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.
LYNCH, Richard (W/M)
DC# E08942
DOB: 06/19/53
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Seminole County, Case#99-881-CFA
Sentencing Judge, Trial: The Honorable O.H. Eaton
Attorney, Trial: James Figgat – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher S. Quarles – AssistantPublic Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Marie-Louise Parmer& Leslie Scalley – CCRC-M
Date of Offense: 03/05/99
Date of Sentence: 04/03/01
Circumstances of the Offense:
Richard Lynch pled guilty to the 03/05/99 murders ofRoseanna Morgan and her 13-year-old daughter, Leah Caday.
Lynch admitted to having an extramarital affair withRoseanna Morgan between August 1998 and February 1999. During that time,they had run up credit card bills. When Morgan ended the affair, Lynchasked her to assist in the credit card debt they had acquired together. Additionally, Lynch wrote a letter to his wife prior to the events on 03/05/99,admitting to the affair. In the letter, he had directed his wife to letters andpictures Morgan had given Lynch during the affair. Lynch asked his wifeto send the letters and pictures to Morgan’s family. He wrote: “Iwant them to have a sense of why it happened, some decent closure, a reason andunderstanding…” A doctor for the State testified that this was evidenceof a murder-suicide plot.
On 03/05/99, Lynch went to her apartment with 3 handgunswith the intent of getting Morgan to pay off the credit card bills. Whenhe arrived at the apartment, Morgan was not there, but Caday was. Heshowed her the gun he had on him and forced her to stay there with him untilher mom returned. Lynch told detectives that he just planned on showingMorgan the guns to make her sit down and talk to him. He furtherconfessed to shooting her four or five times with one gun, bringing her intothe apartment and then shooting her in the back of the head with a differentgun. Lynch then admitted that he shot Caday in her back. BothMorgan and Caday died of their gunshot wounds.
Lynch had called 911 and admitted to the operator all of theabove events and said he was going to kill himself. He also called his wifethree times during the events, and she testified that she could hear a womanscreaming in the background. The second time he called, she testifiedthat he admitted to shooting someone.
A few of Morgan’s neighbors testified to the events of03/05/99 as well. One neighbor testified to looking out a peephole afterhearing the first gunshots and seeing Morgan being dragged into her apartmentby Lynch. The neighbor further testified that Morgan was screaming andappeared to be bloody from the waist down. The neighbor also testifiedthat, after Lynch closed the door, 3 more gunshots were heard. Anotherneighbor also testified to hearing 3 more shots 5 or 7 minutes after the firstshots.
After a standoff with the police, Lynch was arrested. During the interview after his arrest, he confessed to all the eventsdescribed.
Trial Summary:
03/23/99 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder
Count II: First-Degree Murder
Count III: Armed Burglary of aDwelling
Count IV: Kidnapping
10/19/00 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment and waived hisright to a penalty phase jury.
04/03/01 The defendant was sentenced as follows:
CountI: First-DegreeMurder – Death
CountII: First-Degree Murder – Death
CountIII: Armed Burglary of a Dwelling –Life
CountIV: Kidnapping – Life
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC# 01-795
841 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 2003)
04/12/01 Direct Appeal filed
01/09/03 Convictions and sentences affirmed
03/21/03 Rehearing denied
03/21/03 Mandate issued
United States Supreme Court – Petition for WritCertiorari
USSC# 02-11318
124 S. Ct. 189; 157 L. Ed. 2d 123; 2003
06/19/03 Petition filed
10/06/03 Petition denied
State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion
CC# 99-881-CFA
07/26/04 Motion filed
03/30/06 Order denying Lynch’s 3.850 Motion
04/03/06 Amended order denying Lynch’s 3.850 Motion
10/09/06 Motion for Rehearing denied
Florida Supreme Court – 3.850 Appeal
FSC# 06-2233
2 So.3d 47
11/13/06 Appeal filed
11/06/08 Disposition affirmed
11/20/08 Motion for Rehearing filed
01/30/09 Rehearing denied
02/16/09 Mandate issued
Florida Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of HabeasCorpus
FSC# 07-1246
2 So.3d 47
07/03/07 Petition filed
11/06/08 Petition denied
11/20/08 Motion for Rehearing filed
01/30/09 Rehearing denied
02/16/09 Mandate issued
United States District Court, Middle District – HabeasPetition
USDC# 09-715
(Pending)
04/24/09 Petition filed
Case Information:
On 04/12/01, Lynch filed his Direct Appeal to the FloridaSupreme Court. During his appeal, Lynch made several claims. Thefirst claim was the trial court erred in the finding of HAC as an aggravatingfactor in Caday’s murder. He also argues the trial court erred in thefinding of CCP as an aggravating factor in Morgan’s murder. The FSC foundthat the trial court did not err in finding either the HAC or the CCP asaggravating factors. They found that the suffering and emotional strainplaced on Caday by holding her hostage and watching her mother be murderedbefore her own death was, in fact, enough to find the HAC aggravatingfactor. They also found that the murder of Morgan was cold, calculatedand premeditated in that Lynch shot her 4 or 5 times before switching guns andthen shooting her execution style. Lynch also claims that the writtensentencing order was not clear as to whether the judge found the mental healthmitigators to be statutory or nonstatutory mitigators. Although the Courtfound that the sentencing order was not as clear as it could have been, it wasnot a reversible error. The Court affirmed the convictions and sentenceson 01/09/03. Subsequently, Lynch’s Motion for Rehearing was denied on03/21/03.
On 06/19/03, Lynch filed for a Petition for Writ ofCertiorari to the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on 10/06/03.
On 07/26/04, Lynch filed a 3.850 Motion to the CircuitCourt. The lower court issued an order denying Lynch’s 3.850 Motion on03/30/06. On 04/03/06, the lower court issued an amended order denyingLynch’s 3.850 Motion. Lynch’s Motion for a Rehearing was denied on10/09/06.
On 11/13/06, Lynch filed a 3.850 Appeal to the FloridaSupreme Court. On 11/06/08, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed thedisposition of the lower court. On 11/20/08, Lynch filed a Motion forRehearing, which was denied on 01/30/09. On 02/16/09, the Florida SupremeCourt issued a mandate in accordance with the opinion rendered on 11/06/08.
On 07/03/07, Lynch filed a Petition for Writ of HabeasCorpus to the Florida Supreme Court, which was denied on 11/06/08. On11/20/08, Lynch filed a Motion for Rehearing, which was denied on01/30/09. On 02/16/09, the Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate inaccordance with the opinion rendered on 11/06/08.
On 04/24/09, Lynch filed a Petition for Writ of HabeasCorpus in the United States District Court, Middle District. Thispetition is currently pending.
Institutional Adjustment:
DATE DAYS VIOLATION LOCATION
-------- ---- ---------------- -------------------
04/05/01 0 LYING TO STAFF FLORIDA STATE PRISON
08/26/02 0 DISOBEYING ORDER FLORIDA STATE PRISON
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Report Date 01/12/03 EMC
Approved 01/28/03 WS
Updated 05/04/09 AEH