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Date of Sentence:
06/23/00
Circumstances of Offense:
Anthony Spann was convicted and
sentenced to death for the murder of Kazue Perron.
On 11/13/97, Lenard Philmore and
Sophia Hutchins robbed a pawnshop, stealing mostly jewelry and
firearms. Anthony Spann drove the getaway car. Philmore and Spann
spent that night at a motel with Keyontra Cooper and Toya Stevenson.
On
11/14/97, Cooper received a phone call that the police were looking for Philmore. Spann and Philmore decided that they needed to leave town.
The two men also decided to rob a bank because they needed money to
leave town.
Spann and Philmore believed that the police would be
looking for Spann’s Subaru that they had used in the pawnshop robbery
and planned to use in the bank robbery. Spann and Philmore decided to
carjack a woman and use her car to leave town.
Spann and Philmore looked for a
victim at a shopping mall, but were unsuccessful. They continued to
look in a “nice neighborhood” until they saw a woman driving a Lexus,
who they followed until she pulled into the driveway of a home.
Philmore approached the woman, Kazue Perron, and asked to use her cell
phone. He then forced Perron back into the Lexus at gunpoint. Philmore
drove with the victim in her car, and Spann followed in his Subaru.
They drove to an isolated area where Philmore shot Perron in the head
and dumped her body in the canal.
Philmore and Spann drove to the
bank in Spann’s Subaru. Once at the bank, Philmore went inside,
snatched an estimated $1,000 from a customer at the bank counter and
fled to the car. The men left the bank in the Subaru, later abandoned
it and picked up the Lexus. Afterwards, Spann and Philmore picked up
Cooper and Stevenson.
An undercover officer observed Spann driving the
Lexus and knew that he was wanted on an outstanding homicide warrant.
The officer radioed for back-up who began to follow Spann. Spann
attempted to outrun the police in the Lexus, reaching speeds in excess
of 100 mph through a residential area. Spann was able to elude the
police when he reached the interstate.
The Lexus was found off the road
after blowing a tire. A motorist contacted police when he saw the Lexus
drive off the road and four people flee into an orange grove. The owner
of the orange grove also saw the four run into the grove and noticed
they were armed. The grove owner instructed the four people to hide in
the brush near the creek. He then called police and helped the police
search. Spann, Philmore, Cooper and Stevenson were found hiding in the
orange grove. Two guns and a beeper were found in the water near where
the four had been hiding.
The bullet removed from the
victim and the shells recovered at the scene were positively identified
as matching one of the firearms that was stolen from the pawnshop, which
was recovered from the creek near where Spann, Philmore, and the two
women had been hiding.
Additional Information
On 09/21/97, Spann and Reginald
Lott engaged in an argument over money. Lott left during the argument
and then returned. When Lott returned, Spann’s wife handed him a gun.
A witness reported seeing the victim on his knees pleading with Spann.
The witness also reported hearing several gun shots. Spann fled the
area. A warrant was issued for Spann’s arrest, which was outstanding
when Spann was arrested for the current offenses.
Codefendant Status:
Lenard Philmore (Martin County
Circuit Court #97-1672)
Philmore was convicted of
First-Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery with a Firearm,
Carjacking with a Firearm, Kidnapping (during the commission of a felony
or to facilitate a felony), Robbery with a Firearm, and Grand Theft
(more than $300 and less than $5,000). On 07/21/00, Philmore was
sentenced to death, a fifteen-year sentence, three life sentences, and a
five-year sentence, respectively.
Trial Summary:
11/17/97 Spann was arrested.
12/16/97 Spann was indicted on the following counts:
Count VII: First-Degree Murder
(Kazue Perron)
Count VIII: Conspiracy to Commit
Robbery with a Firearm
Count IX: Carjack with
Firearm (Deadly Weapon)
Count X: Kidnapping (During the Commission or Facilitation of a Felony)
Count XI: Robbery with
Firearm
Count XII: Grand Theft (more
than $300, less than $5,000)
02/16/98 Spann entered a written plea of not guilty.
06/23/99 The judge ordered that the Spann case be severed from
the Philmore case.
05/24/00 Spann was found guilty on all counts charged in the
indictment.
05/25/00 Spann waived advisory sentencing by a jury.
06/23/00 Spann was sentenced as follows:
Count VII: First-Degree Murder
(Kazue Perron) –
Death
Count VIII: Conspiracy to Commit Robbery with a Firearm
– 15 Years
Count IX: Carjack with
Firearm (Deadly) –
Life
Count X:
Kidnapping (During the Commission or Facilitation of a Felony) – Life
Count XI: Robbery with
Firearm – Life
Count XII: Grand
Theft (more than $300, less than $5,000)
– 5 Years
Case Information:
Spann filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 07/14/00.
The issues addressed included whether the trial court erred in allowing
expert handwriting testimony that Spann contended did not satisfy the
Frye test
and whether the trial court erred by granting Spann’s request to waive
mitigation and the sentence recommendation by an advisory jury. Spann
also argued that the trial court improperly considered or applied the
aggravating and mitigating factors.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed
the conviction and sentence on 04/03/03. Rehearing was denied on
10/16/03. A mandate was issued on 10/31/03.
On
08/04/04, Spann filed a 3.850 Motion. The Motion was denied on
06/29/05.
Spann filed a 3.851 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 07/28/05.
The appeal is currently pending.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
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