The Commission on Capital Cases updates thisinformation regularly. This information; however, is subject to changeand may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not berelied upon for statistical or legal purposes.
BAILEY, Robert (W/M)
DC# 128135
DOB: 07/15/82
14th Judicial Circuit, Bay County Case #05-1093
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Michael Overstreet
Attorney, Trial: John Gontarek –Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: W.C. McLain – Assistant PublicDefender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Clyde M. Taylor, Jr. –Registry
Date of Offense: 03/27/05
Date of Sentence: 04/11/07
Circumstances of Offense:
At 10:20 P.M. on March 27, 2005, Officer Kevin Kight, a sergeant with the Panama City Beach PoliceDepartment, stopped a white Dodge Durango that was blocking traffic on FrontBeach Road. Robert Bailey was the driver of the vehicle and his friend D’Tori Crawford was sitting in the passenger seat.
At 10:30 P.M., Kight radioed tothe dispatcher that he had been shot. Officer Michael Rozierwas conducting a traffic stop at a nearby location. Upon hearing that Kight had been shot, he drove to the Front Beach Roadlocation. Kight was on the ground with two otherofficers attending to him. Rozier followed thevehicle tracks leaving the scene, and found a white Dodge Durango parked a fewblocks away.
Multiple police officers arrived at the scene shortly after Kight’s radio transmission. The officers immediately beganto administer emergency medical aid. Eventually paramedics arrived andcontinued CPR. A pulse was never detected and Kightwas pronounced dead at the hospital.
Hillary Chaffer, a resident of Panama City Beach, wasdriving on Front Beach Road that evening. She noticed that a police officer hadstopped a vehicle. As she drove her truck into a position parallel to thestopped white Dodge Durango, she saw the officer approaching the Durango withhis right hand on his gun and his left hand reaching back toward his handcuffs.Chaffer then faced forward to drive, and heard two gunshots. She looked backand saw the driver of the Durango fire a third shot into the officer. Chafferlater identified Robert Bailey as the driver of the Durango.
Corey Lawson was riding with friends in a pick-up truckdriving along Front Beach Road at 10:30 P.M. on March 27, 2005. As the truckwas stopped in traffic, a man ran up to the road from the beach and jumped intothe bed of the truck. The man told Lawson he had just “popped a cop.” The manthen showed Lawson the gun he had used. At the man’s request, Lawson and hisfriends dropped the man off at a liquor store. Lawson later identified RobertBailey as the man.
Bailey’s friend, D’Tori Crawford,testified for the State at trial. He stated that he, Bailey, and their friendJohn Braz drove from Wisconsin to Florida to spend afew days there for spring break. On March 27, 2005, after checking in at theSugar Sands Motel, the three went to the Sweet Dreams bar. Bailey drove them inthe Durango. After about an hour, Bailey and Crawford left the bar in theDurango. Crawford described Bailey as not sober but not drunk. As Bailey drovedown the road in the heavy, slow-moving traffic, they stopped to talk to somegirls who were standing beside the road. While they were talking, Bailey didnot realize the traffic was proceeding and he was blocking the traffic behindthem. An officer stopped them. While the officer was checking Bailey’sinformation, Bailey told Crawford he did not have a license and was wanted fora parole violation. He said if the officer tried to arrest him, he was going to“pop this cop.” Crawford then left the vehicle and ran away before the officerreturned.
At the scene of the shooting, officers collected thefollowing pieces of evidence: two fired cartridge casings, a set of handcuffs,a citation for driving with a revoked license, and Robert Bailey’sidentification card. Officers recovered a fired cartridge casing from theDurango. A bullet projectile was also recovered from a minivan that was drivingby at the time of the shooting.
Police officers arrested Bailey at the Sugar Sands Motel onthe morning of March 28, 2005. Officers recovered a Taurus 9-mm semi-automaticpistol from Bailey’s waistband, as well as cartridges from his pocket.
Joseph Hall, an FDLE firearms expert, compared the Taurusfirearm to the casings and bullets recovered from the scene of the shooting.Hall concluded that the two fired cartridge casings found at the scene and theone found in the Durango were fired from Bailey’s Taurus firearm. Hall alsofound that the two bullets recovered from Kight’sbody were fired from the Taurus firearm. The bullet recovered from the side ofthe minivan was too damaged for comparison.
Dr. Charles Siebert performed an autopsy on Kight. Kight sustained twogunshot wounds to the upper chest. The bullets traveled through the weakermaterial of Kight’s protective vest. Siebertconcluded the gunshot wounds caused Kight’s death andthe manner of death was homicide.
Additional Information:
At the time of the murder, Bailey was wanted for paroleviolation in Wisconsin. A warrant for his arrest was issued on 03/09/05.
Trial Summary:
04/15/05 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder
Count II: Resisting Officerwith Violence
02/15/07 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
02/16/07 Jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1
04/11/07 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: Resisting Officerwith Violence – 5 Years
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC# 07-748
998 So. 2d 545
04/24/07 Appeal filed
12/18/08 Appeal denied
01/08/09 Mandate issued
United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ ofCertiorari
USSC# 08-9241
129 S.Ct. 2395
03/11/09 Petition filed
05/18/09 Petition denied
United StatesDistrict Court, Northern District – Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
USDC# 10-00108
05/07/10 Petitionfiled
01/18/11 Petitiondismissed
State CircuitCourt – 3.851 Motion
CC# 05-1093
05/17/10 Motionfiled
07/08/10 Motiondenied
08/25/10 Amendedmotion filed
03/03/11 Orderto strike 3.851 motion
Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition ofSentence:
There have been no significant delays in the case at thistime.
Case Information:
On 04/27/07, Bailey filed a direct appeal in the FloridaSupreme Court, citing the following issues: improper prosecutorial comments, disproportionatenature of the sentence, and the unconstitutionality of Florida’s capitalsentencing structure. The appeal was denied on 12/18/08 and a mandate wasissued on 01/08/09.
On 03/11/09, Bailey filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorariin the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on 05/18/09.
On 05/07/10, Bailey filed a Petition for Writ of HabeasCorpus in the United States District Court, Northern District. That petitionwas dismissed on 1/18/11.
On 05/17/10, Bailey filed a 3.851 Motion in the CircuitCourt, which was denied on 07/08/10. Bailey filed an amended motion on08/25/10. An order to strike this motion was issued on 03/03/11.
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Report Date: 01/05/09 KLH
Approved: 01/06/09 KLH
Updated: 04/13/11 JJK