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CARTER, Pinkney (W/M)
DOB: 08/22/54
Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County Case #04-0730
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Lance Day
Attorney, Trial: Bill White − Public Defender &Alan Chipperfield − Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: David Davis − AssistantPublic Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Frank Tassone −Registry
Date of Offense: 07/24/02
Date of Sentence: 12/22/05
Circumstances of Offense:
Pinkney Carter was convicted andsentenced to death for the murders of Elizabeth Reed Smith, Courtney NicoleSmith, and Glenn Pafford.
Pinkney “Chip” Carter andElizabeth “Liz” Reed Smith met in July 1998 at a Publix Supermarket inJacksonville where they worked. Reed was married with four children, but shehad separated from her husband earlier that year. Carter and Reed began dating,and, in the fall of that year, they began living together along with Reed’sfour children. In 1999, Reed, with a significant amount of financial helpfrom Carter, bought a house in Jacksonville. They lived there for more than twoyears, during which time her divorce was finalized, and Carter continued tohelp with the house payments. Carter, Reed, and Reed’s children did thingstogether, such as going on trips to Universal studios, Disney World, BuschGardens, and Six Flags over Georgia. Carter went hunting in Georgia withRichard, Reed’s oldest son, and went to his baseball games. Carter, Reed, andReed’s children spent Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter together.
Carter and Liz had argumentsfrom time to time. They would break up and then get back together. During theseseparations the two remained friends. The couple never had a definitive finalseparation; instead, they remained close and talked about getting backtogether. They saw each other often. Cynthia Starling, Carter’s sister,testified Carter wanted to make the relationship work.
During this time, Reed hadserious financial problems. In the fall of 2001, she fell three months behindin the mortgage payments on her home. By January 2002, she and Carter hadreconciled, and he moved back into the house and immediately paid thedelinquent mortgage amounts, as well as the current month’s bill. In total, hegave the bank $2800. He then asked Reed to marry him and gave her a one-caratdiamond ring, which she accepted. In April and May, they went on a cruisetogether.
In May, however, Carter movedout again. Liz called off the engagement and returned the ring. Carterconsidered this move only a trial separation. He testified, “I still lovedher…wanted to be with her, but you know, we had a difference of opinion.” Reed had not cleanly broken off with Carter, and she would come to his houseon their days off and have sex with him. According to Carter, “That was ournormal thing whenever she came over.”
Reed, however, was dating othermen, and Carter learned by June or July 2002 that she was seeing Glenn Pafford,who managed the Publix where she worked. By July 2002, she had been dating himfor a couple of months. Carter sometimes watched the house and saw Pafford’struck parked there.
Reed visited with Carter onSunday July 20, and they had sex as usual. She was happy and in a good mood, accordingto Carter. Before leaving, she agreed to meet him at a restaurant on Tuesday,July 22. She also gave him some prescription strength antidepressant pills. OnTuesday, she never showed up for the date. On July 23, Carter drove by Reed’shouse and saw Reed’s car and Pafford’s truck parked in front of the house. Heleft and went home. Carter took the pills Reed had given him and drank four orfive glasses of whiskey. He had been up since the previous night, well over 30hours, but could not get to sleep. Carter testified that he “just wanted toknow why” Reed was seeing Pafford while still having intimate relations withhim.
At approximately 11:30 p.m. onJuly 23, 2002, Carter called Reed. Reed’s 14-year-old son, Richard, answeredthe phone and told him his mother was not there. Having just driven by, Carterknew that was a lie. Carter drove to Reed’s house. As he got out of his truckat her house, he took with him a .22-caliber rifle he kept in the back seat ofhis truck. He testified that he did so because he wanted to use the gun as away to get answers and that he had no intention to shoot anyone. Carter hadbought the rifle in December 1977 while stationed with the Air Force inOklahoma. It was a loaded 16-shot semi-automatic rifle that already had oneround in the chamber. As he approached the home, Pafford and Reed came outside.“… as I was approaching the door, it was real dark, and the door came open, andMr. Pafford walked out, and Liz Reed was standing in the door at that time. . .. And then I asked Liz Reed, I said, ‘Liz, why are you still coming to see meif you’re seeing Mr. Pafford too?’ And then Mr. Pafford said, “Are you stillseeing him?” And Liz Reed said, ‘No,’ and she did like I was crazy, a motionlike I was crazy. And then Mr. Pafford said, ‘Do you want me to stay?’ And LizReed said, ‘No, I just want both of you to leave.’ I told her I’m not leavinguntil I get some answers. She already had opened it, but she opened it more forme to come in, and I’m not sure if she opened it for Mr. Pafford too, but Iknow he came in.” Because of the darkness, neither Pafford nor Reed saw therifle, which the defendant was holding by his side to hide as much as possible.Once inside, Reed saw the gun and grabbed it with both hands and tried to pullit from Carter. They struggled as Courtney, Reed’s 16-year-old daughter, cameinto the living room. Richard, who was in his room, heard a single shot then afemale saying, “Call 911. Oh my God, call 911.” He thought it sounded like hissister, but said it could have been his mother who called for help, and helater testified he was uncertain who it was. Richard then heard more shots.Richard testified he ran into the room with his BB gun. He saw his sisterCourtney on the floor. He tried to talk to her but she only made gurglingsounds. His mother was lying against the wall. He stepped over his sister andwent to his mother. His mother wasn’t moving and wasn’t making any noise. Mr.Pafford was behind the couch. He could tell that Mr. Pafford was also dead.Richard called 911. A rescue unit responded and took Courtney to a hospitalwhere she died two days later. Reed and Pafford died instantly.
The chief medical examiner, Dr.Margarita Arruza, testified that Pafford died from three gunshot wounds to thehead. Pafford’s body exhibited no defensive wounds. Reed died from two gunshotwounds, both to her left ear. Dr. Areford performed the autopsy on Smith’sbody, and testified that Smith died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Carter returned home and thenfled to the Mexican border in Texas. By August 5th, he was at theRio Grande River in Texas. He left his truck on the American side, threw themurder weapon in the river, and tried to cross into Mexico, but the Mexicanmilitary stopped and arrested him. He was released some days later and went tothe Central American countries of Belize and Guatemala.
Detective Charles Ford of theJacksonville Sheriff’s Department testified he went to Texas to recover thedefendant’s truck, and he supervised a dive team that recovered the defendant’srifle from the Rio Grande. FDLE forensic technicians determined that thecartridges found at the crime scene came from the recovered rifle.
Carter returned to the UnitedStates. He worked in Kentucky as a roofer, under an assumed name. EventuallyCarter was arrested by the Kentucky State Police. He claimed that the shootingof Courtney Smith was an accident and that the murders of Glenn Pafford andElizabeth Reed were not premeditated.
Trial Summary:
01/15/04 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder (Glenn Pafford)
Count II: First-Degree Murder(Elizabeth Reed)
Count III: First-Degree Murder(Courtney Smith)
09/27/05 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
10/14/05 Jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3 for Count I and recommended death by avote of 8-4 for Count II
12/22/05 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder (Pafford) − Death
Count II: First-Degree Murder(Reed) – Death
Count III: First-Degree Murder(Smith) − Life
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC #06-156
980 So. 2d 473
01/25/06 Appeal filed
02/14/08 Appeal denied
02/26/08 Motion for rehearing
04/16/08 Rehearing denied
United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ ofCertiorari
USSC #08-5606
129 S. Ct. 400
07/02/08 Petition filed
10/14/08 Petition denied
Circuit Court – 3.850 and 3.851 Motion
CC# 04-0730
(Pending)
10/13/09 Motion filed
Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition ofSentence:
The case progression appears to be within acceptable timeparameters.
Case Information:
On 01/25/06, the defendant raised the following issues in a directappeal: unconstitutionality of abolishing the voluntary intoxication defense;lack of premeditation; improper jury instruction; disproportionate weight ofaggravating factors; sentencing order’s lack of clarity; violation of thestate’s agreement with Mexico; unconstitutionality of death penalty. The appealwas denied on 02/14/08.
On 07/02/08, Carter filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorariwith the United States Supreme Court that was denied on 10/14/08.
On 10/13/09, Carter filed a 3.850 and a 3.851 motion in thecircuit court that is pending.
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Report Date: 02/20/08 klh
Approved: 02/20/08 klh
Updated: 11/20/09 kkr