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AKA: Lee Brock
DC# 890793
DOB: 10/25/45
Sixteenth Judicial Circuit,
Monroe County, Case #92-30056-CF
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
Richard Fowler
Trial Attorney: Gerod Hooper –
Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Valerie
Jonas – Assistant Public Defender
Attorneys, Collateral Appeal:
Leor Veleanu – CCRC-S
Date of Offense: 11/13/91
Date of Sentence: 03/03/93
Circumstances of Offense:
Lloyd Chase Allen, the
defendant, was convicted and sentenced to death for the November 13,
1991, murder of Dortha Cribbs.
Apparently, Cribbs met Allen at
a truck stop while driving from her home in Ohio to Florida. Allen
accompanied Cribbs to visit her friend in Jacksonville Beach and to sell
her trailer in Bunnell. Cribs announced to her friends that after she
sold her trailer and her vacation home in Summerland Key, she planned to
enter the trucking business with Allen. Cribbs reportedly sold her
trailer for $4,100.
A witness outside of Cribbs’
Summerland Key home saw her exit and re-enter in the early morning of
her murder. The witness also saw Allen exit and re-enter that day
around 11 a.m.
A real estate agent entered the house around 12:30 p.m.
after his knocks went unanswered and discovered Cribbs’ body lying face
down in the master bedroom surrounded by a pool of blood. Cribbs
suffered from a stab wound in her neck, severing her carotid artery and
subsequently causing her to bleed to death.
The medical examiner
estimated that it took Cribbs 30 minutes to bleed to death, retaining
consciousness for 15 minutes. There were also two pre-morbid stab
wounds to Cribbs’ face and ligature marks found on her wrists and
ankles.
Items belonging to Allen were
found at the scene, in addition to a pair of bloodstained jeans and a
semen-stained towel. Cribbs’ $8000 diamond ring was missing, as well as
her $4100.
A taxi driver testified that he
drove Allen from the Buccaneer Lodge Tiki Lounge to Key Largo around
12:30 p.m. the day of the murder. Cribbs’ car was later found abandoned
at the Buccaneer Lodge Tiki Lounge. Police recovered a trucker’s
logbook belonging to Allen in Cribbs’ car, which subsequently led to his
arrest in California on February 18, 1992
Additional Information:
Allen committed the capital
felony after having escaped from a work release program in Kansas.
DNA laboratory tests confirm
that the semen found on the towel could have originated from Allen.
During the penalty phase of the
trial, Allen voluntarily chose to represent himself, and was found
competent by the court to do so. He also elected not to introduce any
mitigating evidence on his behalf and actually asked for the penalty of
death.
Trial Summary:
02/18/92 - Defendant
arrested in California.
02/26/92 - Defendant
indicted for First-Degree Murder, Case # 92-30056-CF
Count I: Robbery with a Deadly Weapon
Count II: Grand Theft
Count III: Grand Theft Auto
Count IV: Kidnapping
04/14/92 - Public
Defender appointed.
04/28/92 - Written plea
of “not guilty” entered.
02/12/93 - The jury found
the defendant guilty of First Degree Murder, as to:
Count I: Robbery with a
Deadly Weapon – Acquitted
Count II: Grand Theft – Acquitted
Count III: Grand Theft Auto – Guilty
Count IV: Kidnapping – Not Guilty
02/16/93 - Upon advisory sentencing, the trial
jury voted for the death penalty.
03/03/93 - The defendant
was sentenced as followed:
Murder in the First-Degree – Death
Count III: Grand Theft Auto –
5 years
Case Information:
Allen filed his Direct Appeal to
the Florida Supreme Court on 04/23/93. Allen’s appeal claimed error in
the admission of a familial photograph of the victim, irrelevant
familial testimony, and victim impact information. Allen also claimed
that the court failed to uphold the guidelines of mitigating evidence
set forth in Koon. v. Dugger, which state that upon accepting a waiver
of mitigating evidence from a defendant, the defense must investigate
possible mitigating factors and place them on record. Lastly, Allen
claimed the court erred in its application of pecuniary gain and HAC as
aggravating factors. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and
sentence of death on 07/20/95.
A Petition for Writ of
Certiorari was filed on 01/23/96 in the United States Supreme Court, and
was denied on 03/25/96.
On 03/19/97 Allen filed a 3.850
motion in the State Circuit Court, which was denied on 12/18/01. On
02/15/02, he filed an appeal of that decision in the Florida Supreme
Court, which was affirmed on 7/10/03.
On 05/08/02, Allen filed a
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida Supreme Court, which
was denied on 07/10/03.
On 10/14/03, Allen filed a
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court
that is currently pending.
On 03/16/05, Allen filed a 3.853
(DNA) Motion in the State Circuit Court that was denied on 01/05/06.
On 03/10/06, Allen filed a 3.853
Motion Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court that is pending.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
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