Opinion ID: 1588823
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Procedural History Prior to Sentencing

Text: Gill was indicted for the first-degree murder of Rosello on February 6, 2002, and was provided with appointed counsel. During the three years that this case was pending in the trial court prior to the entry of Gill's plea, Gill sought numerous times to remove his various appointed attorneys. Gill also filed numerous motions requesting a Faretta hearing, which the trial court postponed until Gill's competency could be determined. Over the course of these proceedings, the trial court appointed five experts to examine Gill for competency, and each provided a report concluding that Gill was competent to proceed. The court was also aware of the competency evaluations done in the Beverly Moore case, in which Gill was also found competent to proceed. The competency examinations and reports received and reviewed by the trial court spanned a five-year period. As a result of the competency examinations, which included an in-depth review of Gill's medical records and records of his early mental health history, the court learned of Gill's mental and behavioral problems that were manifest in his childhood. Gill was expelled from nursery school and two first-grade classes and was institutionalized at age ten for one and one-half years because of mental and behavior problems. Upon his release from that institution, he continued to have problems even though he was in counseling. Gill was then committed to the Northeast Florida State Hospital in April of 1982 and subsequently released in 1983. His record of criminal offenses began in 1986, at age seventeen, with auto theft, burglary of a conveyance, and petit theft. Although Gill was found competent to proceed in this case, the examinations disclosed the fact, not contested by the State, that Gill is mentally ill and has a long history of mental illness and behavioral difficulties. It was also discovered, after Gill was hospitalized, that he has a brain anomaly referred to as an arteriovenous malformation, which describes a brain lesion made up of an overgrowth of veins and arteries that can hemorrhage. During the proceedings below, Gill's mental health and his affliction with the arteriovenous malformation were the subject of several hearings and rulings by the trial court. The trial court held a hearing on June 18, 2004, at which it received testimony from Dr. Clifford Levin, Ph.D., Dr. Harry Krop, Ph.D., and Dr. Tonia Werner, M.D., who all opined that Gill was competent to proceed, although no competency order was entered at that time. Pursuant to one of Gill's motions to discharge appointed counsel, a Nelson [7] hearing was held on February 18, 2005, but the court refused to discharge counsel, finding counsel was not ineffective. Gill requested a Faretta hearing at that time but the trial court refused without a further competency evaluation. On April 15, 2005, Gill announced that he was withdrawing his Faretta request. As to Gill's competency, the trial court noted that the most recent evaluation by Dr. Elizabeth Cadiz was inconclusive on the issue of competency and proposed to order additional reports. Gill responded: THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, you might as well make your decision today because I'm not speaking to another expert. If you can't make your decision, this case will never end. With or without [defense counsel] Mr. Salmon's assistance, I will implicate myself in a crime that will result in my death. So you might as well make the decision today. The trial court then ruled that Gill was competent to proceed in the case based on the prior reports of the three doctors who testified on June 18, 2004. Although Gill was still represented by counsel, he immediately asked the court to allow him to enter a guilty plea. The trial court refused to entertain the plea without a determination that Gill was waiving the assistance of counsel. After inquiry of Gill, the trial court found that Gill had not made an unequivocal request to represent himself. However, in a later hearing on May 5, 2005, in which Gill was represented by his same defense counsel, the court did rule that Gill could proceed pro se in the Rosello murder case, with his current attorney acting as standby counsel. [8]