SC02-1158 Darius Mark Kimbrough v. State of Florida

State: Florida

Docket No: SC02-1158

Case Date: 06/24/2004

Preview:Supreme Court of Florida
____________ Nos. SC02-1158 & SC03-228 ____________ DARIUS MARK KIMBROUGH, Appellant, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _________________________

DARIUS MARK KIMBROUGH, Petitioner, vs. JAMES V. CROSBY, JR., Respondent. [June 24, 2004] PER CURIAM. Darius Mark Kimbrough appeals an order of the circuit court denying a motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850

and petitions the Court for a writ of habeas corpus.1 We affirm the circuit court's order denying Kimbrough's rule 3.850 motion, and we deny Kimbrough's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Kimbrough was convicted of first-degree murder on July 1, 1994, and was sentenced to death on December 9, 1994. His conviction and sentence were affirmed by this Court on direct appeal. The relevant facts as taken from the opinion on direct appeal are: Kimbrough was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling with a battery therein, and sexual battery with great force and was sentenced to death consistent with a jury recommendation of eleven to one. The victim, Denise Collins, was found nude and semi-conscious in her bathroom by paramedics; she was covered with blood. The sliding glass door to her second floor apartment was partially open, and there were some ladder impressions under the balcony. Collins was rushed to the hospital, where she died soon thereafter. The officers took semen evidence from the bedsheets, took blood evidence from the victim, and found pubic hairs in the bed and in a towel. The samples were sealed in a bag and sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab for analysis. A resident of the apartment complex--Lee--told officers that he had twice seen a man in the vicinity of the apartment and had seen a ladder on the apartment's balcony. Officers were unsuccessful in searching for the man, but later Lee identified Kimbrough from a picture lineup. A workman in the complex--Stone--identified Kimbrough as a man who had watched him putting away a ladder in 1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V,

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