Date of
Sentence: 09/22/81
Date of Sentence (second
trial): 04/28/88
Circumstances of Offense:
Paul Johnson and his wife
visited their friends, Shayne and Ricky Carter, on the evening of
January 8, 1981. While at their friends house, they all smoked
marijuana and took injections of crystal methedrine.
At trial, Ricky
stated that he heard Johnson say he was going to obtain more drugs and
that he would possibly steal something or rob someone. Shayne also
testified that Johnson stated he was going to obtain more drug money and
that “if he had to shoot someone, he would have to shoot someone.”
Taxicab driver William Evans
picked up a fare in Polk County on the night of January 8, 1981. The
cab dispatcher heard a stranger’s voice over the cab’s radio several
times after midnight stating that Evans had been knocked out.
That was
the last communication that the dispatcher had with the cab, which was
found five days later in a citrus grove located about a mile from where
Evans’ body was found. Evans had been shot twice in the head and both
his fare money and wallet were missing. The cab had been set on fire.
At approximately 3:00 a.m. on
January 9, 1981, Amy Reid and Darrell Beasley left a restaurant in
Lakeland. A man who said that his car would not start approached them in
the parking lot. The man also requested a ride to a friend’s house.
Reid and Beasley complied and drove off with the stranger. The stranger
asked Beasley to stop the car in a remote area so he could relieve
himself. When the stranger returned to the car, he asked Beasley to
walk to the back of the car with him.
When Reid looked through the
rear-view window, she saw the stranger pointing a gun at Beasley. Reid
locked the doors in the car and drove to a convenience store several
miles away where she called the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputy Allison and Deputy
Darrington were the officers who answered Reid’s call. After the
deputies picked Reid up, she directed them to the location where she
left Beasley and the stranger.
Concurrently, another deputy, Theron
Burnham, reported to dispatch that he had spotted a suspect on the road
that Reid last saw Beasley. When Deputies Allison and Darrington
arrived at Burnham’s location, they parked their car so that it faced
Burnham’s patrol car.
Burnham’s car had been left running with the
lights on, but they did not see Burnham. A white male came out from a
drainage ditch on one side of the road and quickly passed in between the
patrol cars. He fired two shots at Deputies Allison and Darrington and
fled across an open field.
The deputies discovered Burnham’s body,
which had been shot three times, in the drainage ditch and his service
revolver was missing. Beasley’s body was found later that day with one
gunshot wound to the head. His wallet was missing.
On the following afternoon,
Johnson’s wife and the Carters saw a police sketch of the suspect in the
newspaper and talked about whether it resembled Johnson. Johnson later
telephoned his wife at the Carters’ home, and she was visibly upset when
she hung up the phone.
Ricky spoke to Johnson and asked him if he was
responsible for the killing that the newspaper talked about and Johnson
replied, “if that’s what it says.” Ricky and Johnson’s wife went to get
Johnson. Johnson changed into a new shirt before throwing his old
shirt, which had been described in the newspaper, out the window.
Upon
returning to the Carter residence, Johnson relayed that he struck the
officer with his gun when the officer told him to put his hands on the
patrol car. A struggle ensued and Johnson shot the deputy three times.
Paul Johnson was arrested for
the murders of Beasley and Burnham on January 10, 1981. Johnson was
charged the following week with taxi cabdriver Evans’ murder. Reid,
Allison, and Darrington identified Johnson. Additionally, Johnson’s
fingerprints were discovered in the taxicab.
Trial I Summary:
01/23/81 Defendant was indicted for the following:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder
Count II: First-Degree
Murder
Count III: First-Degree Murder
Count IV: Robbery
Count V: Kidnapping
Count VI: Arson
Count VII: Robbery
Count VIII: Attempted
First-Degree Murder
Count IX: Attempted
First-Degree Murder
01/30/81
Defendant pled not guilty.
09/22/81
Defendant found guilty on all counts.
09/22/81
Jury recommended death by a majority on all three counts.
09/23/81
Defendant sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count III: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count IV: Robbery – Life
sentence
Count V: Kidnapping – 15
years
Count VI: Arson – 15 years
Count VII: Robbery – Life
sentence
Count VIII: Attempted
First-Degree Murder – 30 years
Count IX: Attempted
First-Degree Murder – 30 years
**Polk County Case # 81-112 was transferred to Lake County in order for
the case to be tried in consolidation with Lake County Case # 81-733
Trial II Summary:
04/22/88
Defendant found guilty on all counts (Case # 88-488 CFA)
04/26/88
Jury recommended death by a vote of:
Count I: 8-4
Count II: 9-3
Count III: 9-3
04/28/88
Defendant sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count III: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count IV: Robbery – Life
sentence
Count V: Kidnapping – 15
years
Count VI: Arson – 15 years
Count VII: Robbery – Life
sentence
Count VIII: Attempted
First-Degree Murder – 30 years
Count IX: Attempted
First-Degree Murder – 30 years
**Polk County Case # 81-112 and Lake County Case # 81-733 were
consolidated and changed into Alachua County Case # 88-488 CFA for a
change of venue
Case Information:
A
Direct Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 10/29/81.
Issues that were raised on appeal included whether the police employed
an unnecessarily suggestive procedure in obtaining an out-of-court
identification and whether the trial court erred in allowing the charges
arising from the cab driver’s death to be grouped with the other counts
of the indictment.
The FSC found these claims either harmless or
without merit and affirmed the sentences and convictions of Death on
08/25/83.
A
Petition for a Writ of Certiorari was filed with the United States
Supreme Court on 12/15/83 and denied on 02/21/84.
A
Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the FSC on
02/17/86. The Petition was granted based on a claim of ineffective
counsel and was remanded to the circuit court for a new trial on
12/11/86.
A
Petition for a Writ of Certiorari was filed with the USSC on 02/26/87
and denied on 04/20/87.
A
second Direct Appeal was filed with the FSC on 07/11/88. Issues that
were raised on appeal included whether the trial court erred in granting
the State’s challenge for cause of two particular jurors and whether the
trial court erred in denying Johnson’s motion to suppress the testimony
of James Leon Smith, a fellow inmate. The FSC found all of the claims
either harmless or without merit and confirmed the convictions and
sentences of Death.
A
Petition for a Writ of Certiorari was filed with the USSC on 03/12/93
and denied on 05/17/93.
A
3.850 Motion was filed with the state circuit court on 08/01/94 and
denied on 12/12/94.
A
3.850 Appeal was filed with the FSC on 02/02/95 and the state’s motion
to dismiss was granted on 08/29/95. The FSC directed the trial court to
reinstate the amended 3.850 Motion filed on 05/17/95 and proceed with
the hearing.
The amended 3.850 Motion was denied on 03/20/97.
A
3.850 Appeal was filed on 06/09/97. Issues that were raised on appeal
included whether the trial court erred in denying Johnson an evidentiary
hearing or additional discovery concerning his public records request,
and whether the trial court erred in denying Johnson’s motion to
disqualify the presiding judge. The FSC found all of the claims either
harmless or without merit and affirmed the circuit court’s denial of the
3.850.
A
Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the FSC on 10/10/01.
Issues that were raised included whether appellate counsel was
ineffective. The FSC found all of the claims either without merit or
procedurally barred and denied the petition on 09/26/02.
A
3.851 Motion was filed with the state circuit court on 02/07/03 and was
denied on 03/11/05.
A 3.851
Motion Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 04/20/05, and
on 03/17/06, the FSC affirmed the denial of the motion.
FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us
