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. 

PETERSON, Charles C. (B/M)

DC# 081163

DOB: 08/11/59

6th Judicial Circuit, Pinellas County Case # 00-5107

Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Linda Allan

Attorney, Trial: Richard Watts – Private

Attorney, Direct Appeal: J. Marion Moorman and Andrea Norgard – Public Defender’s Office

Attorney, Collateral Appeals: David Hendry– CCRC-M

Date of Offense: 12/24/97

Date of Sentence: 1/06/06

Circumstances of Offense:

On December 24, 1997, John Cardoso, an employee at a “Big Lots” store in St. Petersburg, was shot and killed by a masked gunman during an armed robbery.  Six store employees, Karen Smith, Maria Soto, Shirley Bellamy, John Cardoso, Josh McBride, and Wanda Church, were closing the store after business hours on Christmas Eve when they were surprised by a masked assailant.  Smith, Soto, and Bellamy were in the locked office when they heard crashing noises coming from the employee break room.  When the three women opened the door to investigate the noise, they saw a man with a gun and Cardoso lying face down on the floor of the break room.  The gunman was wearing a nylon stocking over his face and latex gloves on his hands.  The gunman held the gun to Smith’s head, forcing the women to step over Cardoso’s body on the way through the break room and into the adjacent stockroom.  Once in the stockroom, the three women and Josh McBride, another employee who had entered the stockroom, were made to get down on their hands and knees.  The gunman threatened Smith again in order to force the remaining employee, Wanda Church, into the stockroom with the others.  The gunman then forced Smith to go into the office.  He took a backpack from the sales floor and ordered Smith to fill it with money, demanding that she not look at him.  When the bag was filled, he moved everyone into the break room and made them lie on the floor next to Cardoso’s body.  After the gunman left through the store’s emergency exit, Soto and Church got up to call the police.

Cardoso died as a result of a gunshot wound to the torso.  He had also sustained abrasions and contusions to the right back, arm, and hand, which appeared to have been inflicted shortly before the time of death.  According to the forensic testimony of Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Noel Palma, Cardoso was shot from the back from a distance of less than 12 inches.

During the investigation, Smith identified Peterson from a photopack shown to her by law enforcement officers.  Although Soto could not identify the assailant during the investigation, she identified Peterson as the assailant during the trial.  James Davis, who was a customer in the Big Lots store on the day of the robbery, identified Peterson from a photopack as a man he saw lingering and pacing in the back of the store on the day in question.

Additional Information:

Pursuant to Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654, 663 (Fla. 1959), the State presented evidence that Peterson had robbed a Family Dollar, a Phar-Mor, and a McCrory’s in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area between February of 1997 and August of 1998.  The circumstances of these robberies were consistent with the Big Lots robbery.  DNA evidence implicated Peterson as the assailant in the Family Dollar and Phar-Mor robberies.  The victim of the McCrory’s robbery identified Peterson as the assailant from a police photopack.

At the time of the murder, Peterson was serving a life sentence under community supervision.

Prior Incarceration History in the State of Florida:

Current Prison Sentence History
Offense Date	Offense	Sentence Date	County	Case No.	Prison Sentence Length
02/14/1997	ROBB. GUN/DEADLY WPN	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	SENTENCED TO LIFE
02/14/1997	ROBB. GUN/DEADLY WPN	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	SENTENCED TO LIFE
02/14/1997	SEX BAT/ WPN. OR FORCE	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	SENTENCED TO LIFE
02/14/1997	SEX BAT/ WPN. OR FORCE	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	SENTENCED TO LIFE
02/14/1997	SEX BAT/ WPN. OR FORCE	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	SENTENCED TO LIFE
02/14/1997	SEX BAT/ WPN. OR FORCE	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	SENTENCED TO LIFE
02/14/1997	FALS.IMPRSN-NO 787.01 INT	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	5Y 0M 0D
02/14/1997	FALS.IMPRSN-NO 787.01 INT	02/28/2001	HILLSBOROUGH	9818207	5Y 0M 0D

Current Community Supervision History:
Offense Date	Offense	Sentence Date	County	Case No.	Community Supervision Length
05/21/1981	ROBB. GUN/ DEADLY WPN	12/10/1981	PINELLAS	8104260	SENTENCED TO LIFE

Trial Summary:

03/21/00          Indicted as follows:

                                    Count I:           First-Degree Murder (John Cardoso)

07/27/05          Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment

07/29/05          Jury recommended death by a vote of 8-4

01/06/06          Sentenced as follows:

                                    Count I:           First-Degree Murder (John Cardoso) – Death

Appeal Summary:

Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

FSC# 06-252

2 So.3d 146

02/09/06          Direct Appeal filed

12/02/08          Oral Arguments held

01/29/09          FSC affirmed the conviction and sentence of death

03/09/09          Mandate entered

United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari

USSC# 09-5057

06/25/09          Petition filed

10/05/09          Petition denied

Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion

CC# 00-5107

(Pending)

09/21/10          Motion filed

Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

There have been no undue delays at this time.

Case Information:

On 02/09/06, Peterson filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, citing the following issues: (1) the trial court erred in permitting extensive evidence of three prior crimes to be admitted in this case where the evidence did not have sufficient similarity to prove identity, where the prejudicial impact of this evidence far outweighed the probative value and impermissibly became a feature of this trial; (2) death by lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eight Amendment; (3) the sentence of death is disproportionate; (4) the trial court erred in denying defense counsel’s motion for mistrial and for a new penalty phase due to the improper presentation by the prosecutor of testimony and argument that the defendant had no remorse for the victims or the crimes; (5) Florida’s capital sentencing process is unconstitutional because a judge, rather than a jury, determines sentence and the jury recommendation need not be unanimous in order to impose a death sentence; (6) the existence of the prior violent felony aggravator should not bar the application of Ring v. Arizona to this case; and (7) the penalty phase jury instructions unconstitutionally shift the burden of proof to the defendant to establish mitigating factors and to show that the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating circumstances.  Oral Arguments were held on 12/02/08.  On 01/29/09, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence of death.  On 03/09/09, the Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in accordance with their Opinion, rendered on 01/29/09.

Peterson filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court on 06/25/09. This petition was denied on 10/05/09.

On 09/21/10, Peterson filed a 3.850 with the Circuit Court.  This motion is still pending.

Institutional Adjustment:

This information is unavailable at this time.

________________________________________________________________________

Report Date:   02/05/09          AEH

Approved:       02/24/09          RM

Updated:         01/26/11          CAR