Florida Supreme Court

DC# 008035
DOB: 04/21/45

Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County Case# 83-435
Sentencing Judge:  The Honorable Arthur I. Snyder
Attorney, Trial:  Ronald Guralnick – Special Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal:  Eric William Hendon
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  William Hennis, III – CCRC-S

Date of Offense:  08/31/82

Date of Sentence:  02/01/84

Date of Resentence:  04/20/94

Circumstances of the Offense:

During the evening of 08/31/82, several rounds of gunfire were heard in the vicinity of the Parole and Probation building in Miami.  The body of parole supervisor Bjorn Svenson was found in the parking lot, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. 

Forensic evidence demonstrated that Svenson was shot twice in the chest and fled a short distance before being killed by repeated shots in the head and back.

Svenson was the supervisor of several probation officers who were in charge of Phillips’ parole.  For two years prior to the murder, Svenson and Phillips had encounters regarding Phillips’ unauthorized contact with a probation officer, with Phillips being advised to stay away from probation officers and the parole building unless making an authorized visit.  After one such incident, Phillips’ parole was revoked and he was returned to prison for approximately twenty months. 

On 08/24/82, several rounds of gunfire were shot through the front window of a home occupied by the two probation officers who had testified against Phillips. 

Following Svenson’s murder, Phillips was incarcerated for parole violations.  Several inmates testified that Phillips told them that he had killed a parole officer. 

Additional Information:

During Phillips’ 3.850 Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court (filed on 12/21/04), the Court relinquished the case back to the Circuit Court on 05/27/05 to determine mental retardation.  An extension of time for the relinquishment proceedings were granted on 11/10/05.  The case is expected to be due back to the Florida Supreme Court on 02/06/06.

Trial Summary:

01/04/83 - Indicted as follows:

Count I: First-Degree Murder

12/16/83 - Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment and recommended death by a vote of 7-5

02/01/84 - Sentenced as follows:

Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death

04/20/94 - Resentenced to death.  The jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 7-5. 

Case Information:

Phillips filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 02/16/84, citing the following issues: error in allowing testimony concerning a collateral crime, error in allowing testimony of a prosecution witness, error in refusing to allow certain jury instructions, and challenging the finding of two aggravating circumstances in the penalty phase of the trial – the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner.  The Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on 08/30/85. 

Governor Martinez signed a death warrant for Phillips, and the execution was scheduled for 12/10/87. 

Phillips filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 11/04/87, arguing that comments from the prosecutor and judge to the jury that their role in the sentencing proceeding was only advisory diminished the jury’s sense of responsibility for its actions.  The Court denied the petition on 11/19/87.

Phillips filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 11/04/87.  The court granted a stay of execution so that an evidentiary hearing could be held.  The hearing was held on 09/15/88.  The trial court denied the motion on 02/13/89.

Phillips filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 02/27/90, citing the following: the inmate testimony presented at trial was obtained by promises of the state to reduce the inmate’s sentence and provide monetary payments, witnesses lied on the stand and the state failed to correct the false testimony, jailhouse informants were used to elicit testimony from Phillips after he asserted his right to counsel, ineffective assistance of counsel at the guilt phase of trial and ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase of trial due to failure to raise sufficient mitigating circumstance evidence. The Court reversed the denial of the 3.850 motion by the trial court, vacated the death sentence, and remanded for resentencing

Phillips filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 03/24/93, which was denied on 06/21/93.

Phillips filed a Direct Appeal for resentencing to the Florida Supreme Court on 05/19/94, citing the following: the resentencing did not follow the Court’s opinions; the trial court mishandled the jury and improperly influenced the jury to return a death sentence; improper definition of an aggravating circumstance; the state improperly used Phillips’ prior bad acts as the focus of the resentencing; the trial court improperly allowed the state to strike an African-American juror; and the cold, calculated and premeditated aggravating circumstance was too broad.  The Court affirmed the trial court’s sentence on 09/25/97.

Phillips filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 06/23/98, which was denied on 10/05/98.

Phillips filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 12/02/99, which was denied on 09/26/00.

Phillips filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 10/30/00, which was affirmed on 10/14/04.

Phillips filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 07/20/01, which was denied on 10/14/04.  On 10/28/04, Phillips filed a motion for a rehearing, which was denied on 01/27/05.  A mandate was issued on 02/14/05.

On 09/23/04, Phillips filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court.  The State’s response was a motion to dismiss, which was granted on 10/14/04.  The rehearing was denied on 12/23/04.

On 12/21/04, Phillips filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.  On 05/27/05, Phillips’s case was then relinquished to the Circuit Court to determine mental retardation. On 05/27/05, Phillips’s case was relinquished to the Circuit Court where he raised the claim of mental retardation.  The evidentiary hearing was held on 02/12/06.  Phillips’s mental retardation claim was denied on 05/05/06 by the Circuit Court.  Phillips’ appeal is currently pending. 

On 06/12/06, Phillips filed a 3.203 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, which is also pending.

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