Bell v. State

336 So.3d 211

Jesse BELL, Appellant,

v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC20-472

Supreme Court of Florida.

February 3, 2022

Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and Barbara J. Busharis, Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Jason W. Rodriguez, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellee

PER CURIAM.

Jesse Bell appeals his judgment of conviction for first-degree murder and sentence of death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we affirm in all respects.

BACKGROUND

In May 2019, Bell and his codefendant Barry A. Noetzel—cellmates at Mayo Correctional Institution—formulated a 12-step plan, entitled "Countdown to [E]xtention" [sic] (Plan), to murder Mayo Correctional Officer James Newman as well as a fellow inmate.¹ The Plan read as follows:

1. Get on vegan diet

2. Get multiple tools

3. Get diagram of area

4. Find a gofer.

5. Baby powder?

6. Patience!!!!

7. Pick a dick sucker

8. Background check on dick sucker.

9. Pick a date

10. Commence dry runs-rehearsals.

11. Exicute [sic]!

12. Work on spelling!!

Over the next month, Bell and Noetzel carried their plan into effect. They switched to a vegan diet to gain greater access to the area of the kitchen where Officer Newman worked. They recruited other inmates to scout out the layout of the kitchen where they intended to carry out Officer Newman's murder. They obtained pieces of fence and metal, which they fashioned into sharp objects resembling ice picks. As for the inmate to be killed, Bell and Noetzel selected Donald H. Eastwood Jr.—whom they believed to be homosexual and a child molester.

Bell and Noetzel selected a date for carrying out the murders and, consistent with their plan, invited Eastwood to their cell for a cup of coffee. Once Eastwood arrived, Noetzel—who was sitting on the toilet pretending to play a game on his tablet—invited him to look at his tablet screen. When Eastwood leaned over to look at the screen, Bell placed him in a chokehold while Noetzel retrieved a makeshift knife and stabbed Eastwood in the left eye.

Eastwood passed out from the attack. Leaving the knife in Eastwood's eye, Noetzel hung up a curtain to prevent others from seeing into the cell. Eastwood regained consciousness, attempted to stand, and asked Bell and Noetzel what he had done to provoke the attack. Bell choked Eastwood again, causing him to again lose consciousness. At that point, either Bell or Noetzel pulled the knife out of Eastwood's left eye and stabbed him in his right eye.

Eastwood attempted to sit up. However, Bell "cranked down" on Eastwood's neck and held him down. When Bell heard Eastwood make another noise, he choked him a third time until Eastwood's face turned purple. Finally, Bell pushed Eastwood's face into a pool of his own blood to ensure he was dead.

After confirming Eastwood to be dead, Bell and Noetzel shoved his body between their bunks, covered it with a blanket, cleaned up the blood, and removed the curtain. They then hung up a sign in their cell, which read, "GOD HATES FAGS. FAGS HATE GOD! KILL ALL FAGS AND CHO-MOES! (And Any C.O.’s Who F*ck with You!).²

As planned, Bell and Noetzel then made their way to the cafeteria and stabbed Officer Newman with another homemade knife. Other officers intervened and thwarted the attack. Officer Newman survived the assault.

Thereafter, Bell confessed—on multiple occasions—to murdering Eastwood and stabbing Officer Newman. These interviews were recorded.

Ultimately, a grand jury indicted Bell and Noetzel jointly for five offenses—one count of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a correctional officer with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and two counts of possession of contraband in a prison. On the first-degree murder count, the State sought the death penalty.

Following the indictment, Bell expressed his desire to proceed pro se. The trial court conducted a detailed Faretta³ inquiry and found Bell competent to represent himself in the proceedings.

At a later hearing, Bell announced his intent to enter a no contest plea to the charges. The State gave a factual basis for Bell's first-degree murder charge as well as for each of the additional charged offenses. Bell did not object to the factual basis. The trial court then accepted Bell's plea and adjudicated him guilty of the charged offenses. After accepting the plea, the trial court engaged Bell in the following dialogue:

THE COURT: All right. Before we proceed to sentencing, which will be at another day, do you understand at that proceeding it will be either be before a jury or before the Court and the [S]tate will be required to present evidence sufficient as indicated to you that there are aggravating factors to support the imposition of the death penalty. You understand that?

BELL: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: You have the right to call witnesses at that proceeding in mitigation. Do you understand that?

BELL: Yes, sir.

THE COURT : Do you have witnesses that you wish to call?

BELL: No, sir.

THE COURT: Do you wish to testify at that proceeding?

BELL: Yes, sir.

Bell ultimately waived his right to a penalty-phase jury. Following the completion of a competency evaluation, the court conducted a consolidated penalty phase and Spencer⁴ hearing. At the hearing, the State sought to prove five aggravating circumstances, including that Bell was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to a person, that the capital felony was committed to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of a government function or the enforcement of laws, and that the capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.

To prove these aggravators, the State called several witnesses. First, the State called Captain Colin Woodall, who responded to the attack on Officer Newman. According to Captain Woodall, Officer Newman was slumped over and bleeding from several stab wounds. Captain Woodall also spoke to Bell, who informed him that Eastwood's body could be found in the cell. Captain Woodall proceeded to the cell and found Eastwood's body.

Next, the State called the law enforcement officers to whom Bell and Noetzel confessed. Through these witnesses, the State introduced the recorded confessions.

In addition, the State called the medical examiner who testified that Eastwood's cause of death was homicide brought about by "sharp force trauma to the left eye and brain with neck compression." He further explained that the stab wound to Eastwood's left eye was deep—penetrating into the frontal lobe of the brain—and very painful. According to the medical examiner, given the amount of blood on Eastwood's face and chest, his "heart was pumping vigorously" during the attack. Thus, it was "possib[le]" Eastwood was alive to experience the manual strangulation.

Once the State rested its case, Bell took the stand. He offered the following testimony in mitigation:

I had a pretty good childhood, really no abuse, nothing to speak of.

I've been in prison a long time. My behavior hasn't been really good in prison, but I've never assaulted any officers besides Newman, which was brought up. I had my reasons for that. He knows what they are.

Well, I suffer from depression and I would like the competency doctor's diagnosis to be put into evidence.

....

I came forward. I pled guilty. I've had good behavior in court. My family loves me. I've had good prison behavior since this incident. I haven't had any DRs^[5] or any kind of problems with the officers.

....

I've never been a good person, but I've always been an honest person.

Bell then entered his competency report into evidence and presented a closing argument in which he objected to the heinous, atrocious, and cruel aggravator, arguing that it was "too vague." He further posited that it would be "unconstitutional" and "cruel and unusual punishment" to execute him by lethal injection since he would know of his impending death for 20 or 30 seconds beforehand.

Bell also argued that the State failed to prove that he disrupted a lawful exercise of law enforcement. Finally, Bell argued that Officer Newman's attack could not support the prior violent felony aggravator, because it was a "doubling of aggravators" used to "inflame" the court.

At the end of the consolidated hearing, the trial court took the issue of sentencing under advisement, scheduled a sentencing hearing, and ordered the preparation of a presentence investigation (PSI) "[o]ut of the abundance of caution[.]" Citing Muhammad ,⁶ Bell objected to the PSI, arguing it was unnecessary since he did not waive mitigation. Overruling that objection, the trial court adhered to its initial decision on the PSI.⁷

At the sentencing hearing, the trial court announced its decision to impose the death penalty for the murder of Eastwood. In its detailed sentencing order, the court found that the State proved the existence of the following aggravators beyond a reasonable doubt, with the noted weight: (1) the capital felony was committed by a person previously convicted of a felony and under sentence of imprisonment (great weight); (2) the defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person (great weight); (3) the capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC) (very great weight); and (4) the capital felony was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner (CCP) without any pretense of moral or legal justification (very great weight). However, the court found that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the capital felony was committed to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of any governmental function or the enforcement of laws, and accordingly assigned that aggravator no weight.

As for mitigation, the trial court observed:

[Bell] admitted his Competency Evaluation and stated that he suffered from depression. He also indicated that he had come

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