|
Ninth
Judicial Circuit, Orange County Case # 96-5639
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
Jay Paul Cohen
Attorney, Trial: Andrea Black –
Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal: George
D. E. Burden – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:
Mark Gruber & David Hendry – CCRC-M
Date of Offense: 04/25/96
Date of Sentence: 06/07/99
Circumstances of Offense:
On 04/26/96, Steven Evans,
Edward Francis, Gervalow Ward, and Kenneth Lewis drove to Sanford,
Florida, to commit a home invasion robbery of a drug dealer. The
robbery was called off when Lewis abandoned the others in the getaway
car, which belonged to Evans’ girlfriend’s brother.
Evans, Francis, and Ward then
went to Mark Quinn’s house and called Evans’ girlfriend, telling her to
call the police and report the car stolen.
Evans, Francis, Ward, Quinn,
and Blaine Stafford then went to Evans’ apartment to wait for Lewis.
When Lewis arrived, the five men jumped Lewis, beat him up, and bound
and gagged him.
Evans then constructed a homemade silencer with a
shampoo bottle. Evans, Francis, and Ward took Lewis out of the
apartment and down to a culvert, where they pushed him down.
Evans
told Lewis that they were the last three people he (Lewis) would leave
behind and the last three people he would see. Evans then placed the
gun to Lewis’ head and shot six times, hitting Lewis in the head with
five of the shots.
Codefendant Information:
Edward Francis was
convicted of First-Degree Murder and Kidnapping and sentenced to life
imprisonment and 11 years, 11 months, and 23 days, respectively.
Gervalow Ward was convicted of Kidnapping and sentenced to 10 years
imprisonment.
Additional Information:
In March of 1998, prior to
trial, court-appointed experts conducted a competency and sanity
evaluation of Evans. Evans was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia
and determined to be incompetent to stand trial. Evans was ordered to
undergo further evaluation, and he was ordered to be involuntarily
committed on 10/14/98. Later, after hearing testimony from mental
health experts, the court determined that Evans was competent to stand
trial.
After the filing of the 3.850
Motion, Evans’ competency again became an issue. On 02/14/03, a
competency and discovery hearing was held. A Durocher hearing was held
on 10/13/03 to determine Evans’ competency to waive postconviction
appeals. On 10/23/03, Evans was determined competent by the court.
Prior Incarceration History
in the State of Florida:
Prior to the murder,
Evans had a 1994 Robbery conviction for which he was sentenced to five
years, six months in prison.
Trial Summary:
05/10/96
Indicted as follows:
Count I First-Degree
Murder
Count II Kidnapping
04/09/99 Jury
returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
04/15/99
Jury recommended a death
sentence by a vote of 11-1
06/07/99
Sentenced as follows:
Count I First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II Kidnapping – 10
years, 1 month, 8 days
Case Information:
Evans filed a Direct
Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 07/12/99, citing the following
errors: finding Evans competent to stand trial; denying Evans’ motion
for mistrial after a witness referred to Evans’ prior criminal record;
allowing the introduction of irrelevant and prejudicial evidence;
improperly finding aggravating circumstances (cold, calculated, and
premeditated murder and heinous, atrocious, or cruel murder); improperly
balancing aggravating factors against mitigating factors;
disproportionate use of the death penalty due to the facts of the case;
and the death sentence is based on a split jury vote (11-1) and is
unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution.
The FSC affirmed the
convictions and sentences on 10/11/01.
Evans filed a 3.851
Motion with the Circuit Court on 10/16/02 and amended the Motion on
12/18/03. The Circuit Court denied the 3.851 Motion on 11/08/04.
Evans filed a 3.851
Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 01/27/05 that is
pending.
Evans filed a Petition
for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the Florida Supreme Court on 08/26/05
that is pending.
|
