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.
LONG, Robert Jo (W/M)
AKA: Bobby Joe Long
DC# 494041
DOB: 10/14/53
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County, Case# 84-13346
Sentencing Judge, Trial: The Honorable John P. Griffin
Sentencing Judge, Resentencing: The Honorable Richard A. Lazzara
Attorney, Trial: Charles O’Connor – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Resentencing: Robert Fraser – Assistant Public Defender
Attorneys, Direct Appeal: Ellis Rubin & David Rappaport – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal (Resentencing): A. Anne Owens – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Robert A. Norgard – Private
Date of Offense: 05/27/84
Date of Sentence: 07/25/86
Date of Resentence: 07/21/89
Circumstances of the Offense:
On 07/25/86, Robert Long was sentenced to death for the murder of Michelle Simms in Hillsborough County, Florida.
On 11/16/84, Long was arrested and charged for the kidnapping and sexual battery of Lisa McVey. In a confession obtained on that date, Long gave the following account of the events that preceded Michelle Simms’ death. Long bought some rope the night before the murder and cut it into sections before it was put in his vehicle’s glove box. Long then went looking for a prostitute along Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa. Long then stopped next to the victim and obtained her company for $50. After the victim entered the car, Long drove approximately one mile before making the victim undress at knife point and reclined the passenger’s seat until it was flat before he tied her up. Long stated that he then drove approximately 15-20 miles before he raped the victim. Long then talked to the victim and told her that he was going to drop her off where he picked her up. Instead, Long drove to Plant City where he attempted to strangle the victim. When that failed, he hit her head with a club and pushed her from the vehicle. Long left her on the side of the road after he slit her throat. Long discarded the victim’s clothing at the scene of the murder.
The nude body of Michelle Simms was discovered on 05/27/84, in a wooded area near Plant City, Florida. A rope was tied around the victim’s wrists and around her body to restrict the movement of her hands and her clothing was scattered in the surrounding area. The victim’s throat was cut, there was blood on her face and head and the victim also suffered from rope burns on her neck and chin. The medical examiner stated that the cause of death could have been either strangulation, bleeding from two knife slashes in her neck, or head injuries.
Additional Information:
On 09/23/85, Long entered into a plea agreement in Hillsborough County, which included eight counts of first-degree murder, eight counts of kidnapping, seven counts of sexual battery, and the kidnapping and sexual battery of Lisa McVey, whose abduction led to Long’s arrest on 11/16/84. Long agreed not to contest the admissibility of his confessions of the physical evidence, in return for which the State agreed to the imposition of a life sentence for all crimes charged, except for the murder of Simms.
Long was convicted of another first-degree murder charge in Pasco County (CC# 84-2275) and sentenced to death on 05/03/85. During his final Direct Appeal (Retrial II), filed to the Florida Supreme Court, the Court vacated Long’s death sentence, reversed his conviction, and remanded the case to the Circuit Court with directions to enter an order of acquittal for the murder of Johnson.
Trial Summary:
11/28/84 Indicted as follows:
Count I: Kidnapping (Lisa McVey)
Count II: Sexual Battery (Lisa McVey)
Count III: First-Degree Murder (Michelle Simms)
09/23/85 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
07/18/86 Jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1
07/25/86 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: Kidnapping (Lisa McVey) – Life
Count II: Sexual Battery (Lisa McVey) – Life
Count III: First-Degree Murder (Michelle Simms) – Death
06/30/88 FSC remanded case back to lower court for resentencing for Count III
06/29/89 Jury recommended death by a vote of 12-0
07/21/89 Sentenced as follows:
Count III: First-Degree Murder (Michelle Simms) – Death
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC# 69,259
529 So. 2d 286
09/02/86 Appeal filed
06/30/88 FSC remanded case to circuit court for resentencing
08/26/88 Rehearing denied
09/29/88 Mandate issued
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal (Resentencing)
FSC# 74,512
610 So. 2d 1268
08/03/89 Appeal filed
10/15/92 FSC affirmed the conviction and death sentence
01/26/93 Rehearing denied
02/25/93 Mandate issued
United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari
USSC# 92-8669
510 U.S. 832
04/26/93 Petition filed
10/04/93 Petition denied
State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion
CC# 84-13346
12/29/94 Motion filed
08/01/95 Motion denied
Florida Supreme Court – 3.850 Appeal
FSC# 86,433
672 So. 2d 543
09/11/95 Appeal filed
03/18/96 Appeal dismissed
State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion
CC# 84-13346
(Pending)
10/04/95 Motion filed
03/31/03 Amended motion filed
Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:
The 3.850 Motion has been pending in the Circuit Court for over ten years and the remanding of the case resulted in the filing of two Direct Appeals in the Florida Supreme Court. A status conference is to be held 10/31/07 to determine competency for an evidentiary hearing.
Case Information:
During the trial, testimony was presented stating that Long had suffered from a series of the following head injuries: he had been knocked unconscious for several minutes as a result from falling off of a swing; he had been knocked unconscious for approximately 20 minutes as a result of falling down a flight of stairs; he had been hospitalized for approximately one week as a result of being hit by a car at age seven; he had been knocked unconscious as a result of falling off of a horse; he had been in a serious motorcycle accident in which he had suffered serious head injuries at age 20 while enlisted in the army.
A Direct Appeal was filed to the Florida Supreme Court on 09/02/86. Issues that were raised on Direct Appeal included whether the trial court erred by denying the defendant’s motion to vacate his plea agreement and whether the use of prior convictions, which were later vacated by the Court, unfairly prejudiced the sentencing proceedings. The Court agreed that the use of the prior convictions as aggravating factors was harmful error and remanded the case to the Circuit Court for resentencing on 06/30/88.
A second Direct Appeal was filed to the Florida Supreme Court on 08/03/89. Issues that were raised on appeal included whether the trial court erred in denying Long’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas and whether the trial court erred in allowing the hearsay testimony of two detectives regarding the details of the two other rapes as crimes of violence in aggravation. The Court found all of the issues either harmless or without error and affirmed the conviction and the death sentence on 10/15/92. A Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed to the United States Supreme Court on 04/26/93 and denied on 10/04/93.
A 3.850 Motion was filed to the Circuit Court on 12/29/94, which was denied on 08/01/95.
A 3.850 Appeal was filed to the Florida Supreme Court on 09/11/95 and was dismissed without prejudice at the request of the defendant on 03/18/96 so that an amended 3.850 could be filed; that 3.850 was filed to the Circuit Court on 10/04/95. On 03/31/03, an amended motion was filed to the Circuit Court, which is currently pending.
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.
LONG, Robert Jo (W/M)
AKA: Bobby Joe Long
DC# 494041
DOB: 10/14/53
Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pasco County, Case# 84-2275CFAES
Sentencing Judge, Trial: The Honorable Ray E. Ulmer, Jr.
Sentencing Judge, Retrial (I): The Honorable Wayne L. Cobb
Sentencing Judge, Retrial (II): The Honorable Charles W. Cope
Attorneys, Trial: Robert A. Norgard & Randall Grantham – Assistant Public Defender
Attorneys, Retrial (I): William Eble – Chief Assistant Public Defender
Robert McClure – Assistant Public Defender
Attorneys, Retrial (II): William Eble – Chief Assistant Public Defender
Laurie R. Chane – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: W.C. McLain – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal (Retrial I): Steven L. Bolotin – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal (Retrial II): A. Anne Owens – Assistant Public Defender
Date of Offense: approximately 10/22/84
Date of Sentence: 05/03/85
Date of Resentence (I): 03/02/89
Date of Resentence (II): 04/12/94
Circumstances of the Offense:
On 05/03/85, Robert Long was sentenced to death for the murder of Virginia Johnson in Pasco County, Florida.
Virginia Johnson was an 18-year-old prostitute of Tampa, Florida. She was an alcoholic and a drug addict of mainly cocaine and heroin. Roughly 1½ years before she was murdered, Johnson lived with several different men. On October 1984, Johnson’s friend, Sharon Martinez, reported Johnson missing. According to Martinez, her last encounter with Johnson took place as Johnson was going to a health clinic to be treated for gonorrhea. Bernadine Herman, a nurse at the health clinic, confirmed that Johnson arrived for her appointment for treatment of gonorrhea on 10/15/84, but did not return for a follow-up examination.
On 11/06/84, two female horseback riders found human remains in a pasture. The two women rode to a nearby mobile park and notified the sheriff’s department. Investigators and crime scene technicians arrived at the pasture and searched the area thoroughly for evidence. They found the human remains in two separate areas; a pair of women’s panties was also found nearby. The technicians transported the human remains to the medical examiner’s office. Dr. Joan Wood, the medical examiner, found no injury to any of the bones other than that caused by animals after death, and remaining skin tissue could not be evaluated due to decomposition. Dr. Wood concluded that a shoelace entwined around the neck was the manner of death; however, she could neither confirm nor exclude manual strangulation as the cause of death. Dr. Wood estimated the time of death to be approximately 15 days prior to the discovery of the body. The human remains were then transferred over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for further examination.
Curtis Wilken, a forensic anthropologist, examined the human remains and concluded that a comparison of the teeth with dental records ultimately identified the remains to be those of Johnson.
Michael Malone, a hair and fiber expert with the FBI, examined the hair samples taken from the remains and compared hairs, fibers to hairs, and fibers, which had previously been removed from Robert Long’s car when it was searched by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for the investigation of the murder of Michelle Simms. The hairs found in Long’s car microscopically matched the head hairs taken from Johnson’s remains. Malone believed that Johnson had been in Long’s car.
Before the discovery of Johnson’s remains, Long was arrested on 11/16/84 in Tampa for an unrelated charge – the sexual battery and kidnapping of Lisa McVey. Long was interrogated by the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office and Long confessed to the murder of Johnson. During the interrogation, Long indicated Johnson approached him in Pasco County and offered him “a date” for $30 or $40. Long admitted he had sex with her before strangling her with his hands. He then dragged Johnson’s body into a horse pasture and left her tied with shoestring. Long recalled leaving Johnson’s panties on her body.
Additional Information:
The date Johnson was murdered is unknown. Based on a medical examiner’s estimates, Johnson was murdered on 10/22/84.
On 09/23/85, Long entered into a plea agreement in Hillsborough County, which included eight counts of first-degree murder, eight counts of kidnapping, seven counts of sexual battery, and the kidnapping and sexual battery of Lisa McVey, whose abduction led to Long’s arrest on 11/16/84. Long agreed not to contest the admissibility of his confessions of the physical evidence; in return, the State agreed to the imposition of a life sentence for all crimes charged, except for the murder of Simms.
Long is currently serving a death sentence for the murder of
Michelle Simms, the Hillsborough County case (CC# 84-13346).
Prior Incarceration History in the state of Florida:
Long confessed to eight other murders and was convicted of sexual battery in numerous other cases where the victim was not murdered.
|
5/29/1984 |
Sexual Battery with a Deadly Weapon |
7/12/1985 |
PINELLAS |
LIFE |
|
5/29/1984 |
Kidnapping during a Felony |
7/12/1985 |
PINELLAS |
LIFE |
|
5/29/1984 |
Robbery with a Deadly Weapon |
7/12/1985 |
PINELLAS |
LIFE |
|
5/29/1984 |
Armed Burglary |
7/12/1985 |
PINELLAS |
LIFE |
Trial Summary:
12/06/84 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder (Virginia Johnson)
04/27/85 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
04/27/85 Jury recommended death by a vote of 12-0
05/03/85 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder (Virginia Johnson) – Death
11/07/88 Jury trial
11/07/88 Jury returned guilty verdicts on Count I
11/10/88 Jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3
03/02/89 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder (Virginia Johnson) – Death
02/10/94 Jury returned guilty verdicts on Count I
02/10/94 Jury recommended death by a vote of 7-5
04/12/94 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder (Virginia Johnson) – Death
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC# 67,103
517 So.2d 664
06/03/85 Appeal filed
11/12/87 FSC vacated Long’s conviction and sentence and remanded the case back to the Circuit Court for retrial
04/18/88 Mandate issued
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal (Retrial I)
FSC# 74,017
610 So.2d 1276
04/17/89 Appeal filed
10/15/92 The FSC reversed the conviction and sentence and remanded the case back to the Circuit Court for retrial
02/26/93 Mandate issued
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal (Retrial II)
FSC# 83,593
689 So.2d 1055
04/26/94 Appeal filed
03/06/97 FSC vacated Long’s death sentence, reversed his conviction, and remanded the case to the Circuit Court with directions to enter an order of acquittal for the murder of Johnson
04/07/97 Mandate issued
Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:
The Florida Supreme Court took nearly three years to render a decision for Long’s initial Direct Appeal. Long’s case was remanded back to the lower court for a retrial.
For Long’s Direct Appeal (Retrial I), the Florida Supreme Court took over three years to render a decision.
For Long’s Direct Appeal (Retrial II), the Florida Supreme Court took nearly three years to render a decision.
Case Information:
On 06/03/85, Long filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. Among ten claims raised by Long during appeal, Long’s confession issue was dispositive. When held in custody by law enforcement for an interrogation, Long uttered the sentence, “I think I might need an attorney.” The question in this case is whether Long clearly stated his right to counsel by the statement. The Court held that the statement was equivocal to Long having voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and did not intend to terminate the interrogation to consult with counsel. Furthermore, the Court maintained that the investigating officers did not attempt to clarify the equivocal request for counsel, but continued to interrogate Long to obtain the eventual confession to the murder of Johnson. The Court concluded that without equivocal request for counsel, the confession was voluntary and admissible. On 11/12/87, the Court vacated the conviction and sentence and remanded the case back to the Circuit Court for a new trial. On 04/18/88, the mandate was issued.
On 04/17/89, Long filed a Direct Appeal (Retrial I) to the Florida Supreme Court. On appeal, Long raised four claims. First, Long claimed the trial court erred in allowing the State to produce for the jury, over the defense counsel’s objection, a videotape interview of Long by CBS News as Williams Rule evidence. Second, Long claimed the trial court erred in allowing the State to present evidence, including hair, fiber, and tire track evidence, regarding four other murders to which Long had pleaded guilty in the Hillsborough County plea agreement. Third, Long claimed the trial court erred in allowing the State to present the Hillsborough County murders as the central feature of the trial. Fourth, Long claimed the trial court erred in allowing evidence of the Hillsborough County guilty pleas and convictions resulting from Long’s plea agreement may not be admitted as aggravating factors given the terms of the plea agreement. The Court concluded the trial court erred only in allowing evidence of the Hillsborough County murders to be introduced in aggravation against Long; however, this ruling did not preclude the introduction of relevant evidence regarding offenses for which Long was convicted before he entered into Hillsborough County plea agreement. Accordingly, on 10/15/92, the Court reversed Long’s conviction and sentence of death and remanded the case back to the Circuit Court for a new trial. On 02/26/93, the mandate was issued.
On 04/26/94, Long filed a Direct Appeal (Retrial II) to the Florida Supreme Court. A number of the problems surrounding this case have involved the use of facts from the Hillsborough County cases to obtain a conviction in this case. In analyzing the issues of importance, the Court upheld the Hillsborough plea agreement to sustain the eight murder convictions obtained against Long through that agreement. Because of the limited evidence available in this case due to that plea agreement, the Court was compelled to conclude that there is insufficient evidence available to find Long guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the murder of Johnson. On 03/06/97, the Court vacated Long’s death sentence, reversed his conviction, and remanded the case to the Circuit Court with directions to enter an order of acquittal for Johnson’s murder. On 04/07/97, the mandate was issued.
Institutional Adjustment:
DATE DAYS VIOLATION LOCATION
-------- ---- ------------------ -------------------
01/13/86 45 POSS OF WEAPONS FLORIDA STATE PRISON
02/11/88 30 FIGHTING FLORIDA STATE PRISON
08/10/88 0 DISORDERLY CONDUCT FLORIDA STATE PRISON
12/10/91 30 UNARMED ASSAULT FLORIDA STATE PRISON
01/06/92 0 SPOKEN THREATS FLORIDA STATE PRISON
02/12/93 0 DISORDERLY CONDUCT UNION C. I.
05/23/93 0 DISOBEYING ORDER UNION C. I.
07/08/93 0 FEIGNING ILLNESS OR UNION C. I.
09/27/95 0 FIGHTING UNION C. I.
05/06/96 0 UNARMED ASSAULT UNION C. I.
06/19/00 180 UNARMED ASSAULT UNION C. I.
12/22/00 60 DISORDERLY CONDUCT UNION C. I.
12/05/01 0 MAIL VIOLATIONS UNION C. I.
01/02/03 30 FIGHTING UNION C. I.
______________________________________________________________________
Report Date: 05/13/03 CC
Approved: 07/10/03 WS
Updated: 02/04/10 EMJ