DC# 115624
DOB: 12/17/70
Seventh Judicial Circuit,
Volusia County Case # 92-34170
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
Gayle Graziano
Trial Attorney: George Burden –
Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: George
Burden – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:
Paul Kalil – CCRC-S
Date of Offense: 09/17/92
Date of Sentence: 08/18/93
Circumstances of the Offense:
James Hunter, Tammie Cowan,
Cathy Woodward, Charles Anderson, Andre Smith, and Lee Lewis (a.k.a.
Eric Boyd) drove to DeLand from St. Augustine on September 16, 1992.
Cowan testified that Lewis and Anderson each carried black BB guns and
Hunter had a silver handgun. They made a brief stop in DeLand to visit
Smith’s mother.
Cowan stopped the car at about 11:45 p.m. to let
Anderson, Lewis, Smith, and Hunter out. Hunter robbed a man on the
street at gunpoint. The four went back to the car to reunite with the
others and Cowan drove them to Daytona Beach.
After they departed for
Daytona Beach, a “be on the lookout” (BOLO) message was circulated
through the Volusia County area looking for the robbery suspects in a
four-door gray car carrying at least five African-Americans, two of whom
were female.
Hunter directed Cowan to drive
to the Bethune-Cookman College area. Hunter instructed Cowan to stop
the vehicle when he saw four young men outside of the “Munch Shop.”
Hunter, Lewis, Smith, and Anderson exited the vehicle and walked towards
the four men. Hunter was still carrying the firearm.
Hunter directed the men to “give
it up” and he and his companions proceeded to rob the men at gunpoint.
Hunter shot each of the men in turn while they were lying on the
sidewalk face down. The last man to get shot, Wayne Simpson, died from
his wound.
Hunter and his companions fled the scene with the clothing
and other possessions belonging to the victims. When they returned to
the car, Hunter directed Cowan to leave and relayed to her that he fired
the gun because a victim had attempted to flee.
At 12:40am, Deputy
Graves spotted a vehicle that matched the DeLand BOLO message. Deputy
Graves pulled the car over and Cowan admitted that they had come from
DeLand.
The victim of the DeLand robbery was brought to the stopped car
and identified Hunter as the robber. The victim also identified the
vehicle as the one involved.
Cowan consented to a police search of the
vehicle where officers discovered items stolen from both robberies as
well as the two BB guns. Investigators never recovered the gun used by
Hunter in the robberies.
Codefendant Information:
Andre Smith is serving ten life sentences, Lee Lewis
(a.k.a. Eric Boyd) is serving nine life sentences, and Charles Anderson
is serving seven life sentences for their involvement in the robberies.
Additional Information:
At the time of sentencing for the current offenses,
Hunter was also convicted and sentenced to life incarceration for Armed
Robbery in DeLand on 09/16/92
(Case # 92-1236).
Trial Summary
10/06/92 Defendant
indicted with the following:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder
Count II:
Attempted First-Degree Murder
Count III: Attempted
First-Degree Murder
Count IV:
Attempted
First-Degree
Murder
Count VI:
Attempted
Robbery with a Firearm
Count VII:
Attempted Robbery with a Firearm
Count VIII:
Attempted
Robbery with a Firearm
08/06/93 Defendant was
found guilty by the trial jury on all counts
08/13/93 The jury
recommended Death by a vote of nine to three
08/18/93 Defendant was
sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II:
Attempted First-Degree Murder – life sentence
Count III: Attempted First-Degree Murder – life
sentence
Count IV:
Attempted First-Degree Murder – life
sentence
Count VI:
Attempted Robbery with a Firearm – life sentence
Count VII: Attempted Robbery with a
Firearm – life sentence
Count VIII: Attempted Robbery with a Firearm – life
sentence
*Please note, sentences are to
run consecutively
Case Information:
A Direct Appeal was filed with
the Florida Supreme Court (FSC) on 09/07/93. Issues that were raised
included whether the trial court erred in finding Hunter competent to
stand trial and whether the trial court erred in allowing evidence from
the stop and search of the vehicle to be admitted in court. Several
mental-health and neurology experts examined Hunter and the trial court
found Hunter competent to stand trial even though the expert testimony
was conflicting.
The Florida Supreme Court found all of the claims
either without merit or harmless and affirmed the conviction and
sentence of death on 06/01/95.
A Petition for Writ of
Certiorari was filed on 12/19/95 and denied on 02/20/96.
A 3.850 motion was filed with
the circuit court on 03/31/97 and denied on 07/25/00.
A 3.850 Appeal was filed with
the FSC on 05/14/01, and the FSC affirmed the trial court’s denial of
post-conviction relief on 04/04/02.
A Petition for Writ of Habeas
Corpus was filed with the United States District Court on 06/06/02 and
was denied on 06/16/04.
A Petition for Writ of Habeas
Corpus Appeal was filed with the United States Court of Appeal on
07/15/04, and the denial of the petition was affirmed on 01/04/05.
A Petition for Writ of
Certiorari was filed with the United States Supreme Court on 05/31/05
and was denied on 10/03/05.
A 3.851 Motion was filed with
the Circuit Court on 10/03/05 and was amended on 01/11/06. The motion
is pending.
FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us
