BY MICHAEL PELTIER
TCPalm.com
7:21 AM EDT, August 29, 2008
TALLAHASSEE
Florida's highest court Thursday rejected the final state appeal of a Vero Beach man sentenced to death for a 1991 murder.
By unanimous ruling, the Florida Supreme Court rejected all arguments brought on behalf of Paul Evans, sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder of Alan Pfeiffer, who was gunned down in his mobile home as part of a plot to collect insurance money.
The rejection ends Evans' appeals in the state court system, although he can appeal the court's ruling to the 11th District Court of Appeals, a federal appellate court in Atlanta.
Evans' attorney argued in April that his client received inadequate representation during his trial and later during the penalty phase, when his attorney choose not to call witnesses on his behalf.
The court disagreed, saying decisions made by attorneys who represented Evans were strategic in nature, based on the evidence in the case.
"In sum, counsel clearly made an informed decision about not presenting any witnesses during the guilt phase, which is exactly what he told the judge at the guilt phase," the court wrote in a group opinion.
The court also dismissed allegations the death penalty was unconstitutionally cruel.
Thursday's ruling is the latest development in a chapter in a 17-year saga. Evans entered Pfeiffer's mobile home before 9 p.m. March 22, 1991. He laid in wait for Pfeiffer and shot him three times.
The murder, the jury ruled, was part of a conspiracy launched by Connie Pfeiffer to kill her abusive husband and collect a $120,000 life insurance payout.
During his unsuccessful direct appeal in 2001, Evans' attorney tried to poke holes in the state case by saying Connie Pfeiffer may have instead pulled the trigger hours later, killing her estranged husband in a conspiracy that would not be unraveled for six years. Connie Pfeiffer is serving life in prison.
The conspirators' alibi, which included being seen at a local fair the night of the shooting, was not unraveled until 1997, when law-enforcement officials persuaded conspirator Sara Thomas to come forward.
Evans' first trial resulted in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial during jury selection during his second trial. Evans finally was convicted at his third trial.
Evans, 19 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to death in June 1999 by a 9-3 vote. He is being held at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.
TCPalm.com
7:21 AM EDT, August 29, 2008
TALLAHASSEE
Florida's highest court Thursday rejected the final state appeal of a Vero Beach man sentenced to death for a 1991 murder.
By unanimous ruling, the Florida Supreme Court rejected all arguments brought on behalf of Paul Evans, sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder of Alan Pfeiffer, who was gunned down in his mobile home as part of a plot to collect insurance money.
The rejection ends Evans' appeals in the state court system, although he can appeal the court's ruling to the 11th District Court of Appeals, a federal appellate court in Atlanta.
Evans' attorney argued in April that his client received inadequate representation during his trial and later during the penalty phase, when his attorney choose not to call witnesses on his behalf.
The court disagreed, saying decisions made by attorneys who represented Evans were strategic in nature, based on the evidence in the case.
"In sum, counsel clearly made an informed decision about not presenting any witnesses during the guilt phase, which is exactly what he told the judge at the guilt phase," the court wrote in a group opinion.
The court also dismissed allegations the death penalty was unconstitutionally cruel.
Thursday's ruling is the latest development in a chapter in a 17-year saga. Evans entered Pfeiffer's mobile home before 9 p.m. March 22, 1991. He laid in wait for Pfeiffer and shot him three times.
The murder, the jury ruled, was part of a conspiracy launched by Connie Pfeiffer to kill her abusive husband and collect a $120,000 life insurance payout.
During his unsuccessful direct appeal in 2001, Evans' attorney tried to poke holes in the state case by saying Connie Pfeiffer may have instead pulled the trigger hours later, killing her estranged husband in a conspiracy that would not be unraveled for six years. Connie Pfeiffer is serving life in prison.
The conspirators' alibi, which included being seen at a local fair the night of the shooting, was not unraveled until 1997, when law-enforcement officials persuaded conspirator Sara Thomas to come forward.
Evans' first trial resulted in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial during jury selection during his second trial. Evans finally was convicted at his third trial.
Evans, 19 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to death in June 1999 by a 9-3 vote. He is being held at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.
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