Date of Sentence: 12/21/92
Date of Resentence: 01/18/95
Circumstances of Offense:
Dusty Spencer was convicted and
sentenced to death for the murder of his wife, Karen Spencer.
Karen Spencer asked her husband,
Dusty Spencer, to move out of their home early in December 1991. On
12/10/91, Dusty Spencer questioned Karen about money that she had
withdrawn from the banking account for their painting business.
This
argument led to a physical altercation in which Dusty choked, hit, and
threatened to kill Karen. Karen called the police, and the police
subsequently arrested Dusty. Dusty later called and threatened Karen
from jail.
Karen Spencer requested that
Dusty Spencer spend the holidays at their home, but asked him to leave
after Christmas. On New Year’s Day, Dusty told friends that he had
considered throwing Karen off of his boat, in order to drown her.
On 01/04/92, Dusty Spencer again
went to Karen’s home, and they fought. During the fight, Timothy
Johnson, Karen’s son awoke, and went into his mother’s bedroom where
Dusty and Karen Spencer were fighting. According to Johnson, Dusty was
on top of Karen and was hitting her with a clothes iron. When Johnson
intervened, Dusty hit him with the clothes iron as Johnson retreated to
his bedroom.
Karen fled the home to find help. Johnson tried to call
for help, but Dusty Spencer pulled the phone out of the wall. Dusty
then fled the house and left town. Karen Spencer and Timothy Johnson
were taken to the hospital, and a physician confirmed that Karen’s
wounds were consistent with being struck by a clothes iron.
On 11/18/92, Timothy Johnson
heard fighting in the backyard. He retrieved a firearm from his
mother’s bedroom and went outside. Once outside, Johnson saw Dusty
Spencer hitting his mother with a brick. He also observed blood on
Karen Spencer’s face. Johnson reported that he tried to shoot Dusty
Spencer, but the firearm misfired.
Thus, he hit Spencer in the head
with the butt of the firearm. Dusty then pulled up Karen’s nightgown
and made lewd comments and slammed Karen’s head against a concrete
wall. Karen was begging Dusty to stop, and Johnson tried to help his
mother get away from Dusty. Dusty threatened Johnson with a knife;
therefore, Johnson ran to a neighbor’s home to find help.
The police were called, and upon
arrival, they found the dead body of Karen Spencer. The police
determined that she had been stabbed four or five times in the chest.
She also had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and defensive cuts
to the hands and arms.
Trial Summary:
02/06/92 Spencer was indicted on the following counts:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder
Count II: Aggravated Assault
without a Weapon
Count III: Attempted
First-Degree Murder
Count IV: Aggravated Battery
11/07/92 Spencer
was found guilty on Counts I, II, and IV charged the indictment.
Spencer was found guilty of the lesser charge of Attempted Second-Degree
Murder for Count III.
12/09/92 Upon
advisory sentencing, the jury, by a 7 to 5 majority, voted for the death
penalty.
12/21/92 Spencer was sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder –
Death
Count II: Aggravated Assault without a Weapon –
5 years, less 338 days
for time served
Count III: Attempted First-Degree Murder –
15 years, less 338 days
for time served
Count IV:
Aggravated Battery –
15 years, less 338 days
for time served
09/22/94 FSC
affirmed the convictions but reversed the sentence of death and remanded
for reconsideration by the trial judge.
01/18/95 Spencer was resentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder –
Death
Case Information:
Spencer filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
12/21/92. Addressed issues included that the trial court erred in
denying Spencer’s motion for a dismissal based on insufficient evidence,
motion to sever charges and this motion for a mistrial because of
improper comments made by the prosecutor. Finally, Spencer argued that
the trial court mishandled aggravating and mitigating factors.
The
Florida Supreme Court did not find errors that warranted reversing the
conviction. The Florida Supreme Court, however, determined that the
trial court mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating
circumstances and doubted that the trial court could have determined if
the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors.
The Florida
Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, but vacated the death sentence
and remanded the case for reconsideration by the trial court judge on
09/22/94. Rehearing was denied on 12/06/94. A mandate was issued on
01/05/95.
On
remand from the Florida Supreme Court, the judge heard arguments from
the defense and prosecution. Spencer was resentenced to death on
01/18/95.
Spencer filed his second Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
02/07/95. Addressed issues included that the trial court erred in
improperly imposing the sentence of death because of a lack of
evidence. Spencer also argued that the trial court mishandled
mitigating and aggravating factors.
The Florida Supreme Court did not
find errors that warranted reversing the conviction or sentence and
affirmed the conviction and sentence on 09/12/96. Rehearing was denied
on 04/14/97. A Mandate was issued on 05/14/97.
On
07/14/97, Spencer filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United
States Supreme Court. The petition was denied on 10/06/97.
Spencer filed a 3.850 Motion in the circuit court on 07/16/98. The
motion was denied on 04/24/00.
On
05/15/00, Spencer filed a 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court.
Spencer argued that there was prosecutorial misconduct, that trial
counsel was ineffective and that there was a Brady Error.
The Florida Supreme Court did not find errors that warranted reversing
the 3.850 Denial and affirmed the 3.850 Denial on 04/11/02.
On
01/09/03, the Florida Supreme Court withdrew the 04/11/02 opinion and
substituted the opinion with a revised opinion. The Florida Supreme
Court did not find errors that warranted reversing the 3.850 Denial and
affirmed the 3.850 Denial. Rehearing denied 01/09/03. Rehearing denied
03/25/03. Mandate issued 04/24/03.
On
12/18/00, Spencer filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the
Florida Supreme Court. Spencer argued that the death penalty was
unconstitutional and that appellate counsel was ineffective. The
Florida Supreme Court did not find errors that warranted granting the
petition and denied the petition on 04/11/02.
On 01/09/03, the Florida
Supreme Court withdrew the 04/11/02 opinion and substituted the opinion
with a revised opinion. The Florida Supreme Court did not find errors
that warranted granting the petition and denied the petition. Rehearing
was denied on 01/09/03. Rehearing denied 03/25/03. Mandate issued
04/24/03.
Spencer filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus on 07/17/03 and an
amended petition on 10/14/03 in the United States District Court, Middle
District. The petition is pending.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
