CLIFFORD HALLMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. | 1974-12-11
No. 44579
ADKINS, C. J., and ROBERTS, Mc-CAIN, DEKLE and OVERTON, JJ., concur., BOYD, J., concurs specially with opinion, with which ERVIN, J., concurs.
305 So. 2d 180 Florida Supreme Court (1974) Positive Treatment
Cited by 30 cases

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Synopsis

Hallman was convicted of first-degree murder for cutting Eleanor Groves' throat with broken glass during a robbery at the North Town Tavern. The trial court imposed a death sentence based on statutory aggravating factors including commission during a felony, pecuniary gain, heinous and cruel nature, and prior similar violent offenses. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence, finding no reversible error and that the penalty was appropriate under the statutory scheme.


Holding

The death sentence was proper and is affirmed. The trial court correctly identified aggravating circumstances (murder during a felony/robbery, pecuniary gain motive, heinous and cruel nature, and prior violent felony convictions involving similar throat-threat patterns) that greatly outweighed any mitigating factors, justifying the death penalty consistent with the statutory safeguards.


Headnotes

[1] A conviction for first-degree murder and a sentence of death are subject to direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

[2] A defendant may be convicted of first-degree murder when the unlawful killing is committed from a premeditated design to effect the death of the victim.

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Key Quotes

“That the crime committed by the Defendant, Clifford Hallman, was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.”

One of four aggravating circumstances the trial court found to support the death penalty

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Facts & Procedural History

On April 10, 1973, Clifford Hallman fatally cut Eleanor Groves with broken glass about her throat and neck at the North Town Tavern where she worked a…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This cause is before us on direct appeal from a conviction of murder in the first degree, and a sentence of death imposed on appellant in the Circuit Court in and for Hillsborough County. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article V, Section 3(b)(1), Constitution of Florida.

On September 12, 1973, the grand jury of Hillsborough County returned an indictment against defendant charging him with first degree murder in that he, on the 10th day of April, 1973, in Hillsborough County, unlawfully and from premeditated design to effect the death of Eleanor Groves, did cut her with broken glass and in furtherance of said cutting did then and there inflict divers mortal wounds from which she died. On April 10, 1973, appellant inflicted fatal cuts with broken glass about the throat and neck of Eleanor Groves, slit her throat, which resulted in her death and took money from the North Town Tavern where the victim was employed as a barmaid.

After trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged in the indictment. A post-conviction sentence advisory hearing was held on October 3, 1973, and the jury advised and recommended to the court that the death penalty be imposed upon defendant. On October 12, 1973, the trial court adjudicated appellant guilty, entered its written detailed findings of fact in support of the death penalty specifically delineating the aggravating and mitigating circumstances pursuant to the safeguards afforded by Section 921.141, Florida Statutes, found the jury’s recommendation of the death penalty to be appropriate, and sentenced appellant to death. Specifically, the trial court determined the aggravating circumstances which greatly outweighed the delineated mitigating circumstances to be:

“(A) That the Defendant, Clifford Hall-man, murdered Eleanor Jean Groves while engaged in the commission of a Felony, to-wit: Robbery.

(B) That the Defendant, Clifford Hall-man, committed ,the crime for pecuniary gain. -

(C) That the crime committed by the Defendant, Clifford Hallman, was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.

(D) That the Defendant, Clifford Hall-man, had been previously convicted of the Felony of Breaking and Entering an Automobile with the intent to Commit Assault and Battery for which he was sentenced to eighteen months in the state prison. Said offense being committed one day after the Defendant had been released from the Hillsborough County Jail after serving approximately four months for a similar offense. The Court further finds that both of these offenses involved an assault upon a young woman with a dangerous weapon, in one case a knife and the other case a screwdriver, and both involved a threat to the throat of the victim. In the instant case the Defendant cut the throat of the victim with a piece of broken glass. It is therefore apparent to the Court that the actions of the Defendant negate any consideration of rehabilitation for the Defendant.”

We have listened carefully to oral argument, examined and considered the record in light of the assignments of error and briefs filed and we have also, pursuant to Rule 6.16(b), Florida Appellate Rules, reviewed the evidence to determine whether the interests of justice require a new trial, with the result that we find no reversible error is made to appear and the evidence in the record, sub judice, does not reveal that the ends of justice require that a new trial be awarded.

The jury recommended and the trial judge, upon considering all the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, agreed that the death penalty be imposed as the penalty for the commission of this heinous crime. We find that the judgment and sentence of the lower court in this cause is in accordance with the justice of the cause.

Accordingly, the judgment and sentence of the Circuit Court are hereby affirmed.

It is so ordered.

ADKINS, C. J., and ROBERTS, Mc-CAIN, DEKLE and OVERTON, JJ., concur. BOYD, J., concurs specially with opinion, with which ERVIN, J., concurs.

Concurrence
BOYD, Justice

BOYD, Justice

(concurring specially).

I concur in the finding of guilt but would reduce the sentence to life imprisonment for the following reasons:

The sudden and senseless nature of the crime by killing the victim, a barmaid, with glass from a broken alcoholic beverage glass creates doubts about premeditation.

Although funds were taken from the bar by the Appellant, it is not clear that the robbery was the cause of the killing but could well have occurred as an afterthought when he attempted to escape. He claimed to have taken the money for that purpose after cutting his victim’s neck.

Medical testimony showed psychological defects in the Appellant. A long record of attempted but generally incompleted crimes showed basic mental defects.

The above factors should be weighed by this Court in affirming the conviction.

ERVIN, J., concurs.


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Citator

Cited By (13 total)

  • Hallman v. State, 371 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 1979)
    …ith premeditated design, caused Groves’ death by inflicting fatal cuts on her throat and neck. Hallman was tried, convicted, and then sentenced to death. On December 11, 1974, this Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. Hallman v. State, [*484] 305 So. 2d 180 (Fla.1974), cert. denied, 428 U.S. 911, 96 S.Ct. 3226, 49 L.Ed.2d 1220 (1976). Approximately two years later, Hallman filed a three-part motion with the sentencing circuit judge. The motion alleged that in 1975 the administrator of the estate of El…
    1 / 2
  • Darius Slater v. State, 316 So. 2d 539 (Fla. 1975)
    ….Ed.2d 346 (1972). By so hold [*543] ing, we do not in any way recede from, our decision in State v. Dixon, supra, or subsequent opinions upholding the imposition of the death sentence. Sullivan v. State, 303 So. 2d 632 (Fla.1974); Hallman v. State, 305 So. 2d 180 (Fla.1974); Alford v. State, 307 So. 2d 433 (Fla.1975); Sawyer v. State, 313 So. 2d 680 (Fla.1975). The sentence imposed on the defendant for the first degree murder offense is hereby reduced to life imprisonment. In all other respects, the trial c…
  • Alvord v. State, 322 So. 2d 533 (Fla. 1975)
    …nly, the atrocious manner in which Gardner murdered his victim is no more atrocious or heinous than the atrocious manner in which Alvord coldly strangled three females while committing his burglary- A female victim was involved in Hallman v. State, 305 So. 2d 180 (Fla.1974). The defendant committed the crime of robbery, cut the victim about the throat and neck with broken glass, slitting her throat and causing her death. Hallman had been convicted of two previous crimes involving an assault upon a young woma…
    1 / 2

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