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Ninth Judicial Circuit,
Osceola County Case# 96-2147
Sentencing Judge: The
Honorable Belvin Perry, Jr.
Resentencing (I and II)
Judge: The Honorable Belvin Perry, Jr.
Retrial Judge: The
Honorable Belvin Perry, Jr.
Attorneys, Trial: Robert A.
Norgard – Registry
Harvey Slovis – Pro Hac Vice Attorney, Direct Appeal and
Direct Appeal (RS): Robert A. Norgard – Registry
Attorney, Direct Appeal
(Retrial): Robert A. Norgard – Registry
Date of Offense: 11/24/95
Date of Sentence: 07/10/98
Date of Resentence (I): 08/15/02
Date of Resentence (II): 12/28/05
Circumstances of the
Offense:
On 02/25/98, Jermaine
“Bugsy” LeBron was convicted of armed robbery and first-degree
murder. He received a life sentence for armed robbery and a death
sentence for first-degree murder.
According to eyewitness
testimony, Larry Neal Oliver was lured to a house in Osceola County,
called the “Gardenia house,” where LeBron and several others lived.
LeBron offered to sell Oliver some “spinners” (accessories
that are added onto the wheels of a truck) for his truck.
Shortly after Oliver arrived at the house, LeBron called him toward
the bedrooms located in the back of the house. As Oliver was
entering the hallway leading to the bedrooms, LeBron forced him to
lie on the ground face-down and shot him at close range at the back
of the head with a sawed-off shotgun, which he called “Betsy.”
After the victim was shot, LeBron was smiling and laughing, yelling,
“I did it, I did it!”, describing how it felt to kill the victim,
and what the victim looked like afterward. Money, checks, and a
credit card were taken from the victim, and stereo equipment was
stripped from his truck. LeBron directed the others who were
present, to burn the victim’s identification papers, dispose of
Oliver’s body, and clean the area where he had been shot.
Over the next several days,
LeBron and the others used Oliver’s credit card, pawned his stereo
equipment, and cashed his checks. An attempt was made to burn the
truck. LeBron admitted to his former girlfriend that he had shot
and killed someone.
Shortly afterwards, LeBron admitted to his then
girlfriend, Christina Charbonier, that he had killed a man for his
truck. LeBron then left for New York City to go to a place called
Legz Diamond, a topless bar owned by his mother.
Oliver’s body was discovered
in a rural area near Disney World. The body was visible on the road
to Disney World, although it was covered with a blanket and some
tree shrubs.
According to the medical examiner, Dr. Julia Martin,
the trauma to the head, which incorporated the left portion of the
lip, was consistent with the gunshot wound or other type of trauma,
with no evidence of any abrasion around it.
The entrance of the
gunshot wound was to the lower back of the head, on the right side
and slightly to the right of the midline. There was a laceration of
the scalp consistent with a shot at close range. There were no
bruises on the hands consistent with defensive wounds. Martin
concluded that Oliver’s cause of death was from the gunshot wound to
the head.
The others having knowledge
of the event reported the murder to the police. The witnesses
claimed they followed LeBron’s directions throughout the event
because he had threatened them, which made them believe that LeBron
might kill them the way he killed Oliver. Of those who came forward
to report the incident, twin brothers, Joe and Mark Tocci, did not
tell the complete truth concerning the extent to which members of
the group had been involved in the murder.
After investigators
questioned each individual separately, all of the witnesses except
the Tocci brothers gave consistent statements and details, which
police were able to verify with evidence.
A crime-scene investigation
was conducted by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department at the
Gardenia house. A very strong stench of dried blood was immediately
detected upon entering the residence.
Investigators discovered
several drops of what appeared to be dried blood in a big area where
the southeast bedroom was located. They also discovered what
appeared to be blood with an unknown substance on top of it. The
search also uncovered shotguns and pellets, which were found in the
other bedrooms.
After eyewitness reports
were made, LeBron, who was accompanied by Stacie Kirk and Howard
Kendall (who was involved in burning Oliver’s truck), were
apprehended in a car parked on a street outside of Legz Diamond (in
New York) and arrested on 12/05/95. A search of their vehicle
uncovered Oliver’s belongings, including an identification card
attached to a planner with the name, “Larry N. Oliver.”
Police began questioning
LeBron at around 3:15 a.m. on 12/06/95. The questioning was
recorded on a cassette and later played before a jury as evidence
received. During questioning, LeBron claimed he was at a former
girlfriend’s house the night of the murder and repeatedly denied
ever knowing Oliver.
LeBron stated, however, that it might have
been possible he met Oliver that night, but he did not remember the
meeting. When asked if he noticed any blood spots or strange odors
at the Gardenia house, LeBron claimed the house always had a foul
smell.
During trial, eyewitnesses
testified that LeBrondirected the events before and after
the murder of Oliver. According to LeBron’s now former girlfriend,
Charbonier, she had been receiving numerous letters written by
LeBron, which declared he loved her and addressed her as his
fiancée. In the letters, LeBron allegedly referred to her
testifying as an alibi witness for him, although she had testified
as the State’s witness.
*****
Codefendant Information:
Howard Kendall (DC# X03585)
Kendall was
convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping (CC#
95-2379),
and arson (CC#
95-2437). He was sentenced to 11 years
for each offense. These offenses were unrelated to the case.
Stacie Kirk (DC#
X04005)
Kirk was
charged with first-degree murder in an unrelated case and armed
robbery (CC#
95-2554).
She entered into a plea agreement with the State for a sentence of
42 months prison and two years probation in exchange for her
testimony against LeBron.
Joe Tocci
J. Tocci was not
arrested for anything related directly to the murder, aside from
hiding evidence related to the murder. He received a sentence of
two years house arrest followed by eight years probation.
Mark Tocci
(DC#
165597)
M. Tocci was
convicted of first-degree murder as an accessory and was sentenced
to three years. Tocci was tried separately for his offense
(CC# 95-2350).
*****
Additional Information:
A second count of
armed robbery, attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, and
aggravated assault (with no intention to kill) was also charged in
the indictment. The first three offenses were committed on 12/02/95
in Osceola County and the fourth offense was committed on 11/01/95.
The fourth offense was tried separately. LeBron was sentenced to
death for the first three offenses (CC# 95-2368) and 3 years, 9
months for the fourth offense (CC# 95-2553).
The first trial
resulted in a mistrial, based upon the trial court’s finding of a
jury deadlock. At the beginning of LeBron’s
retrial, his attorney, Robert Norgard, was involved in another
capital case, and, therefore, LeBron’s
pretrial and guilt phase proceedings were conducted with only Harvey
Slovis appearing on LeBron’s
behalf.
Slovis was permitted to appear on behalf on LeBron pro hac vice
in addition to undersigned counsel, Norgard. Although Slovis
conducted the majority of the venire questioning in the first trial,
and was present during voir dire inquiry regarding the death
penalty, Norgard assumed the lead with regard to interrogating
prospective jurors concerning death penalty issues.
02/25/98
Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
02/25/98
Jury recommended death by a vote of 6-6 (hung jury)
03/03/98
Jury reconvened for retrial
03/03/98
Jury recommended death by a vote of 7-5
07/10/98
Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II: Armed Robbery
– Life
05/13/02 A
new penalty-phase was conducted with a new jury panel
05/19/02
Jury recommended death by a vote of 7-5
08/15/02
Resentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder – Death
05/16/05 New
sentencing hearing begins, presided by Judge Perry
08/15/05
Jury selection launched
08/18/05
Jury recommended death by a vote of 7-5
10/20/05
Spencer hearing
12/28/05
Resentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder – Death
*****
Case Information:
LeBron filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 09/18/98.
On Direct Appeal, LeBron raised seven issues. First, he claimed double
jeopardy barred his retrial.
Second, LeBron claimed the trial court
erred in denying his motion to continue the retrial due to the absence
of attorney Norgard.
Third, he argued the trial court erred in denying
his motion to recuse based upon an alleged ex parte communication
between the judge and the prosecutor regarding a scheduling matter.
Fourth, LeBron claimed the trial court erred in finding the “committed
while on probation” aggravator. Fifth, he argued the trial court erred
in rejecting his proposed “minor participant” mitigator.
Sixth, LeBron
claimed the trial court erred in rejecting other statutory and
nonstatutory mitigating factors while he had proposed. Finally, he
argued his death sentence was not proportional.
On 08/30/01, the Court
affirmed his convictions but remanded the case for resentencing.
Because LeBron was 21-years-old at the time of the murder, the Court
decided that the death sentence was disproportionate to a combination of
LeBron’s youth, immaturity, emotional instability, physical and
psychological abuse.
On
02/01/02, LeBron filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United
States Supreme Court, which was denied on 04/29/02.
LeBron filed a Direct Appeal for resentencing to the Florida Supreme
Court on 08/30/02. On 01/13/05, the Court vacated the death sentence
and remanded the case to the Circuit Court for a new penalty phase for
two reasons.
First, the Court determined that the trial court erred in
concluding, contrary to the jury’s express findings, that the evidence
established beyond a reasonable doubt that LeBron murdered Oliver.
Second, the Court determined the imposed sentence could not be premised
upon a finding that LeBron was himself the shooter, since this would be
contrary to the jury’s special verdicts. A mandate was issued on
02/03/05.
On
01/27/06, LeBron filed a Direct Appeal (retrial) to the Florida Supreme
Court, which is currently pending.
