief Judge Belvin Perry told Eyewitness News no such mandate was in the pipeline. Additionally, the judges in Friday’s hearings appeared to expect an immediate answer as to what Ayala’s office intended to do with each case. They cited confusion surrounding Ayala’s original announcement as a reason for requesting an unambiguous answer.

    Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Nunnelly offered no excuses regarding a pending mandate. Instead he promised a decision soon.

    https://www.wftv.com/news/local/sent...ates/505758767

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