Eleventh
Judicial Circuit, Dade County Case # 90-36048
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
Norman S. Gerstein
Attorney, Trial: Howard Sohn,
Esq. & David Peckins – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Retrial: Edward Koch &
Alan Greenstein – Assistant Public Defenders
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Roy D.
Wesson & Melodee A. Smith – Private
Date of Offense: 08/29/90
Date of Sentence: 06/19/96
Date of Sentence: 10/18/04
Circumstances of Offense:
On the evening of 08/30/90,
Marlene McField, a neighbor of Tomas and Violetta Rodriguez, witnessed
the Rodriguezes arrive home, and later in the evening, she heard the
Rodriguez’s dogs wailing.
The following morning, McField
went to the Rodriguezes and noticed that the gate leading to the front
porch was ajar and the key was still in the lock on the inside of the
gate. McField rang the doorbell, and when no one responded, she called
the police.
The police found the front door
unlocked, with no sign of forced entry. When the police entered the
kitchen, they found a bloodstained knife and a pistol on the floor. A
wooden door leading to the garage was cracked in the center and the
hinges were broken.
The body of Tomas Rodriguez was found inside the
garage, with bullet and stab wounds. Violetta Rodriguez’s body was
found against the garage wall and had blunt force and stab wounds.
A
single set of bloody footprints that did not match either Mr. or Mrs.
Rodriguez led from the garage to the kitchen and a single drop of Jesus
Delgado’s blood was found in the garage. A mixture of Delgado’s and the
Rodriguez’s blood was found in the garage, on the pistol, and on the
kitchen phone. Delgado’s palm print was found on the phone and the last
number dialed from the phone was the residence where Delgado lived at
the time.
In June of 1990, the Rodriguezes
sold their dry-cleaning business to Horatio Lamellas, whose daughter,
Barbara Lamellas, and her boyfriend, Delgado, ran the business. After
the sale, Delgado complained to the Rodriguezes that the machines were
not working properly and customers were not satisfied.
Delgado became a
suspect due to the evidence found at the crime scene and the complaints
about the dry-cleaning business. Delgado was not located and arrested
until 12/23/92, more than two years after the murders.
Prior Incarceration History in
the State of Florida:
Prior to the crime, Delgado had a significant criminal record.
Trial Summary:
07/27/93
-
Indicted as follows:
Count I - First-Degree
Murder
Count II - First-Degree
Murder
Count III - Armed Burglary
Count IV - Use of a Firearm
During a Felony
10/27/95 -
Jury returned guilty
verdicts on all counts of the indictment. The State did not prosecute
Count IV of the indictment, Use of a Firearm During a Felony.
11/21/95 -
Jury recommended a death sentence for Count I by a vote of 7-5, and a
death sentence for Count
II by a vote of 12-0.
06/19/95 -
Sentenced as follows:
Count I - First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II - First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count III - Armed Burglary –
Life imprisonment
08/24/00 -
FSC remanded for retrial
05/26/04 -
Jury returned guilty verdicts on the First-Degree Murder counts. The
State did not prosecute Count III of the indictment, Armed
Burglary.
07/08/04 - Jury recommended death sentences by votes of 9-3.
10/18/04 - Sentenced to death
Case Information:
Delgado filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on
07/31/96, citing fourteen trial court errors. On 02/03/00, the FSC
ordered one of the death sentences reduced to life imprisonment and
affirmed the other death sentence.
On 08/24/00, the FSC granted a
rehearing motion and substituted a new opinion for the original opinion
of 02/03/00. In this opinion, the FSC remanded the case for a new
trial.
The FSC concentrated on one issue, which led to the order for a
new trial: the trial court should have granted a defense motion for
judgment of acquittal on the charges of First Degree Murder, due to the
fact that the State failed to prove the necessity of the felony murder
charge and failed to prove premeditation.
On
10/18/04, Delgado was again sentenced to death.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
