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Alphonso CAVE

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Kidnapping - Robbery
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: April 27, 1982
Date of birth: November 12, 1958
Victim profile: Frances Julia Slater (female, 18)
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Martin County, Florida, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on February 21, 1997
 
 
 
 
 

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleven Circuit

 
opinion 94-3397
 
 
 
 
 

Florida Supreme Court

 
opinion 72637 opinion 82333
 
opinion 90165 opinion SC03-95
 
 
 
 
 
 

DC #087429
DOB: 11/12/58

Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Martin County, Case #82-9546-CF
(Trial venue changed to Sixth Judicial Circuit)
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable L.B. Vocelle
Judge, Resentencing I: The Honorable Thomas J. Walsh Jr.
Judge, Resentencing II: The Honorable C. Pfeiffer Trowbridge
Trial Attorney: Karen Steger – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Wayne R. McDonough – Private
Attorney, Resentencing I: Jeffrey H. Garland – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal II: Jeffrey H. Garland – Private
Attorney, Resentencing II: Jeffrey H. Garland – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal III: Jeffrey H. Garland – Private
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Mary Bonner – Registry

Date of Offense: 04/27/82

Date of Sentence: 12/10/82

Date of Resentence I: 06/25/93

Date of Resentence II: 02/21/97

Circumstance of Offense:

During an armed robbery, the defendant, Alphonso Cave, and three accomplices kidnapped the victim, 18-year-old Frances Julia Slater.  One of the men later stabbed her, another fired a fatal shot into her head.

On the evening of April 26, 1982, Cave, along with John Bush, J.B. Parker and Terry Wayne Johnson, left Fort Pierce, Florida, and drove to Stuart, Florida.  They arrived in Stuart at approximately 11 p.m. that evening.

Around 3 a.m. on April 27, the four pulled up to a convenience store in Stuart.  Cave and two of the men entered the store where Cave held a gun on Slater and demanded the store’s cash.  After taking the cash, the men abducted Slater, placing her in the back seat of the car.  

They drove to a rural area where she was removed from the car by the four men.  One of the men then stabbed her and, when she fell, another fired a single lethal shot into the back of her head. 

The men then departed the scene for Fort Pierce but were stopped by police approximately one hour later because of a broken taillight.  They were released at that time but later apprehended when the car and its occupants were linked to the convenience store crime.

Codefendant Status:

John Bush was convicted of First-Degree Murder, Robbery with a Firearm and Kidnapping, and in 1982 was sentenced to death for the murder conviction.  He was executed in 1996.

J.B. Parker was convicted of First-Degree Murder, Robbery with a Firearm and Kidnapping, and in 1982 was sentenced to death for the murder conviction.  After 11 appeals, he was resentenced to death in 2000.

Terry Wayne Johnson was convicted in 1993 of First-Degree Murder and Kidnapping.  He is serving life sentences for each of the convictions.

Trial Summary:

12/08/82          As charged in the indictment, the defendant was adjudicated as followed:

Count I: First-Degree Murder – guilty
Count II: Robbery with a Firearm – guilty
Count III: Kidnapping – guilty

12/09/82          Upon advisory sentencing, the trial jury recommended the death penalty for the murder conviction by a 7 to 5 vote.

12/10/82          The defendant was sentenced as followed: 

Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: Robbery with a Firearm – Life Imprisonment
Count III: Kidnapping – Life Imprisonment

Resentencing I Summary:

05/07/93          The jury recommended the death penalty by a ­­10 to 2 vote.

06/25/93          Defendant was resentenced to death.

Resentencing II Summary:

11/22/96          The jury recommended the death penalty by an 11 to 1 vote.

02/21/97          Defendant was resentenced to death.

Warrant:

04/27/88          Death warrant signed by Governor Martinez.

07/07/88          Scheduled execution date.

07/05/88          United States District Court, Middle District, granted stay of execution.

Clemency:

12/07/87          Hearing held (denied).

Factors Contributing to the Delay in the Imposition of the Sentence:

Cave being resentenced to death twice is the chief cause of delay in this case.  The resentencing essentially started the appeals process over each time.  More than eight years passed from the time the U.S. District Court vacated the first death sentence in 1990 to the Florida Supreme Court’s affirmation of the trial court’s third sentence in 1998.  Also noteworthy are two years of inactivity between the denial of the defendant’s first petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in 1996 and the filing of his 3.850 Motion in 1988. 

Case information:

Cave filed a direct appeal with the Florida Supreme Court in 1983.  The court affirmed the trial court’s conviction and sentence in 1985.  The defendant then petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari the same year.  The court denied the petition in 1986.

Governor Martinez signed a death warrant on Cave in April 1988 that quickly prompted two appeals.  The defendant in May 1988 filed a 3.850 motion with the trial court that the court quickly denied a few weeks later.  The Florida Supreme affirmed the trial court’s decision in July.  Cave then petitioned the U.S. District Court, Middle District, for a writ of habeas corpus.  The court held that Cave received ineffective assistance of counsel at the guilt and penalty phases of his trial, but prejudice occurred only during the sentencing phase.  Specifically, Cave contended that his counsel did not understand that emphasizing Cave's admission of guilt in the robbery, which resulted in the victim's death, would lead to a conviction for first degree murder under Florida's felony murder statute, regardless of the fact that Cave did not shoot Slater. Further, Cave contended that his attorney was so convinced that she would win an acquittal for her client that she failed to prepare for the sentencing hearing.  The district court agreed.  Accordingly, two days before his scheduled execution date in July, the court granted a stay of execution, vacated the sentence and remanded.

The state in 1990 appealed the federal court’s order to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.  The appeals court affirmed the order in 1992.

The trial court resentenced Cave to death in 1993 and the defendant again appealed the decision to the Florida Supreme Court.  The court found that a procedural error occurred in the circuit court’s disposition of Cave’s motion for disqualification of the resentencing judge.  Specifically, the court held that the judge, by passing on the truth of the facts alleged and adjudicating the question of his disqualification, failed to follow the procedural process outlined in rule 2.160 of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration.

The Florida Supreme Court in 1995 vacated the sentence remanded the case back to the trial court for resentencing.

The defendant again petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in 1996, which the court denied the following year.

The trial court sentenced Cave to death a third time in 1997.  The defendant filed his third direct appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision in 1998.

In 1999, Cave petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.  The court denied the petition the same year.

Cave in 2000 filed a 3.851 Motion with the trial court, which was denied on 11/18/02.  On 01/21/03, Cave filed an appeal of that decision in the Florida Supreme Court, which was affirmed on 01/27/05.

Cave filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the U.S. District Court, Southern District, on 04/29/05 that is pending.

Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us

 

 

 
 
 
 
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