Date of Sentence: 08/08/86
Circumstances of Offense:
The victim, 64-year-old Linton
Moody, owned a retail furniture business in Jacksonville, Florida, with
his brother, Wendell. Linton was working at the store until the early
afternoon of December 2, 1985.
When Linton did not show up for work the
next day, Wendell called the police to report his brother missing.
Officer Godbee found Linton’s body rolled in a piece of carpet in the
rear compartment of Linton’s station wagon on December 5th.
Evidence that was found with the body included the victim’s calling card
box and briefcase.
Linda Riley, Etheria Jackson’s
live-in girlfriend and the mother of one of his children, reported the
murder on the same day that the body was found.
At trial, Riley
testified that she had bought a washing machine on an installment plan
from the victim. Linton came by her residence to collect the monthly
payment on December 3rd after he cashed a $4,000 check that
he used to make change for his clients. Jackson, as well as Riley’s two
children, was present when Linton arrived.
Linton gave Riley a receipt
after cashing her government check, but before he could leave, Jackson
assaulted the victim and held a knife to his throat. Riley also said
that Jackson told her to take Linton’s wallet and keys after Jackson had
forced the victim to the floor.
While the victim pleaded for his life,
Jackson bound and gagged the victim before choking him to
unconsciousness with a belt. When Linton regained consciousness,
Jackson used a cast on his forearm to strike the victim’s face. Jackson
straddled the victim’s body before stabbing him numerous times in the
chest.
Riley assisted Jackson in
disposing of the body by hiding it in a carpet and putting it in the
victim’s station wagon. Jackson drove the vehicle to an alternate
location and abandoned it, where Officer Godbee discovered the station
wagon two days later. Riley reported that Jackson returned to the house
with two men approximately 45 minutes after he left with the body. When
Jackson returned, he asked Riley to inject his arm with cocaine.
Testimony was also given at
trial by one of the two men who returned with Jackson to the house. The
man stated that he and his friend were flagged down while they were
driving by a male wearing a cast on his forearm. This man was later
identified as Jackson. Jackson inquired as to whether the men knew
where to obtain cocaine. When they answered in the affirmative, he
offered to buy them a tank of gas by stating, “I’ll fill your tank, I
have money all over, I just hit a sweet lick.”
The witness later stated
that Jackson pulled out bundles of money from his pockets. Upon
purchasing the cocaine, the witness reported that they went back to
Jackson’s place, and Jackson had his girlfriend inject cocaine into his
arm.
The autopsy established that the
victim suffered from bruises on his face, head, and neck. The victim
also had a shallow slash along his neck, bruises on his kneecaps, and
rug-burn on his left elbow. The victim was stabbed seven times in the
upper left chest area, which caused massive internal bleeding and was
the cause of death.
The lack of blood on the lower extremities was
indicative that the perpetrator sat astride the victim during the
assault. The victim had bruises on the neck consistent with
strangulation caused by either a forearm, or maybe a broad belt.
In a December 9th
interview, Jackson claimed that Riley was the perpetrator of the murder
and that he was not at the scene of the crime when it occurred. He
further claimed that Riley was having an affair with Linton while
Jackson was in prison and that it was this affair that had prompted the
murder. Jackson’s mother presented testimony that he visited her on
December 8th and provided her with three varying versions of
the killing. At least two of these accounts placed Jackson himself at
the scene of the murder.
A search warrant was obtained
for the cast on Jackson’s forearm. His cast was examined at a hospital
for traces of blood, but none was found. One of the detectives who was
at the hospital testified that Jackson made statements suggesting that
the detective “had him like a hawk,” and Jackson also stated that he
“had the opportunity.” When the detective responded with the suggestion
that Jackson still had the opportunity to come clean and tell the truth,
the detective stated that Jackson responded by stating, “Not really, I
have to go with what I told you, I can’t change my story now.”
Expert testimony was presented
at trial, which matched Jackson’s fingerprints to those fingerprints
found on the calling card box in the back of the victim’s station wagon.
Trial Summary:
12/19/85 Defendant indicted
with one the following:
Count I:
First-Degree Murder
12/23/85 Defendant pled not guilty to the charge
06/20/86 Defendant was found guilty of First-Degree Murder
07/11/86 The jury recommended Death by a vote of 7-5
08/08/86 Defendant sentenced as follows:
Count I:
First-Degree Murder – Death
Case Information:
A
Direct Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 08/21/86.
Issues that were raised included whether the trial court erred in
limiting the cross-examination of Riley concerning her present dating
relationships, and whether the trial court erred in allowing the state
to introduce evidence that Jackson had been incarcerated prior to this
offense.
The Florida Supreme Court found all of the claims either
harmless or without merit and affirmed the conviction and sentence of
Death on 05/05/88.
A
Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed with the United States Supreme
Court on 10/31/88 and denied on 01/23/89.
A
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the Florida Supreme
Court on 04/16/90.
A
3.850 Motion was filed with the Circuit Court on 09/05/90 and denied on
03/25/91.
A
3.850 Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 11/08/91.
Issues that were raised included whether the trial court erred in not
granting a full evidentiary hearing for all of the claims, including the
Department of Health Rehabilitative Services’ refusal to disclose
evidence contained in its files relative to Jackson’s and Riley’s
children, and that the trial counsel was ineffective.
The Florida
Supreme Court denied both the Habeas Corpus and the affirmed the circuit
court’s denial of the 3.850 in a joint opinion on 09/09/93.
On 06/28/94, a
motion was issued to recall the mandate of the 09/09/93 opinion, but
this motion was denied on 01/26/95.
A
Petition for the Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the Florida
Supreme Court on 09/30/92 and denied on 01/04/93.
A
Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the United States
District Court on 05/18/94. The case was closed on 08/08/02 pending the
Bottoson and King decision and was reopened on 06/26/03. The USDC
denied the petition on 12/15/03.
A
3.851 Motion was filed with the Circuit Court on 07/08/03 and was denied
on 06/23/05.
A
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Appeal was filed with the United
States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit on 02/27/04 and was
dismissed as untimely on 04/07/04.
A
3.851 Motion Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 07/22/05
that is pending.
A
Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on
07/13/06 and is pending.
FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us
