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Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Indian River County, Case #80-233-CF
Judge, Trial: The Honorable Royce R. Lewis
Judge, Resentencing: The Honorable William G. Tye
Attorney, Trial: Paul Kanarek, Esq.
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Richard Saliba, Esq.
Attorney, Resentencing: Robert G. Udell, Esq.
Attorneys, Direct Appeal (RS): Jeffrey H. Garland Esq. & Michael J.
Kessler, Esq.
Attorneys, Collateral Appeals: Martin McClain – CCRC-S
Date of Offense: 07/22/80
Date of Sentence: 05/19/81
Date of Resentence: 09/18/86
Circumstances of Offense:
The
victims, Harold and Rachel Steinberger, were found lying face down in a
wooded area behind their residence. Each had also been stabbed numerous
times in the back.
Chandler reported to the authorities that he found the bodies. He said
he had been in the couple’s neighborhood checking on his ex-girlfriend’s
house when Mr. Steinberger invited Chandler into his home and asked him
to mow his lawn.
The day after the crime, Chandler called an
investigator and asked whether the police were going to arrest him. The
investigator said no, but asked Chandler to accompany him to the
victims’ house and point out any missing items. Chandler agreed.
At
the house, officers asked Chandler why anyone would go into the woods to
be killed. He replied that the victims were ordered out of the house.
Chandler mentioned that the victims had been stabbed, although the
authorities had not yet released that information.
When officers asked
whether the victims might have resisted, Chandler speculated that the
victims would not resist if the murderer placed a knife to the wife’s
throat.
He further stated that the victims probably were killed for the
$150,000 they made on the sale of their former home, information he
would have known from an examination of the victims’ bank account
record. Finally, Chandler stated that if he were the officers, he would
arrest him.
Additional information:
At the time of the
murder Chandler was on parole after serving five years of a 20-year
sentence for a 1973 kidnapping conviction in Texas.
Trial Summary:
05/18/81 As charged in the indictment, the
defendant was convicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree Murder – guilty
Count II: First-Degree Murder – guilty
Count III: Robbery with a Deadly Weapon – guilty
Count IV: Robbery
with a Deadly Weapon – guilty
Count V: Trafficking in Stolen Property – guilty
Count VI: Trafficking in Stolen Property – guilty
Count VII: Trafficking in Stolen Property – guilty
Count VIII: Aggravated Assault – guilty
05/1981
Upon advisory
sentencing, the jury, by two vote counts of 10 to 2, recommended a death
sentence for each of the murders.
05/19/81 The defendant was sentenced as followed:
Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count III: Robbery with a Deadly Weapon
– Adjudication
Withheld
Count IV: Robbery
with a Deadly Weapon
– Adjudication
Withheld
Count V: Trafficking in Stolen Property – 10 years
Count VI: Trafficking in Stolen Property – 10 years
Count VII: Trafficking in Stolen Property – 10 years
Count VIII: Aggravated Assault – 5 years
09/17/86 Upon
advisory sentencing, the jury, by two counts of 12 to 0, recommended a
death sentence for each of the murders.
09/18/86 Defendant was sentenced to death for each of the
murders.
Case
Information:
Chandler filed a direct appeal with the Florida Supreme Court in 1981.
He argued that the trial court during voir dire had erroneously excluded
prospective jurors in violation of guidelines set forth by the U.S.
Supreme Court in Witherspoon v. Illinois. The court agreed and
in 1983 affirmed the conviction, but vacated the sentence and remanded.
The
trial court resentenced Chandler to death in 1986. On direct appeal,
the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the sentence in 1988. The U.S.
Supreme Court denied certiorari in 1989.
Governor Martinez signed a death warrant on Chandler in April 1990. The
defendant responded by petitioning the Florida Supreme Court for a writ
of habeas corpus the following month. The court stayed the execution in
June 1990.
Chandler also filed a 3.850 motion in the trial court, which was denied
in 1991. He appealed the ruling to the Florida Supreme Court. In a
consolidated 1994 opinion, the court denied the habeas petition and
affirmed the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion.
Chandler next petitioned U.S. District Court, Southern District, for a
writ of habeas corpus in 1994. The court denied the request in 1998.
The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the lower
court’s ruling in 2001.
Chandler filed a Collateral Motion in the State Circuit Court, which the
Court treated as a 3.850 Motion, on 05/07/01. The Circuit Court
dismissed the motion on 07/11/01.
Chandler filed a 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 11/02/01.
That appeal was dismissed on 04/19/02. Chandler re-filed the appeal on
06/02/03 and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s order
striking the motion on 02/11/04.
Chandler filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida
Supreme Court on 08/26/02, which was denied on 07/07/03.
Chandler filed another Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida
Supreme Court, which was denied on 10/06/05.
Chandler filed a
Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court on 05/08/06
that is pending.
