Florida Supreme Court

DC# 072550
DOB:  07/23/60

Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County Case# CR89-1798
Twentieth Judicial Circuit, Lee County Case# 90-1075-CF (after change of venue)
Sentencing Judge:  The Honorable Gary L. Formet
Attorneys, Trial:  F. Wesley Blanker & Jorge Jaeger – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal:  Christopher S. Quarles – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  Paul Kalil – CCRC-S

Date of Offense:  10/06/87

Date of Sentence:  11/08/90

Circumstances of the Offense:

Frank Miller drove to the Bare family’s house on 10/06/87. Mr. Miller routinely picked up Angeli Bare, who was 12-years-old, and took her to school with his daughter. He arrived at the house and honked the horn twice.

A man standing in the doorway of the house with his back to the street motioned for Mr. Miller to wait. Mr. Miller assumed the man was Mr. Bare. The door to the house closed. At approximately 8:55 a.m., Angeli approached the car. She stood approximately three feet from the car on the passenger side, which was the side of the car closest to the house. Angeli appeared nervous and stated that there was a man in the house who wanted to rob her. Mr. Miller tried to persuade Angeli to get into the car, but Angeli stated that the man said that he would kill all three of them. Mr. Miller told Angeli that he would get help.

Mr. Miller drove four blocks to his house, where he called both 911 and the Bares at work. Mr. Miller then drove back to the Bare’s house, only this time he parked his car four to five houses away. Deputy Richard Welty was dispatched to the Bare home. Mr. Miller flagged him down and related what he had seen. Mr. Miller described a white man with reddish hair. The Bares had arrived at the scene and Mrs. Bare told Deputy Welty that Angeli’s biological father had red hair, but he lived in California.

Deputy Welty searched the Bare’s home and found no one. He began to search the field behind the house. He had his service revolver in one hand and his radio in the other. When his footing became unstable, Deputy Welty holstered his service revolver. He then noticed a white male with sandy blond hair casually walking through the field. The man was heading toward a construction site that was near the field and was holding a sandwich in his right hand. Deputy Welty requested a better description of the man Mr. Miller had seen via his radio. He looked down to attain better footing and, when he looked up, the man who had been walking through the field was pointing a gun at him. Deputy Welty later identified the man as Robert Power.

Power requested that Deputy Welty hand over his service revolver. He then asked Deputy Welty to put his hands in the air, and Power proceeded to get the gun himself. Power then asked Deputy Welty, “How many others are there?” Deputy Welty responded that there were six other deputies on the scene. Power then took Deputy Welty’s radio and told him to run toward the construction site. Power told Deputy Welty “if you turn around I will kill you.” Deputy Welty ran about 30 feet, stopped and looked back. He saw Power running toward the freeway. Deputy Welty informed the deputies at the house that Power had his radio and service revolver. Power was not apprehended.

Angeli’s body was found in the field in the general vicinity that Power had fled. She was lying on her side and was hogtied by the wrists and the ankles. She was nude from the waist down. The autopsy revealed a blackened left eye and a superficial contusion on the neck. There were injuries to the vaginal and anal area due to the insertion of an oversized foreign object. There was no semen found on the victim’s underwear, and no sperm were found on the body. The approximate time of death was within 30 minutes of 9:15 a.m. Angeli’s death was due to shock because of the severance of the right carotid artery.

The bloodstains on the victim’s underwear matched the victim’s blood type. There were no signs of a struggle at the Bare home. Angeli’s bank had been pried open with a screwdriver that was found in the sink. Deputy Welty’s gun was recovered. The prints on Deputy Welty’s revolver did not match Power’s fingerprints. There were no prints found on the victim’s body. Hairs found on the bed sheets from the victim’s bed and on the victim’s pubic area were the same as Power’s pubic hairs. There were also a number of hairs found on the bed sheets from an unknown origin that remained unidentified at the trial.

Deputy Welty was able to identify Power from a photograph.  On 10/16/87, a search warrant was issued and the home in which Power resided was searched. Power was found hiding in the attic and was arrested. The officer found a maroon duffle bag in the attic which contained a pistol, ammunition, a folding knife and documents with Power’s name on them. A box in one of the bedrooms was found to contain various parts of mechanical items. One of the parts had a serial number that matched the serial number on Deputy Welty’s radio. A couple of hooded sweatshirts were seized from the residence. Hairs found on the sweatshirts matched the victim’s head hair.

Additional Information:

In June of 1979, Power was arrested in South Carolina after stealing a U-Haul truck.  He was given five years suspended sentence and two years probation.  In September of 1979, Power was arrested for Armed Robbery in Port St. Lucy, Florida.  He pled no contest and served two years in prison.  Power was on parole in Florida when he was arrested for forging checks in July of 1982 in California.  He was given a three-year prison sentence, during which time he escaped from a hospital where he was being treated for depression. In September of 1972, Power was arrested for stealing a car.  Power was sentenced to prison and was released in 1985 for a work release program.  Power then left California while still on parole and moved to Florida.

Prior Incarceration History in the State of Florida:

CC# 87-1096

While living in Florida, in early September of 1987, Power sexually assaulted two sisters, one was 12-years-old and the other was 16-years-old, in their Kissimmee home.  Power remained at large for approximately one month and committed two additional sexual assaults, one in Longwood Florida and the capital offense.  He was sentenced to three life sentences and one 30-year sentence for the crime in Kissimmee, Florida on 06/23/89 for these offenses. 

CC# 87-2396

Prior to the instant offense in late September of 1987, Power broke into an apartment in Longwood, Florida and sexually assaulted a female armed with a knife.  Power stole the victim’s car and drove back to Kissimmee, Florida.  Subsequent to the capital offense, Power was arrested in Kissimmee on 10/15/87 for CC# 87-1096.  On 05/24/89, Power was sentenced to one life sentence, two 125-year sentences, one 30-year sentence, and two five-year sentences for the sexual assault in Longwood, Florida.

Trial Summary:

02/14/89          Indicted as follows:

Count I: First-Degree Murder
Count II: Sexual Battery
Count III: Kidnapping a Child under the Age of 13
Count IV: Armed Burglary of a Dwelling
Count V: Armed Robbery

03/22/89          Defendant entered a written plea of not guilty.

09/13/89          A motion for change of venue was filed.

05/21/90        Change of venue was granted and the trial was moved from Orange County to Lee County.

06/02/90          Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment.

11/07/90          Jury recommended death by a vote of 12-0.

11/08/90          Sentenced as follows:

Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: Sexual Battery – Life
Count III: Kidnapping a Child under the Age of 13 – Life
Count IV: Armed Burglary of a Dwelling – Life
Count V: Armed Robbery – Life

Case Information

Power filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 12/31/90.  Power raised several issues in regard to his conviction. Power argued that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain a conviction; the trial court erred in allowing Deputy Welty to testify as to hearsay statements made by Mr. Miller, Power also claimed he was denied a fair trial because a deputy prepared to “draw down on him” in front of the jury.  In an attempt to raise doubt that Deputy Welty correctly identified Power. 

The defense attorney had Power stand up and open his shirt; at this time, a bailiff walked directly across the courtroom to stand in front of Power and placed his hand on the butt of his gun.  The Court did not find these issues as error.  In regard to the penalty phase, the issues raised by Power surrounded the aggravating factors.  The Court found no abuse of discretion by the trial court.  

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Power’s sentence and conviction on 08/27/92.  The rehearing was denied on 10/27/92 and the mandate was issued on 11/30/92.

Power filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 01/25/93.  The petition was denied on 04/19/93.

Power filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 07/06/94.  Due to public record requests in addition to an interlocutory appeal filed by Power to the Florida Supreme Court, which resulted in a three-month stay in 1998, the motion’s disposition was not rendered until 01/29/02 when it was denied.

Power filed an appeal of the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion to the Florida Supreme Court on 04/16/02. The Court affirmed the lower court’s decision.  The rehearing was denied on 07/08/04.

Power filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 01/08/03, which was denied on 05/06/04.  The rehearing was denied on 07/08/04.

Power filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court, Middle District on 07/06/05.  The petition was amended on 11/29/05 and is currently pending.

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