The Commission on Capital Cases updates thisinformation regularly.  This information;however, is subject to change and may not reflect the latest status of aninmate’s case and should not be relied upon for statistical or legalpurposes. 

BARNES James Phillip (W/M)

DC# 071551

DOB: 03/07/1962

Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County Case # 06-14592

Sentencing Judge: The Honorable David W. Dugan

Attorney, Trial: Pro Se

Attorney, Direct Appeal: George D. E. Burden – PublicDefender

Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA

Date of Offense: 04/20/88

Date of Sentence: 12/13/07

Circumstances ofOffense:

James Barnes, the defendant, was convicted and sentenced todeath for the murder of Patricia Patsy Miller on 12/13/07.

On 04/20/88, Barnes went to Miller’s condominium unit inMelbourne, Florida, took off all his clothes in order not to leave evidence,obtained entry by removing a screen, and entered through a bedroom window.  Barnes admitted he went there with the intentto rape and kill Miller.  Once inside, hearmed himself with a knife from the kitchen. After secretly watching Miller go about her normal activities for ashort period of time, he confronted her in the bathroom and forced her atknife-point to the bedroom where he sexually battered her.  He then bound her hands behind her back usingshoelaces he had removed from some tennis shoes, tied her feet together, andsexually battered her again.  Barnesadmitted he tried unsuccessfully to strangle her to death with a belt he hadremoved from her terrycloth robe, so he bludgeoned the back of her head with ahammer he found in her bedroom.  Barnesconfessed that he collected everything he touched in Miller’s residence,including the clothing Miller was wearing, and placed the articles in a bag.  Barnes then set fire to the bed whereMiller’s body lay in order to eliminate forensic evidence left there.  Before leaving in his car, Barnes took allthe items he had bagged, as well as the window screen he had removed, and leftto dispose of the items at another location.

Shortly after 11:00 p.m., firefighters responded to a firealarm at the condominium complex and found Miller’s charred body face down onthe bed in her master bedroom.  Her handswere still bound behind her back with shoelaces.  The medical examiner testified that the causeof death was blunt-force trauma from multiple blows to Miller’s head. The blowswere consistent with being beaten with a hammer.  Signs of attempted strangulation were also discoveredin the autopsy.  The medical examinerdetermined that Miller’s body was set ablaze after she died from the multipleblows to her head.

Despite Barnes’ attempt to destroy forensic evidence bysetting the bed ablaze, sperm was recovered from Miller and preserved for DNAtesting.  Within one week of the murder,the police considered Barnes a suspect, and he was questioned by SergeantDennis Nichols of the Melbourne Police Department.  At that time, Barnes denied any involvementwith the murder and agreed to give a sample of his blood for possible DNAcomparison.  In 1988, however, theavailable method of DNA testing was inadequate to produce a match and the caseremained unsolved.

In 1997, the sperm recovered from Miller was resubmitted forDNA testing and produced a positive match to Barnes.  Barnes was serving a life sentence for the1997 first-degree strangulation murder of his wife, Linda Barnes.  Sergeant Nichols and Brevard Sheriff‘s OfficeLieutenant Todd Goodyear traveled to the prison to speak with Barnes about theMiller murder, but he refused to speak to them. For unspecified reasons, charges were not filed against Barnes for theMiller murder at this time.  He was notcharged until after he wrote several letters to an assistant state attorney in2005 and confessed in a recorded interview, which Barnes arranged and in whichhe was questioned by another inmate about the Miller murder.  In that videotaped interview on 11/01/05,Barnes admitted to the burglary, sexual batteries, murder, and arson.  During his interview, Barnes described withaccuracy Miller’s physical appearance, the interior of the apartment, andspecific objects he saw in the apartment. Further, his descriptions of the homicide, the sexual batteries, and thearson were consistent with the evidence gathered by police.

Prior IncarcerationHistory in the State of Florida:

Trial Summary:

04/18/06          Indictedas follows:

                                    CountI:           First-Degree Murder

                                    CountII:         Burglary

                                    CountIII:        Sexual Battery with Weapon orForce

                                    CountIV:        Sexual Battery with Weapon orForce

                                    CountV:         Arson

05/02/06          Thedefendant entered a plea of guilty and waived a sentencing jury

12/13/07          Sentencedas follows:

                                    CountI:           First-Degree Murder - Death

                                    CountII:         Burglary - Life

                                    CountIII:        Sexual Battery with Weapon orForce - Life

                                    CountIV         Sexual Battery with Weapon orForce - Life

                                    CountV:         Arson – 30 years

Appeal Summary:

Florida SupremeCourt – Direct Appeal

FSC# 08-63

29 So.3d 1010

01/14/08          Appealfiled

02/04/10          FSCaffirmed the conviction and sentence

02/25/10          Mandateissued

United StatesSupreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari

USSC# 10-5054

05/05/10          Petitionfiled

10/04/10          Petitiondenied

Case Information:

On 01/14/08, Barnes filed a Direct Appeal in the FloridaSupreme Court. On appeal, Barnes raised two issues: whether the trial courtviolated Barnes’ Sixth Amendment right to represent himselfwhen it appointed special court counsel to develop penalty-phase mitigation andwhether the court reversibly erred in considering a presentence investigationreport over Barnes’ objection that it contravened his constitutional right toconfront witnesses against him. The Florida Supreme Court did not find errorsthat warranted reversing the conviction or sentence. The Florida Supreme Courtaffirmed the conviction and sentence on 02/04/10.

On 05/05/10, Barnes filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorariin the United States Supreme Court. That petition was denied on 10/04/10.

________________________________________________________________________

Report Date:   02/19/10          KKR

Approved:       02/23/10          RM

Updated:         10/04/10          JJK