Opinion ID: 3045669
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: reaves’ trial, retrial, and direct appeals

Text: Reaves was originally tried before a Florida jury in 1987, convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, and sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court reversed that conviction because the State prosecutor had represented Reaves as a public defender in an earlier grand larceny case. See Reaves v. State, 574 So. 2d 105, 106–08 (Fla. 1991). At the outset of Reaves’ 1992 retrial, Jonathan Jay Kirschner was appointed to represent him. At defense counsel’s request, the trial court reappointed Dr. William Weitz, the mental health expert who had examined Reaves before his first trial, to evaluate Reaves’ competency to stand trial and sanity at the time of the offense, as well as to assist in the preparation of his defense. 3 Dr. Weitz, a clinical psychologist specializing in military psychology and post-traumatic stress disorder, diagnosed Reaves as suffering from antisocial personality disorder, poly-substance abuse (particularly cocaine), and “Vietnam Syndrome,” which he defined as a “sub-clinical” variety of PTSD characterized by rage reactions, alienation, hypervigilance, some depression, and a potential increase in drug and alcohol use. 3 Reaves was represented by a different attorney, Clifford Barnes, at his original trial and in connection with that trial Dr. Weitz was appointed to evaluate Reaves with regard to issues of competency, insanity, and the need for involuntary hospitalization. Barnes also had Dr. Weitz consider whether Reaves was able to form the intent required for first-degree murder, whether he was acting under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the shooting, and whether he had the capacity to either appreciate the criminality of his conduct or conform his actions to the requirements of the law. 6 Case: 12-11044 Date Filed: 05/30/2013 Page: 7 of 42 During a pretrial deposition, Dr. Weitz testified that Reaves informed him that he “smoked and snorted” 1.75 grams of cocaine and consumed an unspecified amount of beer during the daytime or early evening before the shooting. He expressed the opinion that Reaves’ judgment and perception “may have been impaired by the use of alcohol and drugs” at the time of the shooting, though he promptly clarified, “I’m not suggesting he was [legally] intoxicated or not, that I don’t know. What I am suggesting is that the possibility of judgment and perception being impaired which is psychological phenomena and not legal, certainly are possible in this situation.” Dr. Weitz also concluded that Reaves knew what he was doing at the time of shooting, understood the nature and consequences of his actions, and possessed the ability to distinguish right from wrong. During the guilt phase of the retrial, defense counsel pursued a defense of excusable homicide, based largely on Reaves’ Vietnam Syndrome, and tried to have Dr. Weitz’s testimony admitted in support of that defense.4 The proffered testimony of Dr. Weitz largely reiterated his deposition testimony. He acknowledged that the existence of Vietnam Syndrome, though accepted in “the psychological community,” was not recognized as a disorder in the Diagnostic and 4 A homicide is excusable under Florida law when, among other things, it is committed “by accident and misfortune in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation.” Fla. Stat. § 782.03. 7 Case: 12-11044 Date Filed: 05/30/2013 Page: 8 of 42 Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the authoritative diagnostic source for psychiatrists and psychologists. Dr. Weitz also conceded that Reaves did not meet the criteria for a formal diagnosis of PTSD because, among other things, he did not report flashbacks or re-experiencing trauma. Dr. Weitz was of the opinion that, as result of Vietnam Syndrome, Reaves was more likely to perceive his encounter with the deputy as life threatening, to exhibit diminished impulse control, and to react quickly to eliminate any perceived threat. Still, he concluded that Reaves was not so intoxicated at the time of the offense that he was unable to distinguish right from wrong. Reaves had immediately fled the scene of the shooting, had hidden in the woods, and had taken other evasive action, all of which indicated to Dr. Weitz that Reaves “knew what he was doing.” After hearing the proffered testimony of Dr. Weitz, the court barred it from the guilt phase of the 1992 retrial, ruling it inadmissible under Chestnut v. State, 538 So. 2d 820 (Fla. 1989). The Chestnut decision had held that evidence of an abnormal mental condition that does not rise to the level of legal insanity is inadmissible for the purpose of proving that an accused either could not or did not possess the specific intent to commit an offense. 538 So. 2d at 820. At the retrial Reaves’ attorney did not present any evidence about the amount of drugs and alcohol that Reaves had consumed before the crime or the impact it would have had on his mental state. Nor did he argue to the jury that 8 Case: 12-11044 Date Filed: 05/30/2013 Page: 9 of 42 Reaves had been too intoxicated to form the premeditated design to kill that is required for first-degree murder. He did, however, request a jury instruction on that defense because of the statements in Reaves’ confession about ingesting cocaine before the shooting. The trial court granted the request and instructed the jury that, while the use of drugs does not excuse the commission of a criminal act “to the extent that it merely arouses passions, diminishes perceptions, releases inhibitions or clouds reason and judgment,” the jury should acquit Reaves of firstdegree murder if it found that he had been “so intoxicated from the voluntary use of drugs as to be incapable of forming [the] premeditated design to kill.” The court also instructed the jury on a number of lesser-included offenses of first-degree murder, including second-degree murder. During closing arguments, the prosecutor discussed the issue of voluntary intoxication at length, arguing that Reaves’ words, conduct, and underlying motives, especially as expressed in his statement, “One of us got to go, me or you,” proved that he had made a conscious decision to kill the deputy in order to avoid prison time. He also argued that even if Reaves had consumed cocaine before the killing, Reaves was not so intoxicated that he was unable to formulate the premeditated intent to kill. During his closing arguments, defense counsel did not expressly urge the jury to acquit his client of first-degree murder based on voluntary intoxication, 9 Case: 12-11044 Date Filed: 05/30/2013 Page: 10 of 42 focusing instead on the defense of excusable homicide and the shortness of time to form a premeditated design. Counsel did point out that in his confession Reaves had repeatedly referred to having used cocaine before the killing, and counsel argued that the case involved a panic shooting devoid of premeditation by a veteran of the Vietnam War. After nine hours of deliberations, during which the jury asked the judge about the definition of premeditation and what would happen if it could not reach a verdict, Reaves was convicted of first-degree murder. At the penalty phase of the trial, defense counsel called Dr. Weitz as an expert witness. He testified much as his proffered testimony during the guilt stage had indicated that he would. Dr. Weitz also told the jury that as a result of Vietnam Syndrome, coupled with his use of cocaine, Reaves was acting under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the shooting— namely, a heightened sense of panic and fear—which substantially impaired his ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law (a statutory mitigating circumstance). Counsel also presented a number of witnesses who told the jury about Reaves’ childhood, about his history of serious drug abuse dating back to his one-year tour of duty in Vietnam, and about the conditions of combat in Vietnam. The jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of ten to two and the trial judge followed that recommendation, finding that the aggravating circumstances of 10 Case: 12-11044 Date Filed: 05/30/2013 Page: 11 of 42 Reaves’ offense outweighed the mitigating circumstances. 5 Reaves v. State, 639 So. 2d 1, 3 (Fla. 1994). The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Reaves’ conviction and capital sentence on direct appeal. Id. at 6.