Opinion ID: 1588823
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Gill's Plea and Sentencing

Text: After being found competent and being allowed to proceed pro se with standby defense counsel, Gill entered his guilty plea on July 8, 2005, and further waived a sentencing jury and presentation of any mitigation. Gill also agreed that the State could immediately present its evidence of aggravating circumstances. [9] The trial court and Gill's standby counsel were aware of the requirements of Koon v. Dugger, 619 So.2d 246, 250 (Fla.1993) (the court must confirm the defendant has discussed waiver of mitigation with counsel, who must inform the court whether there is mitigation that could be presented, and the court must confirm the defendant wishes to waive mitigation). However, when Gill's standby counsel attempted to present additional mitigation, Gill objected, and the court confirmed with Gill that he wished to waive presentation of mitigation. The court was also aware of its obligations under Muhammad v. State, 782 So.2d 343, 363 (Fla.2001) (emphasizing the duty of the trial court to consider all mitigating evidence anywhere in the record). Accordingly, the court also considered mitigation presented by the State on Gill's behalf, as well as that appearing elsewhere in the record of the case. [10] After the State presented its closing argument, in which the prosecutor acknowledged Gill's longstanding mental illness and brain malformation but argued that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mental mitigation, Gill addressed the court, stating: Your Honor, this case can end with the imposition of the death penalty today. The case is then guaranteed a direct appeal, but less likely to be overturned, as the Court has found me competent in every step of the way and that every decision made by me was knowingly, freely and willingly, and furthermore you will save an innocent human life. On the flip side, if I am given life, something I do not want, there are no appeals, and I don't want to have an opportunity to take another human's life. I understand that death penalties are not given due to threats and the Courts do not rely on such threats, but for you to take my statements and promises, which is what they are and proven to be, with a grain of salt, like the Honorable Stan Morris, you will be second on a string of judges who has come to deliberately give me a license to take another human's life, knowing that the judges in this circuit will never give me the death penalty. Please make the right decision and don't be the fault of another loss of life. I may take longer than four days next time, but it will be done, and I am one hundred percent sure that it won't be an inmate the next time. Prior to sentencing Gill, the trial court held a separate hearing in February 2006, where Dr. Alan Waldman, M.D., a forensic neuropsychiatrist, testified about Gill's arteriovenous malformation, which had been discovered after it ruptured in 2004 and required Gill's hospitalization. Dr. Waldman, who offered his opinion that Gill was competent, explained that the arteriovenous malformation is a space occupying lesion in Gill's brain that is about two centimeters square. He said that the lesion is made up of a tangled overgrowth of veins and arteries, which in Gill's case presses on the amygdala in the left temporal lobe of his brain. [11] This pressure can rage attacks and something called interictal personality disorder. [12] When asked about interictal personality disorder, the doctor testified, It's possible to have significant personality changes between temporal lobe seizures, provided that they are there, and I have no evidence that they are there. Dr. Waldman testified that [t]he temporal lobe seizure foci are very difficult to find. Between seizures an individual's personality can become very different, can become hostile, unruly, they can become passive, they can have profound changes from a premorbid [before the condition] state. According to Dr. Waldman, Gill's arteriovenous malformation was present since birth and was evidenced by Gill's childhood history of discontrol syndromes and behavioral abnormalities. He said that an arteriovenous malformation also interrupts the ability of a person to learn from his or her experiences. When asked if the facts of the murder indicate it was the result of the rage response that can be caused by the arteriovenous malformation, Dr. Waldman said: Not as you described it.... It certainly sounds very much like ... a thought-out, threatened, premeditated act, but I was not there that night. A disposition hearing was held June 30, 2006, at which the trial court again advised Gill that he had a right to appointed counsel, which Gill refused. The court also asked Gill if he wished to withdraw his plea or go forward with sentencing, and Gill confirmed that he wanted to go forward. The trial court then entered its Order Imposing Sentence of Death for the murder of Orlando Rosello. In the sentencing order, the court considered four aggravating factors, but found only three to be proven: (1) Gill was under a life sentence for the murder of Beverly Moore at the time the Rosello murder was committedsection 921.141(5)(a), Florida Statutes (2002)which was given great weight; (2) Gill had a prior capital felony conviction for the Beverly Moore murdersection 921.141(5)(b), Florida Statutes (2002)which was given great weight; and (3) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated mannersection 921.141(5)(i), Florida Statutes (2002)which was given great weight. Although the trial court based its finding of the prior violent felony aggravator only on the prior capital felony conviction involving the Beverly Moore murder, we note that evidence was presented of five other prior violent felony convictions, including attempted murder. The trial court rejected a finding that the murder was heinous, atrocious or cruel under section 921.141(5)(h), Florida Statutes (2002), primarily because Rosello was asleep when the attack occurred and when he awoke, he struggled only briefly. The trial court then considered all the mitigation that was presented, including mental mitigation in both this case and the Beverly Moore case, and found two statutory mitigators: (1) Gill was under extreme emotional or mental disturbance section 921.141(6)(b), Florida Statutes (2002)which was given substantial weight; and (2) Gill's ability to appreciate the criminality of his act or to conform his conduct to the law was impairedsection 921.141(6)(f), Florida Statutes (2002) which was given great weight. The trial court found Gill's impaired ability to appreciate the criminality of his act or to conform his conduct to the law based in large part on the testimony of Dr. Levin, who had testified that Gill's capacity to conform his conduct to the law was substantially impaired by Gill's major depressive disorder, major mood disorder in the form of an intermittent explosive disorder and other diagnosable disorders including cocaine abuse, antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. The sentencing order noted Dr. Levin's testimony that Gill had periodic suicide attempts, episodic failure to resist aggressive impulses, a pattern of rage, violent outbursts and inappropriate anger, poor judgment, mood swings, irritability, and some self-mutilation. The trial court also cited the fact that Gill was institutionalized at a very early age and received poor treatment, was uncontrollable, and was committed to the North Florida State Hospital, where he was frequently kept in four-point restraints to control his behavior. The trial court also found other mitigation, including that Gill's behavior may have been affected throughout his life by the untreatable arteriovenous malformation in his brain, which can cause impulse behavior including rage, although concluding that the Rosello murder was neither impulsive nor due to uncontrollable rage. This mitigator was given weight, but not great weight. The trial court stated in sentencing Gill in this case that it relied to a great extent on Judge Morris's sentencing order in [the Beverly Moore murder case] where the trial court had access to a much greater amount of mental health information than the Court possessed in this case. In the Alachua County Beverly Moore sentencing order, where the trial court imposed a life sentence on July 20, 2001, four days before the Rosello murder, Judge Morris found: Even as a toddler, [Gill] was clumsy, impulsive, and possessed a short attention span. He was expelled from two nursery schools and two first-grade classes before being placed in a class for emotionally handicapped students. Violent and hyperactive, he showed signs of thinking disorders, delusions, and possible hallucinations. At the young age of ten (December 1979), he was admitted to the Grant Center's acute care unit; he remained at the center for a year and a half, during which time he displayed frequent temper tantrums (kicking, biting and scratching). He was prescribed a number of medications and placed in weekly counseling sessions to control his combative and violent behavior. He was ultimately diagnosed with childhood-type schizophrenia. Shortly after being discharged from Grant Center, Defendant again began displaying extremely aggressive, violent behaviors toward both children and adults. This behavior was so severe that he was admitted to Northeast Florida State Hospital several months later in April of 1982, where he remained for quite some time. .... ... Just four years later, in 1987, Defendant was sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of probation for burglary of a conveyance; grand theft; armed robbery; burglary of a dwelling with an assault therein; and burglary of a dwelling with a battery therein. Upon intake, his North Florida Reception Center classification summary called his pre- and post-release prognosis guarded due to his history of drug use and crime. He was subsequently placed in Sumter Correctional Institution and then moved to Polk Correctional before being assigned to Union Correctional on December 1, 1987.... His readmission summary at North Florida Reception Center indicated he would continue to be a management problem, in part because of his numerous suicide attempts, including hanging himself, cutting his arm, and attempting to drain his blood with a syringe. .... He was repeatedly examined, and each time the diagnoses were similar borderline personality disorder; depression with suicidal ideations; adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotional conduct; and antisocial personality disorder. At varying times, he was prescribed a number of antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs, including Elavil, Sinequan, and Serentil. While on these medications he showed sporadic improvement, but overall his condition remained the same. After reviewing the entire record, considering the mitigation presented on Gill's behalf, and weighing the aggravators against the mitigators, the trial court found: Despite the fact [that] RICARDO IGNACIO GILL is a deeply troubled individual with a long history of mental health problems, mental disturbances, suicidal impulses, and a life primarily spent in penal institutions ... the magnitude of Defendant's aggravating factors outweigh[s] the magnitude of the Defendant's statutory mitigating factors and non-statutory mitigating factors. Accordingly, the trial court sentenced Gill to death for the murder of Orlando Rosello. On appeal, Gill's counsel contends that due to Gill's mental illness and his arteriovenous malformation, the trial court erred in finding that the murder was cold, calculated and premeditated. He also contends that the death sentence is disproportionate in this case because the other aggravators were also the result of his mental illness. Finally, Gill contends that Florida's capital sentencing procedures and his death sentence are unconstitutional under Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). Because all the claims expressly raised by Gill relate to his sentence, and this Court's mandatory review involves the guilt phase of the case, we turn first to the question of whether Gill's guilty plea was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. We will then address the penalty-phase claims that Gill presents in his appeal.