The Commission on Capital Cases updates this
information regularly. This information;
however, is subject to change and may not reflect the latest status of an
inmate’s case and should not be relied upon for statistical or legal
purposes.
BARNES James Phillip (W/M)
DOB: 03/07/1962
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County Case # 06-14592
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable David W. Dugan
Attorney, Trial: Pro Se
Attorney, Direct Appeal: George D. E. Burden – Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA
Date of Offense: 04/20/88
Date of Sentence: 12/13/07
Circumstances of
Offense:
James Barnes, the defendant, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Patricia Patsy Miller on 12/13/07.
On 04/20/88, Barnes went to Miller’s condominium unit in Melbourne, Florida, took off all his clothes in order not to leave evidence, obtained entry by removing a screen, and entered through a bedroom window. Barnes admitted he went there with the intent to rape and kill Miller. Once inside, he armed himself with a knife from the kitchen. After secretly watching Miller go about her normal activities for a short period of time, he confronted her in the bathroom and forced her at knife-point to the bedroom where he sexually battered her. He then bound her hands behind her back using shoelaces he had removed from some tennis shoes, tied her feet together, and sexually battered her again. Barnes admitted he tried unsuccessfully to strangle her to death with a belt he had removed from her terrycloth robe, so he bludgeoned the back of her head with a hammer he found in her bedroom. Barnes confessed that he collected everything he touched in Miller’s residence, including the clothing Miller was wearing, and placed the articles in a bag. Barnes then set fire to the bed where Miller’s body lay in order to eliminate forensic evidence left there. Before leaving in his car, Barnes took all the items he had bagged, as well as the window screen he had removed, and left to dispose of the items at another location.
Shortly after 11:00 p.m., firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the condominium complex and found Miller’s charred body face down on the bed in her master bedroom. Her hands were still bound behind her back with shoelaces. The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma from multiple blows to Miller’s head. The blows were consistent with being beaten with a hammer. Signs of attempted strangulation were also discovered in the autopsy. The medical examiner determined that Miller’s body was set ablaze after she died from the multiple blows to her head.
Despite Barnes’ attempt to destroy forensic evidence by setting the bed ablaze, sperm was recovered from Miller and preserved for DNA testing. Within one week of the murder, the police considered Barnes a suspect, and he was questioned by Sergeant Dennis Nichols of the Melbourne Police Department. At that time, Barnes denied any involvement with the murder and agreed to give a sample of his blood for possible DNA comparison. In 1988, however, the available method of DNA testing was inadequate to produce a match and the case remained unsolved.
In 1997, the sperm recovered from Miller was resubmitted for DNA testing and produced a positive match to Barnes. Barnes was serving a life sentence for the 1997 first-degree strangulation murder of his wife, Linda Barnes. Sergeant Nichols and Brevard Sheriff‘s Office Lieutenant Todd Goodyear traveled to the prison to speak with Barnes about the Miller murder, but he refused to speak to them. For unspecified reasons, charges were not filed against Barnes for the Miller murder at this time. He was not charged until after he wrote several letters to an assistant state attorney in 2005 and confessed in a recorded interview, which Barnes arranged and in which he was questioned by another inmate about the Miller murder. In that videotaped interview on 11/01/05, Barnes admitted to the burglary, sexual batteries, murder, and arson. During his interview, Barnes described with accuracy Miller’s physical appearance, the interior of the apartment, and specific objects he saw in the apartment. Further, his descriptions of the homicide, the sexual batteries, and the arson were consistent with the evidence gathered by police.
Prior Incarceration
History in the State of Florida:
|
Prison Sentence History: |
|||||
|
Offense Date |
Offense |
Sentence Date |
County |
Case No. |
Prison Sentence Length |
|
12/03/1979 |
BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.
CONVEY |
12/03/1979 |
BREVARD |
|
5Y 0M 0D |
|
01/19/1982 |
BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.
CONVEY |
01/19/1982 |
BREVARD |
|
5Y 0M 0D |
|
11/25/1979 |
GRAND THEFT, $300 &
LESS $20,000 |
07/20/1990 |
BREVARD |
8000248 |
2Y OM OD |
|
04/16/1991 |
POSS.FIREARM BY FELON |
04/14/1992 |
BREVARD |
9107088 |
2Y 6M 0D |
|
02/15/1992 |
GRAND THEFT,$300 LESS
&20,000 |
06/18/1992 |
BREVARD |
9203548 |
6Y 0M 0D |
|
12/11/1997 |
1ST DG MUR/PREMED. OR
ATT. |
01/09/1998 |
BREVARD |
9730638 |
SENTENCED TO LIFE |
|
12/11/1997 |
FORGERY/UTTERING |
01/09/1998 |
BREVARD |
9730638 |
5Y 0M 0D |
|
12/11/1997 |
UTTER FORGED INSTRUMENT |
01/09/1998 |
BREVARD |
9730638 |
5Y 0M 0D |
|
12/11/1997 |
GRAND THEFT,300 L/5,000 |
01/09/1998 |
BREVARD |
9730638 |
5Y 0M 0D |
|
12/11/1997 |
TRAFFIC IN STOLEN
PROPERTY |
01/09/1998 |
BREVARD |
9730638 |
15Y 0M 0D |
|
12/04/1997 |
TRAFFIC IN STOLEN
PROPERTY |
06/08/2000 |
BREVARD |
9820241 |
15Y 0M 0D |
Trial Summary:
04/18/06 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder
Count II: Burglary
Count III: Sexual Battery with Weapon or Force
Count IV: Sexual Battery with Weapon or Force
Count V: Arson
05/02/06 The defendant entered a plea of guilty and waived a sentencing jury
12/13/07 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder - Death
Count II: Burglary - Life
Count III: Sexual Battery with Weapon or Force - Life
Count IV Sexual Battery with Weapon or Force - Life
Count V: Arson – 30 years
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme
Court – Direct Appeal
FSC# 08-63
29 So.3d 1010
01/14/08 Appeal filed
02/04/10 FSC affirmed the conviction and sentence
02/25/10 Mandate issued
United States
Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari
USSC# 10-5054
05/05/10 Petition filed
10/04/10 Petition denied
Case Information:
On 01/14/08, Barnes filed a Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. On appeal, Barnes raised two issues: whether the trial court violated Barnes’ Sixth Amendment right to represent himself when it appointed special court counsel to develop penalty-phase mitigation and whether the court reversibly erred in considering a presentence investigation report over Barnes’ objection that it contravened his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him. The Florida Supreme Court did not find errors that warranted reversing the conviction or sentence. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on 02/04/10.
On 05/05/10, Barnes filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. That petition was denied on 10/04/10.
________________________________________________________________________
Report Date: 02/19/10 KKR
Approved: 02/23/10 RM
Updated: 10/04/10 JJK