Date of Sentence:
12/09/93
Circumstances of Offense:
A witness testified that on
04/22/91, Kenneth Hartley and two codefendants (Ronnie Ferrell and
Sylvester Johnson) approached the victim, Gino Mayhew, who was selling
crack cocaine outside of his Chevrolet Blazer.
The witness saw Hartley
place a gun to Mayhew’s head and force him into the driver’s seat.
Hartley sat in the back seat, behind Mayhew, and Ferrell climbed into
the front passenger seat. The Blazer left at a high rate of speed, with
Johnson following in a truck.
On 04/23/91, police found Mayhew
slumped in the driver’s seat with five gunshot wounds – one shot to the
forehead, three shots to the back of his head, and one shot to the
shoulder.
Codefendant Information:
Hartley and the two codefendants, Ferrell and Johnson, were each charged
and tried separately for the First-Degree Murder, robbery, and
kidnapping of seventeen-year-old Gino Mayhew. Ferrell was convicted and
sentenced to death for the First-Degree Murder charge, and Johnson was
convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Trial Summary:
07/25/91
Indicted as follows:
Count
I First-Degree Murder
Count II Armed Robbery
Count III Armed Kidnapping
08/27/93
Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
09/09/93
Jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 9-3
12/09/93
Sentenced as follows:
Count I First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II Armed Robbery – 15
years (habitual felony
offender)
Count III Armed
Kidnapping – Life Imprisonment
Case Information:
On
01/13/94, Hartley filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court,
citing eleven errors: admission of a police officer’s statement;
exclusion of defense witness testimony; improper denial of a motion for
mistrial; improper exclusion of state witness testimony; excusing a
juror without a race-neutral reason; excusing a juror for cause due to
opposition to imposition of the death penalty; improper jury instruction
regarding an aggravating circumstance (cold, calculated, premeditated
murder); improper finding of the cold, calculated, premeditated murder
aggravating circumstance; erroneous doubling of aggravating
circumstances (pecuniary gain and committed during a felony); improper
jury instruction regarding an aggravating circumstance (heinous,
atrocious, and cruel murder); and improper finding of the heinous,
atrocious, and cruel murder aggravating circumstance. The FSC affirmed
the conviction and sentence on 09/19/96.
Hartley filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme
Court on 05/05/97 that was denied on 10/06/97.
Hartley filed a 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court on 09/17/98 that was
amended on 11/09/98, 04/11/02, and 05/14/02. The Motion was denied on
06/10/04, and the court issued an amended order on 10/04/04.
Hartley filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on
07/13/04 that
was voluntarily dismissed on 08/16/04. Hartley
filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 01/10/05
and is pending.
FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us
