Killer's fourth death sentence lifted 01/28/00

Friday, January 28, 2000

Story last updated at 12:06 a.m. on Friday, January 28, 2000

Department of Corrections mug shot of Andrea Hicks Jackson. -- Special

Killer's fourth death sentence lifted
Justices rule rights violated at hearing

By Jim Saunders
Times-Union staff writer

TALLAHASSEE -- For the fourth time, the Florida Supreme Court yesterday threw out the death sentence of Jacksonville cop killer Andrea Hicks Jackson and ordered a new sentencing hearing.

This time, the justices said Jackson's rights were violated because she wasn't allowed to attend a hearing in Duval County two years ago.

Jackson was first sentenced to death in February 1984 after being convicted of murdering Officer Gary Bevel, who was shot six times when he tried to arrest her.

She was also given the death penalty in 1992, 1996 and 1998 -- all overturned by the Supreme Court.

While the court's latest action once again puts Jackson's execution in jeopardy, it doesn't affect her murder conviction.

The decision miffed Chief Circuit Judge Donald Moran, who sentenced Jackson, and angered police and prosecutors.

Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda of Jacksonville called the latest ruling a "further example of justice delayed."

"Three juries have recommended that the death penalty be imposed, and the last time was by a 12-0 vote," de la Rionda said.

But Jackson's longtime attorney, Stephen Weinbaum, said Jackson doesn't deserve to be executed because she didn't plan to kill Bevel.

"This was simply not a premeditated murder," Weinbaum said.

Jackson, now 41, was convicted of shooting Bevel in May 1983 when he tried to arrest her for filing a false police report about damage to her car. Witnesses said Jackson shot the officer as he struggled to get her into a police car at 26th Street and Boulevard.

The Supreme Court overturned Jackson's original death sentence in 1989 because of improper testimony by former Sheriff Dale Carson. She was sentenced again to death in 1992, but that sentence was overturned in 1994 because of improper jury instructions.

In 1996, Jackson was sentenced to death a third time, though it was overturned a year later because Moran didn't provide a detailed analysis of his reasoning. That led to the fourth death sentence in 1998.

Moran sentenced Jackson after receiving written arguments but not holding a hearing. The Supreme Court said yesterday Moran should have held a hearing that would have allowed Jackson to attend.

"Indeed, one of a criminal defendant's most basic constitutional rights is the right to be present in the courtroom at every critical stage in the proceedings," the court's majority wrote in the 5-2 decision.

Justices, however, said Moran shouldn't be blamed for the error because of confusion stemming from other Supreme Court rulings. After Jackson's sentencing, the court issued a ruling in a separate case that clarified how judges should handle such cases.

The dissenting justices in yesterday's ruling, Chief Justice Major B. Harding and Charles Wells, said Moran acted properly and that Jackson was able to present her arguments in the written documents.

Harding wrote that the "judge did what we told him to do. And now, we reverse him."

Moran, who has handled the case since the original trial, said the ruling was "amazing to me." But he said he would follow the court's instructions and hold another sentencing hearing.

"I'm going to do whatever they tell me," he said. "It's not my place to disagree with them."

The ruling came less than three weeks after state lawmakers passed a plan to try to limit appeals in death penalty cases. De la Rionda said the Jackson case shows why Gov. Jeb Bush, lawmakers and the public have become frustrated by an appeals process that sometimes leaves inmates on Death Row for decades.

"This is a perfect example of why the governor and others are attempting to change the system as it exists," de la Rionda said.

John Pialorsi, business agent for the Fraternal Order of Police in Jacksonville, also said he was frustrated. He said Jackson has received "every, every, every piece of due course of law."

"You never bury the memory of Gary Bevel, because you can't [with the case still pending]," Pialorsi said.