The Commission on Capital Cases updates thisinformation regularly.  This information; however, is subject to changeand may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not berelied upon for statistical or legal purposes. 

SMITH, STEPHEN V. (W/M)

DC#    189262

DOB: 01/13/61

­­­Twentieth Judicial Circuit, Charlotte County Case#0301526

Sentencing Judge: The Honorable William L. Blackwell

Attorney, Trial: Paul D. Sullivan – Agency

Attorney, Direct Appeal: Ryan T. Truskoski – Private

Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  Richard Kiley – CCRC-M

Date of Offense: 06/11/03

Date of Sentence: 08/18/06

Circumstances of Offense:

Stephen Smith, Dwight Eaglin, and Michael Jones wereindicted for the first-degree murder of Officer Lathram at CharlotteCorrectional Institution (CCI) during an escape attempt.  The defendantswere tried separately.

Stephen Smith and two other inmates at CCI began formulatingan escape plan in early 2003.  The three men were part of a small inmatework crew of other CCI prisoners who were working on renovations to the inmatedormitories.  This construction work allowed the men temporary access to anumber of tools appropriate to plumbing and welding.  The three men hadplanned to join various ladders together with bracing materials to create aladder-bridge that would span the length of the two perimeter fences.  Itwas planned that Eaglin would use the ladder-bridge to overcome the firstperimeter fence and wait for a guard truck to pass.  He would then attackthe driver with a hammer from the tool cache, providing the inmates withtransport.  In discussing the plan with other inmates, Smith bragged thathe would kill any correctional officer guarding them and that he would befamous for doing so.  Smith also preferred to escape when a female officerwas supervising the crew so that he could rape her.

On 06/11/03, Smith, Eaglin, and Jones were working aconstruction detail that occasionally worked in the evening.  Becausethese evening crews were composed of only five or six individuals, only oneguard was assigned to supervise.  Officer Lathram, a female correctionalofficer, was assigned to supervise the work detail on this particularevening.  At 4:00 p.m., Officer Lathram took the five-person crew – thethree defendants and two other inmates – to work in the dormitory for theevening.  At 8:30 p.m., Lathram performed a head count.  Just afterthe head count, Eaglin beat up inmate Charles Fuston and locked him in acell.  Eaglin then returned with a sledgehammer and beat him todeath.  Fuston knew of the escape plan and had decided against it. After the first murder, the three men told Officer Lathram that they requiredsomething from a locked mop closet.  Officer Lathram took them to thecloset and while she appropriated the key, Eaglin struck her twice in the headwith a sledgehammer.  They then took the officer’s radio and keys and whileEaglin locked her body in the closet, Smith and Jones left to assemble theladders for the escape.  Before joining the others, Eaglin found the otherinmate of the work detail and incapacitate him with a separate hammer. The three inmates then reunited at the interior perimeter fence.  In theirattempt to lift the ladder-bridge, it collapsed and fell against the fence,setting off an alarm.  Officers responding to the alarm witnessed thethree men trying to escape.  Eaglin was found between the perimeterfences; Smith was climbing the ladder against the interior fence; and Jones wasstanding nearby within the interior fence.  Officer Lathram’s body wasfound in the locked mop closet, the sledgehammer on the floor beside her. The officers also discovered the other two inmates of the work detail, one ofwhom was injured, and Fuston, who was found dead in a locked cell.

Codefendant Information:

Dwight Eaglin

Dwight Eaglin was sentenced to death on 03/31/06 for hisrole in the murder of Officer Lathram.  His Direct Appeal is currentlypending in the Florida Supreme Court.

Michael Jones was sentenced to life in prison after pleadingguilty for his role in the murder of Officer Lathram.

Additional Information:

At the time of the incident, Smith was serving seven lifesentences for murder, rape, and armed burglary. 

Prior Incarceration History in the State of Florida:

Trial Summary:

12/03/03         Indicted as follows:

                                   Count I:           FirstDegree Murder (Darla K. Lathrem)

                                   Count II:         First Degree Murder(Charles B. Fuston)

06/21/06         State entered nolle prosequi against the defendant on count two for the deathof Charles B. Fuston

06/23/06         Jury returned guilty verdict on Count I of the indictment.

07/01/06         Jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3.

08/18/06         Sentenced as follows:

                                   Count I:           FirstDegree Murder (Darla K. Lathrem) – Death     

Appeal Summary:

Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

FSC# 06-1903

998 So.2d 516

09/25/06         Direct Appeal filed

09/25/08         Disposition affirmed

10/06/08         Motion for Rehearing filed

12/18/08         Rehearing denied

01/05/09         Mandate issued

United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ ofCertiorari

USSC# 08-8829

129 S.Ct. 2006

01/21/09         Petition filed

04/20/09         Petition denied

Circuit Court – 3.851 Motion

CC# 03-01526

(Pending)

03/24/10          Motion filed

Case Information:

On 09/25/06, Smith filed a Direct Appeal in the FloridaSupreme Court, citing the following issues: (1) the defendant’s due process rightswere violated when the trial court failed to make findings of fact andconclusions of law in its order denying the defendant’s motion to suppress, (2)the defendant’s trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel whenhe failed to preserve for appellate review the trial court’s denial of hismotion to suppress where he failed to object to the evidence when it wasintroduced at trial, (3) the defendant’s trial attorney rendered ineffectiveassistance of counsel when he failed to object to the testimony that thedefendant wanted to rape a female prison guard during his escape attempt, (4)the defendant’s trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel whenhe failed to move for a judgment of acquittal based on the State’s failure toprove that the murder was not the independent act of codefendant Eaglin, (5)the State failed to prove that the defendant committed first-degree murder, (6)the State failed to prove that the defendant committed felony murder, (7) thedefendant’s due process rights were violated when the State took inconsistentpositions between his trial and the trial of his codefendant as to who plottedand led the escape, (8) the defendant’s due process rights were violated and hewas denied a fair penalty phase when the State violated an order in liminewhich prohibited it from referring to the defendant’s previous penalty phase inhis prior conviction, (9) the trial court committed reversible error in itsconclusion that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors inthis case, (10) the defendant’s sentence of death was disproportionate, (11)the trial court reversibly erred when it refused the defense’s request toinstruct the jury on the defendants list of mitigating evidence, (12) thedefendant’s trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel when hefailed to challenge the constitutionality of Florida’s lethal injectionprocedures, (13) Florida’s lethal injection procedure violates the separationof powers doctrine, (14) Florida’s death penalty scheme violates due process,the Sixth amendment, and Ring V. Arizona and its progeny, (15) the trial courtimproperly prevented the defense from telling the jury that it was primarilyresponsible for sentencing the defendant and that it needed to take theresponsibility seriously, (16) the defendant’s trial attorney renderedineffective assistance of counsel when he failed to challenge theconstitutionality of Florida’s clemency procedures, and (17) the cumulativeeffect of the deficient performance of the defendant’s trial counsel and thenonreversible errors in this case deprived the defendant of a fair trial. On 09/28/08, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial courtand the sentence of death.  On 10/06/08, Smith filed a Motion forRehearing which was denied on 12/18/08.  On 12/18/08, the Florida SupremeCourt issued a revised opinion.  On 01/05/09, the Florida Supreme Courtentered a mandate in this case.

On 01/21/09, Smith filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorariin the United States Supreme Court.  This petition was denied on 04/20/09.

Smith filed a 3.851 Motion in the Circuit Court on 03/24/10.This motion is currently pending.

________________________________________________________________________

Report Date:  01/02/09          AEH

Approved:      01/05/09          RM

Update:          04/05/10          EMJ