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.

 

PEEDE, Robert Ira (W/M)

DC#   093094

DOB: 06/30/44

 

Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County Case# CR83-1682

Sentencing Judge:  The Honorable Michael F. Cycmanick

Trial Attorney:  Theotis Bronson – Assistant Public Defender

Attorney, Direct Appeal:  Larry B. Henderson – Assistant Public Defender

Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  Linda M. McDermott – CCRC-S

 

Date of Offense:  03/31/83

Date of Sentence:  03/05/84

 

Circumstances of the Offense:

 

Robert Ira Peede drove his motorcycle from Hillsboro, North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida on 03/30/83 with the intent of getting his estranged wife, Darla Peede, to return to North Carolina with him. The full extent of his plan was to use Ms. Peede as a decoy to lure his former wife, Geraldine, and her current boyfriend, Calvin Wagner, to a motel where he was going to kill them. He sold his motorcycle and flew to Miami, Florida. At approximately 5:15 p.m., Peede called Darla and requested that she come pick him up at the airport. Darla agreed but prior to her departure she left strict instructions with her daughter to call the police if she was not back by midnight and to give them the license plate number of her car. Darla also gave her daughter both Geraldine’s and the Hillsboro Police Department’s phone numbers. Darla feared that she would be forced to return to North Carolina and would be killed with the others. She purposefully only took her purse with her when she left her home.

 

According to Peede’s statements, Darla picked him up at the airport. He then directed her to drive north on Interstate 95. The two mistakenly got on to the turnpike heading toward Orlando. As some point the song “Swinging” came on the radio. Due to Peede’s belief that Darla and Geraldine had placed an ad for sexual partners in the national magazine “Swinger,” Peede superficially cut Darla in the side with his knife.

 

On the way to Orlando, the two picked up a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker drove the car while the two had intercourse in the back seat. Darla remained in the back seat and the hitchhiker was dropped off in Orlando. Peede drove toward Daytona Beach on I-4. The two began discussing Peede’s idea about the advertisement in the magazine “Swingers.” About five or six miles outside of Orlando, Peede stopped the car on the shoulder of the road, jumped into the back seat, and stabbed Darla in the neck. This wound resulted in Darla bleeding to death within five to fifteen minutes.

 

Peede continued to drive to North Carolina. He discarded Darla’s body in a wooded area in Camden, Georgia. Peede threw his knife out of the car window at some point during the drive. Peede still had intentions of carrying out the murders of Geraldine and Calvin; his shotgun was loaded and placed by the door when he was arrested. Peede was arrested at his home in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Darla’s car was parked outside of his residence. The car’s interior was heavily bloodstained.

 

Peede wrote out a confession stating that he killed Darla by stabbing her in the throat. Peede also asked for the death penalty and for this sentence to be carried out as soon as possible.

 

Trial Summary:

 

05/25/83          Indicted as follows:

                                    Count I:           First-Degree Murder

05/31/83          Defendant pled not guilty

02/17/84          Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment

03/05/84          Jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1

03/05/84          Sentenced as follows:

Count I:           First-Degree Murder – Death

                                         

Appeal Summary:

 

Florida State Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

FSC# 65, 318

474 So. 2d 808

 

04/05/84          Appeal filed

08/15/85          FSC affirmed the conviction and sentence

09/04/85          Rehearing denied

10/11/85          Mandate issued

 

United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari

USSC# 85-6974

477 U.S. 909

 

12/05/85          Petition filed

06/23/86          Petition denied


State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion

CC# 86-1682

 

06/06/88          Motion filed

06/21/96          Motion denied

 

Florida Supreme Court – 3.850 Appeal

FSC# 90,002

748 So. 253

 

03/03/97          Appeal filed

08/19/99          FSC affirmed the trial’s court denial of the postconviction relief in part,

and reserved and remanded for evidentiary hearing to Circuit Court

09/20/99          Mandate issued

 

State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion

CC# 86-1682

 

08/19/99          On remand from Florida Supreme Court.

08/12/04          Motion denied

 

Florida Supreme Court – 3.850 Appeal

FSC# 04-2094

955 So.2d 480

 

10/29/04          Appeal filed

01/11/07          FSC affirmed trial court’s denial of Peede’s 3.850 Motion

01/26/07          Motion for Rehearing denied

05/09/07          Mandate issued

 

Florida Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus

FSC# 05-1885

955 So.2d 480

 

10/07/05          Petition filed

01/11/07          Petition denied

01/26/07          Motion for Rehearing denied

05/09/07          Mandate issued

 

United States District Court, Middle District – Habeas Petition

USDC# 08-732

(Pending)

 

05/05/08          Petition filed

 

State Circuit Court – Successive 3.850 Motion

CC# 86-1682

(Pending)

 

11/23/10          Motion filed

12/20/10          State Response

 

Warrants:

 

05/06/88          Death Warrant signed by Governor Bob Martinez

06/24/88          Circuit Court granted a stay of execution

 

Clemency:

 

12/07/87          Clemency hearing held (denied)

 

Factors Contributing to the Delay in the Imposition of the Sentence:

 

The main delay in this case was that the 3.850 motion was pending in the circuit court for eight years. The Florida Supreme Court stated the following in reference to this delay:

“At the onset we feel obliged to comment on the inexplicable delay in this case. As previously mentioned, on 07/05/88, the trial court stayed Peede’s execution and on 10/07/88, it scheduled an evidentiary hearing for 11/28/88. At this point, the State and Peede filed several motions for continuance. The trial court granted the motion on 09/15/89, and continued the case indefinitely until a future date to be determined by the court. On 10/06/89, Peede filed a notice of supplemental authority. This was the last action on the case until Peede filed his amended motion on 02/21/95, some six years later. There is no explanation for this time lapse in the record. However, we stress that the State is the party especially charged with the burden to see that these cases are disposed of in a timely matter, especially in cases where the State has received the final continuance.” See Peede V. Florida, 748 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 1999). Since being remanded to the circuit court by the Florida Supreme Court, the 3.850 motion has currently been pending for almost three years.

 

Case Information:

 

Peede filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court 04/05/84. The main issue that Peede raised was that the trial judge erred in allowing Peede to excuse himself from attending his capital trial. The Court ruled the record supported the trial court’s finding that Peede knowingly and voluntarily excused himself from the courtroom. The Court also stated a defendant can waive his right to be present at stages of his capital trial if he personally chooses to voluntarily absent himself; therefore, no reversible error was committed by the trial court. The Court affirmed Peede’s conviction and sentence on 08/15/85. The rehearing was denied on 09/04/85 and the mandate was issued on 10/11/85.

 

Peede filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 12/05/85. The Petition was denied on 06/23/86.

 

Governor Bob Martinez signed Peede’s death warrant on 05/06/88. Peede then filed a 3.850 motion to the Circuit Court on 06/06/88. A stay of execution was granted by the Circuit Court on 06/24/88, but the motion was denied on 06/21/96.

 

Peede filed an appeal of the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion to the Florida Supreme Court on 03/03/97. The main issue raised in this appeal was the fact that the trial court and the State conceded for the need for an evidentiary hearing on certain claims and the trial court had scheduled a four-day evidentiary hearing, but the hearing never took place and the motion was denied. The Court affirmed the trial court summary denial of many of the claims, but remanded the case to the circuit court, on 08/19/99, for an evidentiary hearing to be held on Peede’s Brady claim, the majority of his ineffective assistance of counsel claims, his mental competence claims, and his public records request. The motion was denied on 08/12/04.

 

On 10/29/04, Peede filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.  Peede raised six claims during the appeal.  First, Peede claimed the trial court erred in finding him competent to proceed with post-conviction proceedings.  Second, he argues that his counsel was ineffective during the penalty phase of his trial.  Third, Peede claimed he was denied an adequate mental health examination in violation of Ake v. Oklahoma.  Fourth, Peede claimed the State withheld evidence from his murder conviction in violation of Brady v. Maryland.  Fifth, Peede claimed he was incompetent to stand trial in 1984, which was denied by the trial court as “wholly without merit.”  Finally, Peede claimed the Florida death penalty statute is unconstitutional under Ring v. Arizona.  The Court concluded there is no merit to Peede’s claims.  On 01/11/07, the Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Peede’s 3.850 Motion.  On 01/26/07, the Court denied Peede’s Motion for a Rehearing.  The mandate was issued on 05/09/07.

 

On 10/07/05, Peede filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court.  Peede raised the following three claims:  (1) ineffectiveness of appellate counsel, (2) his right to confrontation under Crawford v. Washington was violated during his trial, and (3) the trial court and the State unconstitutionally minimized his jurors’ sense of responsibility in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi.  The Court concluded there is no merit to Peede’s claims.  On 01/11/07, the Court denied Peede’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus.  On 01/26/07, the Court denied Peede’s Motion for a Rehearing.  The mandate was issued on 05/09/07.

 

On 05/05/08, Peede filed a Habeas Petition in the United States District Court, Middle District.  This case is currently pending.

 

On 11/23/10, Peede filed a Successive 3.850 Motion in the State Circuit Court.  This motion is currently pending.

 

 

Institutional Adjustment:

 

 DATE     DAYS           VIOLATION                                  LOCATION       

 --------       ----        ----------------------------                  ------------------- 

 04/03/85         0        DISOBEYING ORDER                      FLORIDA STATE PRISON

 07/19/85       30        UNARMED ASSAULT                      FLORIDA STATE PRISON

 09/08/88       30        SPOKEN THREATS                           FLORIDA STATE PRISON

 08/14/89       60        UNARMED ASSAULT                      FLORIDA STATE PRISON

 08/11/91       60        UNARMED ASSAULT                      FLORIDA STATE PRISON

 08/11/91       30        DISOBEYING ORDER                      FLORIDA STATE PRISON

 04/25/93         0        DISRESP.TO OFFICIALS                 UNION C. I.         

 04/26/93         0        DISRESP.TO OFFICIALS                 UNION C. I.         

 11/22/95         0        POSS OF NARCOTICS                      UNION C. I.         

 11/22/95         0        UNAUTH USE OF DRUGS               UNION C. I.         

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Report Date:     01/31/02          NMP

Approved:        02/06/02          WS

Updated:          03/22/11          CAR