Date of Sentence: 02/18/00
Circumstances of the Offense:
The bodies of Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears were found in their
burning home in the early morning hours of 07/27/97.
On
07/26/97, Jason Looney, Guerry Hertz, and Jimmy Dempsey left an
acquaintance’s house on foot, which was within walking distance of the
victims’ home, at approximately 11 p.m.
A woman who lived approximately
500 yards from the victims’ home said that, at approximately 2 a.m.,
Hertz came to her home requesting to use her telephone because “his
truck had broken down.”
She refused and the three men proceeded to walk
up the road towards the home of Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears.
When Looney saw their black Ford Mustang, he exclaimed, “There’s my car
right there. That’s the one I want.”
Acting as a decoy, Dempsey and Hertz knocked on the victims’ front door
and asked if they could use a telephone. King gave them a cordless
telephone and Dempsey pretended to make a call.
When Dempsey started to
hand the phone back to King, Hertz forced his way into the home at
gunpoint. Looney entered after him and targeted Spears with his rifle.
King and Spears were forced face down on their bed after being bound and
gagged with duct tape.
The three defendants stole various items
including a television, a VCR, furniture, jewelry, CDs, and $1500 cash.
They loaded the stolen goods into the victims’ two vehicles.
Hertz and Looney decided that they could not leave witnesses and then
informed Dempsey of their plan. Dempsey testified that Hertz and Looney
poured accelerants throughout the house, after which all three men went
back to the bedroom armed.
King told the defendants that she would
“rather die being burnt up than shot.” She then stated, “Please, God,
don’t shoot me in the head.” Hertz replied, “Sorry, can’t do that,”
before he started firing his firearm. Looney started firing and was
followed by Dempsey. Both King and Spears died as a result of the
gunshot wounds.
After the shootings, the house was set afire. Looney drove away in the
victims’ Ford Mustang with Dempsey as a passenger, while Hertz drove the
victims’ white Ford Ranger. Dempsey reported that the entire episode
spanned two hours. They drove to Hertz’ house so that they could divide
the money and unload the stolen cargo.
Testimony was given by two
Tallahassee Wal-Mart employees stating that the three men showed off
their new vehicles, a black Ford Mustang and a white Ford Ranger, after
making a purchase at approximately 5 a.m. The employees’ testimony was
corroborated by a Wal-Mart receipt for clothes that was found in the
victims’ Ford Mustang.
Looney, Hertz, and Dempsey then drove to Daytona Beach, Florida, where
they were involved in a police shootout after a police pursuit. Looney
and Dempsey abandoned the victims’ Ford Mustang and were arrested as
they were fleeing the scene. Hertz was shot, abandoned the victims’
Ford Ranger and paid $100 for a cab-ride to his aunt’s St. Augustine
home. Hertz was arrested that day and police discovered Spears’ .9mm
gun in Hertz’s bag.
An
FDLE firearms expert testified that one of the bullets fired in the
victims’ home was fired from a .380 Lorcin gun that was in Looney’s
possession when he was arrested. The Lorcin gun had belonged to Spears
and Dempsey reported that Hertz had used it to shoot the victims.
The
police also found Dempsey’s wallet containing $380, Looney’s wallet
containing $464, and a roll of duct tape in the victims’ Ford Mustang.
Latent fingerprints that matched all three men were taken from the
victims’ Ford Mustang.
Evidence of various accelerants were found on
clothing in the victim’s Ford Mustang and an expert later testified that
the extensive fire damage to the victims’ home could only have been
accomplished with the use of accelerants.
The bodies of Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears were both severely
burned, but the medical examiner testified that both deaths were caused
by gunshot wounds due to a lack of soot in the victims’ trachea,
indicating that they were already dead when the fire started. Further
testimony indicated that both victims lived one to two minutes after
being shot.
*****
Codefendant Information:
Guerry Wayne Hertz
(DC# 567668)
Hertz received identical convictions and sentences as Looney, which
included two death sentences (CC#
97-214).
Jimmy Dewayne
Dempsey (DC#
971421)
Dempsey received the same
convictions as Looney and Hertz. Because he
entered into a plea
agreement with the State, Dempsey was sentenced to life for the murders
instead of death (CC#
97-213).
*****
Trial Summary:
08/26/97 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder
Count II: First-Degree
Murder
Count III: Armed Burglary of
a Dwelling
Count IV: Robbery with a
Firearm
Count V: Arson of a Dwelling
Count VI: Threatens to Use Any Firearm
12/09/99 The defendant was found guilty on all counts of the
indictment
12/11/99 Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2
02/18/00 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count III: Armed Burglary of
a Dwelling – Life
Count IV: Robbery with a
Firearm – Life
Count V: Arson of a Dwelling
– 30 Years
Count VI: Threatens to Use
Any Firearm – 15 Years
*****
Case Information:
A
Direct Appeal was filed to the Florida Supreme Court on 03/03/00.
Issues that were raised on appeal included whether the details of the
collateral crimes in Volusia County became a feature of the trial
causing prejudice that substantially outweighed the probative value of
the evidence and whether the trial court erred by refusing to grant a
mistrial after the State’s witness testified about a hearsay statement
by a non-testifying codefendant that incriminated Looney.
The Court
found all of the claims either harmless or without merit and affirmed
the conviction and sentence on 11/01/01
Looney filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States
Supreme Court on 03/20/02, which was denied on 06/28/02.
Looney filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 06/30/03. It was
amended on
03/09/04. The motion was denied on 12/30/04.
On
01/27/05, Looney filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
During the appeal, Looney raised the issue of ineffective counsel. He
claimed that the defense counsel (Attorney Cummings) failed to: (1)
present statutory and non-statutory mitigation, (2) use a mental health
expert, and (3) present mitigation convincingly. The Court concluded
that Looney failed to meet his burden under Strickland.
All of the
additional mitigators that Looney asserts were not presented during the
penalty phase were either presented or not presented because defense
counsel had no indication that the mitigating factor might apply to
Looney’s case.
As a result, the Court finds that effective counsel was
provided and none of the testimony presented by Looney during the
evidentiary hearing undermines the Court’s confidence in the
proceedings. Therefore, the Court affirmed the Circuit Court’s denial
of Looney’s 3.850 Motion on 06/22/06.
FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us
