Florida Supreme Court

DC# 116335
DOB:  04/20/73

Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County, Case# 93-1659 CF
Sentencing Judge:  The Honorable John D. Southwood
Trial Attorney:  Charles G. Cofer – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal:  Bill Salmon – Private
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  Martin J. McClain – Registry

Date of Offense:  01/21/93

Date of Sentence:  12/02/93

Circumstances of the Offense:

Thomas Moore was convicted of robbing and killing Johnny Parrish and burning down the victim’s residence.

Parrish was a resident in Moore’s neighborhood and the two were considered friends.  At approximately 3:00 p.m. on 1/21/93, Moore and Parrish sat outside Parrish’s house drinking.

In a statement Moore claimed that two neighborhood youths, Clemons and Gaines, approached the house. Moore also stated that he had seen the same two youths chasing another youth, “Little Terry” with a gun earlier that day.

Clemons denied these events at the trial. Both Clemons and Gaines testified to having a conversation with Moore about robbing Parrish. During this conversation, it was established that Clemons would go into the house with Moore and that Gaines would serve as a lookout.

Gaines testified that he saw neither Moore nor Clemons enter the house, but he heard two shots and then saw Clemons exit and then reenter from the back of the house. Gaines started to walk away from the residence and Clemons caught up with him and stated that Moore had shot Parrish.

Clemons testified that he and Moore entered the house, and Moore pulled a gun on Parrish. After asking Parrish where he kept his money and receiving no response, Moore shot Parrish.

Two neighbors saw smoke coming out of Parrish’s house and ran in and pulled him out. Parrish was already dead by this time. According to the fire inspector, two separate intentional fires were started.

A witness named Shorter testified that Moore brought him a bag full of clothes and asked him to burn them. According to Shorter, Moore also stated that he had shot Parrish and burned down his house. Moore specifically stated that he shot Parrish twice, Clemons ran out of the house, and then Moore took the top of a lawnmower that he found and set it on fire to get rid of the fingerprints in the house. Shorter called his mother, who then called the police.

A jail inmate testified that Moore stated that he did not mean to kill Parrish, but that he had to because Parrish could identify him. Another neighbor testified that Moore had asked him to rob Parrish.

Trial Summary:

02/18/93          Defendant indicted on the following:

Count I: First Degree Murder with a firearm
Count II: Attempted robbery with a firearm
Count III: Conspiracy to commit robbery
Count IV: Burglary with a dangerous weapon
Count V: Arson

10/29/93          Defendant was found guilty by the trial jury.

11/03/93          The jury recommended the sentence of death by a vote of 9 to 3.

12/02/93          Defendant was sentenced as follows:

Count I: First Degree Murder with a firearm – Death
Count II: Attempted robbery with a firearm  – 30 years with 322 days served
Count III: Conspiracy to commit robbery– 10 years with 322 days served
Count IV: Burglary with a dangerous weapon – Life sentence with 322 days served
Count V: Arson – Life sentence with 322 days served

Count II through Count V are to run concurrent to Count I.

Case Information:

Moore filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 12/27/93. There were seven claims raised in the appeal. The Court rendered an opinion on 10/2/97 finding that only one of the seven issues had merit.

The Court ruled that it was an error to admit the testimony from a witness who claimed that Moore had a gun two days after the victim’s death because the evidence was not relevant to the topic of whether Moore committed the murder. The error was ruled as harmless and the Court affirmed Moore’s conviction and sentence.

A Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed to the United States Supreme Court on 01/17/98 and was subsequently denied on 04/20/98.

A 3.850 Motion was then filed to the Circuit Court on 03/26/99.  The motion was denied on 09/11/00.

Both a 3.850 Appeal and a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus have been filed to the Florida Supreme Court, 11/29/00 and 04/2/01, respectively. Issues raised by Moore in the 3.850 Appeal surrounded primarily around public record issues and the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

The Court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in regard to the public records issues and they denied Moore’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Moore also made claims of ineffective assistance of counsel within his Habeas Petition. The Court found these claims to be either procedurally barred and without merit.

The Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion on 03/07/02 in which they denied Moore’s Habeas Petition and affirmed the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion. The rehearing was denied on 06/20/02 and the mandate was issued on 07/22/02.

Moore filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 07/18/02, which was denied on 12/30/02.

Moore then filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 03/20/03.  The Court affirmed the lower court’s denial of the defendant’s 3.850 Motion.

Moore additionally filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 05/13/04, which was denied on 12/16/04.  The rehearing was denied on 03/21/05.

On 03/23/05, Moore filed another Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court, which was denied on 10/18/05.  On 02/13/06, the motion for a rehearing was denied.

On 01/27/06, Moore filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court, which is currently pending.

On 02/10/06, Moore filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court, Middle District.  On 04/12/06, the Court closed Moore’s case temporarily to allow state filings.

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