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Merck v. State7/13/2000
Troy Merck, Jr. appeals the death sentence imposed upon him after a remand for resentencing. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed herein, we reverse Merck's sentence of death and remand this case to the trial court for a new penalty-phase proceeding and a new sentencing order in which the trial court is to provide detailed written findings as to aggravating and statutory and non-statutory mitigating evidence presented.
Merck was charged on November 14, 1991, in Pinellas County with first-degree murder. The case went to trial in November 1992 and ended in a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a verdict. After a trial in September 1993, Merck was found guilty and sentenced to death. The facts of this case are set forth in detail in Merck v. State, 664 So. 2d 939 (Fla. 1995). This Court affirmed the conviction but reversed the death sentence based on our finding that juvenile adjudication as to a North Carolina shooting incident was not a "conviction" within the meaning of the statute making prior conviction of a violent felony an aggravating factor and that the court's finding of this aggravator was harmful error. Id. at 944.
Merck's resentencing took place in July 1997. The jury unanimously recommended a death sentence. The trial court found three aggravators: Merck was previously convicted of a felony and on felony probation (great weight); Merck was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person (one robbery, four armed robberies) (great weight); and the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC) (great weight). As statutory mitigators, the court found Merck's age (nineteen) (very little weight) and that the murder was committed while Merck was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance (little weight). As non-statutory mitigation, the court found childhood abuse and deprivation (some weight); and learning disability, long-term alcohol abuse, chemically dependent parents, lack of a parental role model, and capability of forming loving relationships (some weight). After considering the relevant factors, the trial court sentenced Merck to death.
In this appeal of his resentencing Merck raises five claims through counsel and five additional claims in a supplemental pro se brief. We will discuss only the dispositive first, second, and fourth claims that Merck raised through counsel and find the remainder of Merck's claims to be moot in light of our finding of reversible error.
In his first two claims, Merck contends that the trial court did not comply with this Court's directions in Campbell v. State, 571 So. 2d 415 (1990), in that the court failed to properly find, evaluate, or weigh evidence of Merck's alcohol abuse within the list of non-statutory mitigating circumstances in the sentencing order. First, Merck claims that the court erred in failing to find, evaluate, or weigh evidence of Merck's long-term alcohol abuse as to non-statutory mitigation. Second, Merck claims that the trial court erred in failing to find, evaluate, or weigh evidence of Merck's substantial alcohol intake on the night of the instant crime as a non-statutory mitigator. We agree with both of Merck's arguments as to the trial court's lack of findings concerning Merck's use of alcohol the night of the murder and his long-term alcohol abuse.
The trial court's sentencing order states as to the statutory mitigator of substantial impairment:
c. The capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired.
Two experts testified that the defe
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