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.
DUROUSSEAU, PAUL (Black/Male)
DOB: 08/11/70
Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, Duval County Case #03-10182
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Mark H. Mahon
Attorney, Trial: Waffa Hanania – Public Defender’s Office
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Nada M. Carey – Public Defender’s Office
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA
Date of Offense: 07/26/99
Date of Sentence: 12/13/07
Circumstances of Offense:
Paul Durousseau was sentenced to death after being convicted of the strangulation murder of Tyresa Mack.
On July 26, 1999, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Mack and a friend applied for employment at various business establishments. Eyewitnesses placed Durousseau at Mack‘s Jacksonville apartment sometime between noon and 2:00 p.m. One of the eyewitnesses saw Durousseau carrying a television out of the apartment and watched as he placed it in his car. The last time anyone heard from Mack was around 1:25 p.m. that afternoon when Mack spoke with a friend on the phone. Mack did not pick her children up from daycare that day and missed a 3:00 p.m. doctor‘s appointment for her youngest child. Around 7:00 p.m. that same evening, Mack‘s sister and her stepfather went to Mack‘s apartment in an attempt to locate her. At that time, they discovered Mack‘s body, which was lying in a semi-fetal position on the bed. Her body was nude from the waist down and a white cord was wrapped around her neck. The living room television and a “X‘s and O‘s” necklace and bracelet set that Mack always wore were missing. Durousseau‘s DNA was found in Mack‘s vagina and the medical examiner concluded that Mack died from asphyxia.
Additional Information:
On June 23, 2003, Durousseau was indicted on five counts of first-degree murder for the murders of Nichole Williams, Nikia Kilpatrick, Shawanda McCallister, Jovanna Jefferson, and Surita Cohen. The similar methodology employed by the perpetrator, as well as DNA evidence from each crime scene, caused investigators to conclude that Mack was one of Durousseau‘s victims. On August 26, 2003, Durousseau was arrested for the murder of Mack. The state nolle prossed the five collateral murders.
Trial Summary:
09/04/03 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-degree murder
06/08/07 Jury returned guilty verdict
06/28/07 Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2
12/13/07 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-degree murder – Death
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC# 08-68
(Pending)
01/22/08 Direct appeal filed
12/09/10
Conviction and sentence affirmed
12/22/10
Motion for Rehearing
02/21/11
Motion denied
03/09/11 Mandate issued
Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:
It took almost four years for Durousseau’s case to go to trial.
Case Information:
On 01/22/08, Durousseau filed a direct appeal with the Florida Supreme
Court, in which he raised the following issues: (1) admission of Williams
rule evidence of the collateral murders, (2) evidence was legally insufficient
to support the pecuniary-gain aggravator, (3) rejection of expert’s testimony
regarding mental mitigation in favor of conflicting lay testimony, (4) the
evidence was insufficient to support a first-degree murder conviction, and (5) Ring
v. Arizona. On 12/09/10, the Florida Supreme court upheld Durousseau’s conviction and sentence.
On 12/22/10, Durousseau filed a Motion for Rehearing in the Florida Supreme Court. That motion was denied on 02/21/11.
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Report Date: 12/10/10 JJK
Approved: 12/14/10 RM
Updated: 03/11/11 JJK