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AKA: Rasikh Abdul-Hakim
DC# 075812
DOB: 02/10/59
Seventh Judicial Circuit,
Volusia County Case# 80-48-CC
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
S. Foxman
Attorney, Trial: Howard B.
Pearl – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: James
R. Wulchak – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:
Eric Pinkard – CCRC-M
Date of Offense: 12/28/79
Date of Sentence: 10/21/80
Circumstances of the Offense:
On 12/30/79, the body of an
82-year-old female was found lying on the floor of her bedroom. The
detective who found the body, Detective Larry Lewis, surveyed bruises on
the victim’s forearm and under her ear, a small abrasion on the pelvic
area, and dried blood under the victim’s nose.
During the autopsy, it was
discerned that the cause of death was strangulation. Two lacerations on
the victim’s head were found and attributed to a sharp edge, either from
an instrument or the lip of furniture. The lacerations could have
rendered the victim unconscious. It was determined that the sexual
assault occurred prior to the victim’s death, but it could not be
determined if the victim was conscious at the time of the assault.
Several fingerprints were found
around a window in the house. This window was determined to be the point
of entry for the assailant. The fingerprints found around the window
were compared to Kenneth Quince’s and were found to be a match.
Quince
was arrested at his home, which was two blocks away from the scene.
After being questioned by police, Quince admitted to the following
events. Quince claimed he had been in the house several years earlier
when he had mowed the lawn for the victim. He stated that he had
burglarized the home believing that no one was home.
While Quince was in
the house, Ms. Bowdoin opened the door of her bedroom. Both saw each
other, and then Ms. Bowdoin proceeded to shut and lock her bedroom door.
Quince then pushed his way through the door, which knocked Ms. Bowdoin
onto the floor. Ms. Bowdoin stood up and started screaming.
Quince
attempted to silence her by grabbing her by the throat and shaking her.
He then pushed her to the floor. Quince then began looking for valuables
again and found a tape player, a radio, and a ring. When Quince was
leaving the house, he stepped on Ms. Bowdoin’s stomach. During this
questioning, Quince denied any knowledge of the sexual assault.
<>During later questioning, when
confronted with forensic evidence, Quince admitted to the sexual
assault, but refused to discuss the details. Later, when questioned by
psychologists, Quince admitted that, when Ms. Bowdoin fell to the floor
her nightgown ended up around her waist, which revealed her legs and
pelvic area. He claimed this sexually aroused him and resulted in his
decision to rape Ms. Bowdoin.
Trial Summary:
01/17/80 Indicted as
follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder
Count II: Sexual Battery
Count III: Burglary of an
Occupied Dwelling
08/11/80 Defendant
entered a guilty plea and waived his right to have an advisory jury impaneled to recommend sentence
10/21/80 Sentenced as
follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II: Sexual Battery –
Dismissed
Count III: Burglary of an
Occupied Dwelling – Death
Case Information:
Quince filed a Direct Appeal to
the Florida Supreme Court on 11/24/80. He raised several issues in the
appeal, mainly surrounding the judge’s ruling on aggravating and
mitigating factors. Another issue raised was that a general sentence was
improperly imposed on him for two separate offenses. The Court ruled
that the death sentence could have been imposed only for the murder
charge and not the burglary.
The Court affirmed the sentence on
03/04/82. The rehearing was denied on 05/27/82 and the mandate was
issued on 06/29/82.
Quince filed a Petition for Writ
of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 07/22/82. The
Petition was denied on 10/04/82.
Quince filed a 3.850 Motion to
the Circuit Court on 07/05/83. During the time that the motion was
pending, Governor Chiles signed a death warrant for Quince on 01/31/84.
The Circuit Court granted a Stay of Execution on 02/08/84. The 3.850
motion was denied on 04/30/84.
Quince then filed a 3.850 Appeal to the
Florida Supreme Court on 06/04/84. Many of the issues raised in the
appeal by Quince were considered in the Direct Appeal and therefore were
procedurally barred. The remaining issues surrounded the claim of
ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court applied the two-part test
described in <>Strickland v. Washington<>.
The Court ruled that Quince failed to meet the first part of the
Strickland test. The Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of the
3.850 Motion on 09/05/85. The rehearing was denied on 11/19/85 and the
mandate was issued on 12/26/85.<>
Quince filed a
Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on
02/14/86. The Petition was denied on 04/21/86.
Quince filed a petition for Writ
of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court (USDC), Middle
District, on 08/11/86. The petition was denied on 12/14/87. A motion to
amend the judgment was filed on 12/23/87. An amendment to the motion
was filed on 01/20/88. The petition was denied on 12/21/88.
Quince
filed an appeal of the USDC’s denial to the United States Court of
Appeals (USCA), 11th Circuit, on 01/18/89. On 09/21/89, the
USCA vacated the USDC’s order and remanded the case. The USDC gave
Quince 20 days to file an amended petition. On 10/26/90, the case was
administratively closed by the USDC so that issues could be decided at
the state level.
During this time, Quince also
filed a second 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 05/30/89. The main
issue within the motion was conflict of interest based on
<>Harich v.
State<>.
Quince’s defense attorney, Howard Pearl, served as a special deputy
sheriff. The motion was denied on 11/06/89.
Quince filed a motion to
disqualify Judge S. James Foxman and a petition for rehearing on
11/20/89. The motion to disqualify the judge was based on a comment
that Judge Foxman had made stating that out-of-state lawyers “look down
their noses at us and tend to think we’re a bunch of rednecks.” At the
time, an attorney from Washington, D.C., was representing Quince. The
Motion and Petition were denied on 02/19/91.
Quince filed an appeal of
the Circuit Court’s denial of his 3.850 Motion to the Florida Supreme
Court on 03/18/91. The main issues raised in the appeal were that the
trial court erroneously ruled against Quince in his attempt to
disqualify the judge and that the trial court had ruled on the 3.850
Motion without conducting an evidentiary hearing.
The Court ruled that
Quince’s motion to disqualify the judge was legally insufficient and
found no error in the trial court’s decision. In regard to the absence
of an evidentiary hearing, the Court referred to the Harich
decision, in which the Florida Supreme Court directed the trial court to
conduct an evidentiary hearing into the possibility of a conflict of
interest and remanded the case to the trial court for an evidentiary
hearing to be held on the matter. This opinion was rendered on
01/16/92. The mandate was issued on 02/17/92.
<>
The Circuit Court held a
consolidated evidentiary hearing for four defendants previously
represented by Howard Pearl on 12/15/92-12/18/92. An order was issued
on 04/02/93 stating there was no conflict of interest and again denying
Quince’s 3.850 motion. Quince filed an appeal of the trial court’s
decision to the Florida Supreme Court on 05/07/93.
The Court ruled that
the evidentiary proceedings were procedurally flawed which violated the
appellant’s right to due process. The Court vacated the trial court’s
order denying 3.850 relief and remanded the case for proceedings that
dealt with each appellant’s claims individually. The rehearing was
denied on 07/10/96 and the mandate was issued on 08/09/96.
Quince’s 3.850 Motion was
remanded to the Circuit Court by the Florida Supreme Court, as stated
above. Quince filed a motion to the Circuit Court to have Judge Foxman
disqualified because he had been a witness in the previous evidentiary
hearing. On 08/27/96, Judge Foxman recused himself. Quince filed a
motion to recuse Judge Johnson, Judge Foxman’s replacement, and the
court denied the motion. The 3.850 motion was denied on 11/12/96.
Quince then filed a 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
02/24/97. The issues raised in the appeal included the following
issues: the trial court’s refusal to disqualify Judge Johnson,
ineffective assistance of counsel, and conflict of interest due to the
Howard Pearl issue. The Court found no error. The Court affirmed the
trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion on 04/08/99. The rehearing was
denied on 06/15/99 and the mandate was issued on 07/15/99.
Quince’s Petition for Writ of
Habeas Corpus was reopened in the United States District Court, Middle
District, on 06/28/00. The Petition was denied on 05/10/02.
On 06/25/02, Quince filed a
Petition for Habeas Corpus to the United States Court of Appeals, which
appealed the United States District Court’s decision to deny his
petition. The USCA affirmed the denial of his Petition on 02/18/04.
On 11/01/04, Quince filed a
3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court, which is currently pending.
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