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Tampa Bay's state attorneys say 17 local death row inmates could be eligible for resentencing

By Dan Sullivan
Monday, March 27, 2017 5:00am


Ray Johnston strangled two women in Tampa in 1997. The jury voted for death: 12-0 in one case; 11-1 in the other.

One man raped a woman, slit her throat, then tried to wash his DNA off her body with cleaning chemicals and lighter fluid.

Another raped and mutilated a 94-year-old woman in her home, then set her body on fire.

A third stabbed his wife and stepdaughter to death, donning a painter's suit to dispose of their remains.

All were sentenced to death, but not by unanimous juries.

More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court declared Florida's death penalty law unconstitutional, the men are among at least 17 death row inmates from the Tampa Bay area whom local state attorneys have identified as likely to be resentenced.

Within the next year, they could be reappearing in local courtrooms, arguing that they were condemned to death under an illegal sentencing procedure. At the heart of each case are juries whose recommendations for death were not always unanimous, as is now required.

"We have to thoroughly evaluate each case on a case-by-case basis," said Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren. "The death penalty is a critical part of our criminal justice system. The most important thing to me is that we get it right."

Warren's office has assembled a list of seven death row defendants whose cases included juries that were not unanimous. In Pinellas County, State Attorney Bernie McCabe's office anticipates requests for new sentences from eight men, plus two more in Pasco County.

Some are notorious.

A jury was unanimous in recommending the death penalty for Dontae Morris for the killings of two Tampa police officers. But a second jury voted 10-2 to give him death for the murder of Derek Anderson.

Some may be mentally ill.

Pedro Hernandez-Alberto, who shot his two stepdaughters to death in Apollo Beach in 1999, had a jury vote 10-2 in favor of death. Before trial and throughout his appeals, attorneys have questioned his mental competency.

Some have been condemned repeatedly.

Troy Merck has been sentenced to death three times over the years for a 1991 stabbing outside a St. Petersburg nightclub. His most recent death sentence, in 2004, came after a jury vote of 9-3.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of Hurst vs. Florida, which invalidated the state's death penalty law, Florida judges imposed death sentences after recommendations from juries, which could be made by a bare majority of 7-5.

The Hurst case applied a 2002 Supreme Court decision, Ring vs. Arizona, which held it unconstitutional for a judge instead of a jury to find the facts necessary to impose the death penalty.

This month, Gov. Rick Scott signed a new law, requiring a jury to make unanimous findings about aggravating and mitigating circumstances before unanimously agreeing to a death sentence.

Since the Hurst decision, the Florida Supreme Court has decided that some of the state's 381 death row inmates — those who hadn't completed a direct appeal or whose sentences came after Ring — may have unconstitutional sentences.

On Thursday, the state Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Kenneth Jackson, who murdered a Seffner mother in 2007.

The other local cases likely to undergo resentencing are those who were sent to death row with nonunanimous jury recommendations, Warren said.

But even some cases with unanimous juries could see arguments for new sentences, according to Warren. That would add four more defendants in Hillsborough, including Willie Crain, who was condemned for the 1998 abduction and murder of 7-year-old Amanda Brown,

Prospects for avoiding death sentences are even less clear.

"It's not like any of them are going to walk out the door," said Bruce Bartlett, the chief assistant state attorney for Pinellas and Pasco counties. "The very best, most optimistic outcome is they get life sentences."

Contact Dan Sullivan at [e-mail] or [phone]. Follow @TimesDan.

Here are the local death row cases that state attorneys expect could be eligible for new sentences, along with the votes by juries that recommended death.

Hillsborough County

Ray Johnston strangled two women in 1997 in Tampa. Jury vote: 12-0 in one case; 11-1 in the other.

Adam Davis stabbed his girlfriend's mother to death in 1998 in Carrollwood after injecting her with bleach. Jury vote: 7-5.

Pedro Hernandez-Alberto shot his two step-daughters to death in Apollo Beach in 1999. Jury vote: 10-2.

Khalid Pasha stabbed his wife and stepdaughter to death in 2002 at an office park near Town 'N Country. Convicted and sentenced to death twice. Jury vote: 11-1.

William Deparvine shot a man and a woman in 2003 after he met them to ask about buying a vintage pickup truck. Jury vote: 8-4.

Kenneth Jackson abducted a Seffner mother of three in 2007, then stabbed her to death. Jury vote: 11-1. Late this week, the state supreme court overturned his sentence.

Dontae Morris killed two Tampa police officers, after killing another man weeks earlier. Jury vote: 12-0 for the officers; 10-2 for the civilian.

Pinellas County

Jeffrey Muehleman beat and asphyxiated a 97-year-old man in 1983. Sentenced to death a second time in 2003. Jury vote: 10-2.

Troy Merck stabbed a man repeatedly in 1991 outside a St. Petersburg bar after he was asked not to lean on a car. Jury vote: 9-3.

Harry Butler stabbed and strangled his former girlfriend in 1997 in Clearwater. Jury vote: 11-1.

Charles Peterson shot and killed a man during a robbery at a Big Lots store in St. Petersburg on Christmas Eve 1997. Jury vote: 8-4.

Genghis Kocaker stabbed a cab driver, bound him, then set fire to his car in Clearwater in 2004. Jury vote: 11-1.

Richard Robards stabbed a Clearwater couple before attempting to steal their safe. Jury vote: 7-5.

John Hampton raped a woman in 2007 in Clearwater, slit her throat, then tried to destroy DNA evidence. Jury vote: 9-3.

Ralph Wright strangled his former lover and smothered her 15-month-old son in 2007 in St. Petersburg. Jury vote: 7-5.

Pasco County

Phillup Partin stabbed, beat and strangled a 16-year-old girl in 2002 in Port Richey. Jury vote: 9-3.

John Sexton raped and murdered Ann Parlato, 94, in her New Port Richey home in 2010 before lighting her body on fire. Jury vote: 10-2.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/tampa-bays-state-attorneys-say-17-local-death-row-inmates-could-be/2317868