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Thread: John Calvin Taylor II - Florida

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    John Calvin Taylor II - Florida




    Facts of the Crime:

    John Calvin Taylor was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Shannon Holzer. According to Shannon Holzer’s coworker and friend, Cindy Schmermund, on December 29, 1997, Holzer left the Buddy Boy’s convenience store, where they worked, around 1:00 p.m. to deposit about $6,000 at the bank for the store. Holzer usually deposited money for Buddy Boy’s and the neighboring meat shop.

    Schmermund claimed that, on December 29, 1997, Holzer pulled up in front of the store with Taylor in the car and pumped gas. Holzer then entered Buddy Boy’s and Schmermund asked Holzer why Taylor was with her. Holzer answered that she was giving him a ride to Green Cove Springs so he could pick up a rental car. Taylor needed a rental car because his truck had been damaged in an accident. Three other witnesses testified to seeing Taylor and Holzer leave together and hearing Holzer say she was taking Taylor to Green Cove Springs.

    Jeff Holzer, the victim’s husband, reported his wife missing when she did not return home the following day. The police discovered Holzer had not deposited the money into Buddy Boy’s account, and she had not taken care of her horses. Police interviewed witnesses about Holzer’s disappearance and were told Taylor and Holzer were seen together.

    On the evening of December 30, 1997, Holzer’s car was found on a firebreak road. Her body was later found off the same road in the woods. According to a forensic pathologist, Holzer was stabbed nine times, with six stab wounds to her heart and three penetrating her left lung. The pathologist determined that each of the wounds could have been fatal. He testified that evidence suggested that Holzer was sitting in the driver’s seat and attempted to defend herself against a person attacking from the passenger seat. The pathologist further testified that there were two small bruises inside Holzer’s vagina made fewer than 12 hours before her death.

    Taylor was arrested on unrelated burglary charges on the same day that Holzer disappeared. At the time of his arrest, Taylor was wearing boxer shorts with a blood stain on them. The bloodstain was consistent with Holzer’s DNA profile.

    After discovering Holzer’s body, police deputies went to Taylor’s mobile home to interview him. Taylor was no longer in custody for the burglary arrest and was present at the residence along with one of his roommates, Michael McJunkin. McJunkin answered the door. Taylor had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing only a towel. One of the deputies told him to put on clothes while observing him to make sure he did not try to pick up a weapon. The deputies told Taylor that Holzer was missing, and he was the last one to see her alive.

    Shortly thereafter, two additional deputies arrived at Taylor’s residence. One of the deputies took Taylor’s driver’s license out to the car to check for outstanding warrants. Looking though a window from outside, the officer saw Taylor pull something out of his pocket and place it under the chair cushion on which he was sitting. Thinking the item was a weapon, the officer secured permission to look under the cushion. He found $1,600. The police then handcuffed Taylor, read him his rights, and proceeded to take him outside. Taylor consented to searches of his mobile home and rental car. According to one of the officer’s testimony, Taylor informed him there was money inside a bag under the passenger’s seat of the rental car.

    Taylor’s roommates, James Bullard and Michael McJunkin, testified that Taylor remarked about wanting to have sex with Holzer. They also testified that Taylor was having financial trouble. McJunkin further testified that Taylor had spoken about robbing Holzer, because he knew Holzer made deposits at the bank for Buddy Boy’s, which was near their mobile home park.

    According to McJunkin, he and Taylor had planned to rob Buddy Boy’s. McJunkin said that, at Taylor’s request, he dropped him off at Buddy Boy’s. Taylor then told him to go back to his estranged wife’s house and wait for him to call. Two witnesses claimed to see Taylor sitting in a car with a man fitting McJunkin’s description shortly before Holzer left to make the deposit. Sometime later, McJunkin went to pick up Taylor after he called from a gas station in Green Cove Springs. McJunkin parked in a parking lot while Taylor counted money that he put into a bag. McJunkin claimed that Taylor said that, if Holzer did not show up for a couple of days, then things would be okay. According to McJunkin, he and Taylor then went back to their mobile home. Taylor changed clothes, put the clothes that he had been wearing into a bag and put the bag into a dumpster.

    On the day that Holzer vanished, Taylor was photographed depositing $1,700 into his bank account, which at the time had a negative balance. That same day, Taylor inquired about buying a truck at a car dealership. Taylor and McJunkin also visited a bar where Taylor bought drinks for others and ran up a tab that ended up being several hundred dollars. In addition, Taylor tipped the bartender $200.

    Taylor testified at the trial in his own defense. He claimed that McJunkin committed the robbery and murder. According to Taylor, McJunkin had taken the rental car and left him without transportation at his estranged wife’s home. Taylor then walked to Buddy Boy’s and requested a ride from Holzer to his mobile home. When they arrived at the mobile home, McJunkin requested a ride to Green Cove Springs. Taylor further claimed that he went to pick up McJunkin after he called from a gas station in Green Cove Springs. Taylor denied telling a deputy about the money in the rental car. Taylor claimed that the money he had deposited at the bank and hidden in the trailer was from stealing a man’s briefcase.

    Taylor was sentenced to death in Clay County on October 7, 1999.

    Co-defendant information:
    Michael McJunkin (Clay County Circuit Court #98-0068) was tried separately and convicted of being an accessory after the fact and robbery with a firearm. On September 9, 1999, he was sentenced to ten years and six months for each conviction.

  2. #2
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Case Information:

    Taylor filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 11/03/99. The issues addressed included that error occurred in the trial court neglecting to suppress evidence seized from Taylor’s house and vehicle. Taylor also contended that the trial court erroneously allowed hearsay testimony and required Taylor’s wife to testify about communications she had with him. Taylor further contended that error occurred in the trial court’s weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors resulting in a disproportionate sentence of death. The Florida Supreme Court did not find merit in any of Taylor’s arguments and affirmed the conviction and sentence on 06/05/03.

    Taylor filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court on 12/08/03. The petition was denied on 03/08/04.

    On 10/29/04, Taylor filed a 3.851 Motion with the State Circuit Court. An amended 3.851 Motion was filed on 04/26/07. The motion was denied on 11/02/10. A Motion for Rehearing was filed on 11/12/10 and was denied on 12/21/10.

    On 01/26/11, Taylor filed a 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. This appeal is currently pending.

  3. #3
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Oral arguments are scheduled for the 5th of September.

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/p...es/index.shtml

    Briefs are here: http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/p...154/index.html

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    JOHN CALVIN TAYLOR, II v STATE OF FLORIDA

    Opinion Date: May 30, 2013

    Court: Florida Supreme Court

    After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon. The trial court imposed a sentence of death. Defendant subsequently filed a postconviction motion, which was denied. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion and also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus asserting ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in finding Defendant's trial counsel was not ineffective for (i) deciding not to present the testimony of a mental health expert in the penalty phase to establish mental mitigation, (ii) failing to move for a change of venue, and (iii) failing to object to certain prosecutorial comments during the guilt phase closing argument; (2) Florida's capital sentencing scheme is constitutional; and (3) Defendant was not prejudiced by appellate counsel's failure to argue on direct appeal that the trial court improperly failed to assign weight to each mitigator and evaluate the relative weights of the aggravating and mitigating factors in its sentencing order.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On November 27, 2013, Taylor filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/flo...cv01470/291725

  6. #6
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Taylor's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Florida
    Case Nos.: (SC11-154, SC11-2053)
    Decision Date: May 30, 2013
    Rehearing Denied: August 7, 2013
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Two Clay County murderers to receive resentencing hearings under new death penalty system

    By Jesse Hollett
    Clay Today Online

    GREEN COVE SPRINGS – It was just five days after Christmas 1997, when police discovered Shannon Holzer’s body in a wooded area near her abandoned car, partially clothed and riddled with nine stab wounds.

    Holzer had been on her way to deposit money from her place of employment, Buddy Boy’s, a small convenience store in St. Johns County, when she offered to give a ride to John Calvin Taylor II to Green Cove Springs to retrieve a rental car.

    Several co-workers saw Taylor in her vehicle. She dashed away their concerns.

    He “was harmless,” she said. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back in a minute.”

    Police discovered six stab wounds in her heart the following afternoon and another three in her lungs. According to state records, a forensic pathologist at the trial concluded each stab could have been fatal, and that Taylor made the initial wound while Holzer was sitting in her car. What police didn’t find was the $6,000 co-workers said she was on her way to deposit.

    Taylor had that. He deposited $1,700 into his bank account, went to a local bar and racked up a tab buying random patrons drinks. He tipped the bartender two $100 bills on a $200 tab and left.

    Police arrested Taylor the next day for an unrelated burglary in his mobile home. He was in boxer shorts at the time.

    On those shorts, police found bloodstains that matched Holzer’s DNA.

    Two years later, a jury sentenced Taylor to death. It was a split jury, a 10-2 decision. Now, 20 years later, Taylor and other Clay County murderers will see a resentencing due to retroactive changes in Florida’s death sentence.

    The changes stem from the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Hurst vs. Florida.

    The case established that Florida’s current death sentencing scheme was unconstitutional because it limited juries to an advisory role, which violated inmate’s trial by an impartial jury promised under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

    Previously, Florida courts decided capital punishment by a simple majority. Now, states are required to impose the death penalty by a unanimous jury.

    This ruling applies retroactively, meaning even 20-year-old cases decided by a non-unanimous jury will now go back to lower courts for a new penalty phase.

    http://www.claytodayonline.com/stori...ty-system,7709
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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  8. #8
    Senior Member CnCP Addict one_two_bomb's Avatar
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    so im confused, i thought it was decided in Hitchcock that this would only apply to those sentenced after 2002

  9. #9
    Senior Member CnCP Legend FFM's Avatar
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    The denial of cert on direct appeal had to be finished first in order for Hurst not to apply. Anyone that did not have cert denied on direct appeal on the day of or after the decision in Ring will get new sentencing hearings. Therefore, this thug gets a new sentencing phase.

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    Senior Member CnCP Addict one_two_bomb's Avatar
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    oh ok. makes sense

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