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Weaver v. State12/16/2004
Jeffrey Lee Weaver appeals his conviction of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and a sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. In sentencing Weaver to death, the trial judge overrode the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment. See § 921.141(3), Fla. Stat. (2003) (authorizing judicial overrides). For the reasons expressed below, we affirm Weaver's conviction but reverse the trial judge's override of the jury's recommendation of a life sentence and remand with instructions to enter a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
I. FACTS
On the evening of January 5, 1996, Jeffrey Weaver attempted the armed burglary of a car. When the attempt failed, he headed south. The victim contacted authorities and a BOLO ("be on lookout") was issued. Shortly thereafter, someone spotted Weaver lurking in the bushes and shoving what appeared to be a gun down his pants. About two hours after the attempted burglary, Officers Bryant Peney and Ray Myers saw Weaver near a local vocational school. Officer Peney saw that Weaver was acting suspiciously, activated his patrol car's lights, and stopped Weaver. Weaver ran. The officers chased him across a highway. When Weaver reached the other side of the road, and as Officer Peney approached the median, Weaver turned around, crouched in a shooting position and shot Officer Peney in the chest. Officer Peney fell to the ground. Weaver then aimed at Officer Myers, who was approaching. Officer Myers fired one shot, but missed Weaver. Weaver continued to run and eluded capture by making his way into a lake, where he spent the night in hiding.
When the paramedics placed Officer Peney on a gurney, a bullet fell to the ground. The bullet underwent testing and proved to be a .357 bullet containing Officer Peney's blood and DNA. At the hospital, doctors discovered that Officer Peney had suffered a single gunshot wound that went through his right arm, into his chest, and through his lungs, resulting in a perforated aorta and torn vena cava. The operating physicians noted that this combination of wounds was uniformly fatal. Officer Peney died the next morning while undergoing surgery for his wounds. That same morning authorities found Weaver near some bushes close to the lake.
Weaver was indicted for first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer (Officer Peney), aggravated assault (Officer Myers), armed resisting of an officer with violence (Officer Myers), carrying a concealed weapon, and attempted burglary of an occupied conveyance. Before trial, the attempted armed burglary charge was severed.
Officer Myers and various eyewitnesses testified at trial. Weaver told detectives that he was the person who shot Officer Peney. He performed a walk-through of the crime scene, where he reenacted how he shot Officer Peney. At trial, Weaver testified that he did not intend to shoot Officer Peney and that he fired at the officer in order to stop the foot chase and force Officer Peney to chase him in the patrol car.
Weaver was convicted of all charges. As to the murder conviction, by a vote of eight to four the jury recommended that Weaver receive a sentence of life imprisonment. The court held a Spencer hearing, denied Weaver's motion for a new trial, and sentenced him to death. The court found four aggravating factors: (1) contemporaneous violent felony convictions involving Officer Myers; (2) that the victim was a law enforcement officer engaged in his official duties; (3) avoiding lawful arrest; and (4) disrupting or hindering a law enforcement officer. Aggravators two through four were merged into one. The court found one statutory mitigator, "no significant history of prior
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