Date of Sentence: 07/23/91
Circumstances of Offense:
Steven Stein was convicted and
sentenced to death for the murders of Dennis Saunders and Bobby Hood.
On 01/20/91, Dennis Saunders and
Bobby Hood, shift supervisors at the Edgewood Avenue Pizza Hut, were
shot to death in the store. Saunders was shot four times and Hood was
shot five times. A sum of $980 also was taken from the restaurant. The
bodies of Saunders and Hood were found the next day in the men’s
bathroom of the Pizza Hut.
Ronald Burroughs, an employee,
had left the restaurant shortly after 11 p.m. He testified that two
customers were still inside when he left. Burroughs identified the
customers as Steven Stein and Marc Christmas, the co-defendant. Stein
was a Pizza Hut employee and Christmas was a former employee of Pizza
Hut. The police also found Christmas’s fingerprint on the unpaid guest
check.
Kyle White, the roommate of
Stein and Christmas, testified that Stein and Christmas had discussed
how to rob a Pizza Hut restaurant.
On 01/20/91, Stein and Christmas
left the apartment about 9:30 p.m. with a rifle and claimed they were
going to see Christmas’s father about selling it. Christmas’ father,
however, testified that Stein nor Christmas came to see him that night.
Stein and Christmas were back home by 11:45 p.m.
After being arrested, Stein gave
a statement to the police. Stein waived his rights and said that he
wanted to talk about the crime. Stein admitted to being part of the
robbery and said that it had “gone bad.” He never admitted to shooting
either Saunders or Hood.
Additional Information:
Codefendant Status: Marc
Christmas (Duval County Circuit Court # 91-1504)
Marc Christmas was convicted of
three counts for his involvement in the crimes that occurred on
01/20/91. Christmas was sentenced on 11/12/91. He received three life
sentences for the two counts of First-Degree Murder during the
Commission of a Felony and for one count of Robbery with a Deadly
Weapon.
Trial Summary:
01/23/91 Stein was arrested.
02/07/91 Stein was indicted on the following:
Count I: First-Degree Murder during
the Commission of a Felony
Count II: First-Degree Murder during
the Commission of a Felony
Count III: Robbery with a Deadly Weapon
06/20/91 Stein was found guilty on all counts charged in the
indictment.
06/20/91 Upon
advisory sentencing, the jury, by a 10 to 2 majority, voted for the
death penalty.
07/23/91 Stein was sentenced as follows:
Count I:
First-Degree Murder during the Commission of a Felony – Death
Count II:
First-Degree Murder during the Commission of a Felony – Death
Count III:
Robbery with a Deadly Weapon – Life, less 182 days for time served
Case Information:
Steven Stein filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
08/19/91. He raised several issues on Direct Appeal. Stein claimed
that the trial judge erred in not suppressing statements he made,
allowing a suppression hearing to continue after Stein’s counsel had
left, and not declaring a mistrial after prejudicial remarks were made
in front of the jury. He also argued that the mitigating and
aggravating circumstances were mishandled.
The Florida Supreme Court
did not find errors that warranted reversing the conviction or
sentence. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and
sentence on 01/13/94. Rehearing was denied on 03/15/94. A mandate was
issued on 04/14/94.
Stein filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States
Supreme Court on 05/16/94. The United States Supreme Court denied the
petition on 10/03/94.
Stein filed a 3.850 Motion in the Duval County Circuit Court on
11/15/95. Amended motions were filed on 06/21/96 and 05/03/02. An
evidentiary hearing was held on 10/18/02. The motion was denied in part
on 11/04/02. On 05/02/06, the motion was denied entirely.
On
06/14/04, Stein filed a 3.851 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. The
appeal was denied on 01/28/05.
Stein filed a 3.851 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 06/30/06.
The appeal is currently pending.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
