Veterans on Florida's Death Row, Part VI
This is Part VI of the latest series from Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty: Veterans on Florida’s Death Row, exploring information about veterans who are or have been on Florida's death row.
Welcome to Part VI of the latest series from Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty: Veterans on Florida’s Death Row.1 In case you missed it, Part I addressed the veterans who have been executed in the State of Florida. Part II addressed the veterans who died while on Florida’s death row. Part III addressed the 2 veterans who have been exonerated from Florida’s death row as well as the first part of the veterans currently on Florida’s death row. Part IV addressed the second group of veterans currently on Florida’s death row. Part V addressed the third group of veterans currently on Florida’s death row.
NOTE: The prior posts in this series have been updated as research is completed to add information. Check back to the prior posts for up-to-date information.
Resentenced
In addition to the veterans currently on Florida’s death row (Parts III-V), there are several veterans who were previously sentenced to death in Florida and have since been resentenced.
James Agan (Union County)
James Agan was sentenced to death for murdering a fellow inmate at Florida State Prison, where he was serving a sentence of life imprisonment for crimes that occurred in Hillsborough County in 1974. His sentence of death became final in 1984.
The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s 1987 decision in his case indicates that Agan was in the arm and “[i]n the 1940's and 1950's, the army discharged Agan three times; a 1945 report cites Agan's mental deficiency and his instability as the reasons for the first discharge.”1
In 1994, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the District Court’s grant of Agan’s petition for writ of habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of counsel and competency grounds. At the time of that decision, at least two warrants had been signed for his execution.
Agan was later resentenced to life in prison. He died in DOC custody in December 2005.
John Barrett (Citrus County)
John Barrett was sentenced to death on four counts of first-degree murder for crimes that occurred in August 1990. The jury recommended a sentence of life on all four counts. At sentencing, the trial court considered Barrett’s military service as mitigation. On direct appeal in 2004, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the convictions and vacated the sentences of death, directing that Barrett could not be subjected to the death penalty on retrial.2
DOC records indicate Barrett was later given a life sentence on lower charges. He died in DOC custody in June 2020.
Michael Bedford (Broward County)
Michael Bedford was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1988. The jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment. Mitigation evidence at trial indicated that Bedford was “honorably discharged from the United States Army and Navy.”3 On direct appeal in 1991, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Beford’s convictions but vacated the sentence of death and remanded for “imposition of a life sentence without possibility of parole for twenty-five years.”4
Bedford remains in DOC custody. He is 73 years old.
Lamar Brooks (Okaloosa County)
Lamar Brooks was sentenced to death for two counts of first-degree murder for crimes that occurred in 1996. On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court reversed Brooks’ convictions and sentences. On retrial in 2002, Brooks was again convicted and sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendations for death by a vote of 9-3 and 11-1.5 The Florida Supreme Court’s decision on direct appeal indicate Brooks served in the military, and his military service was considered as mitigation at sentencing.6 His sentences of death became final in 2006.
In 2017, after Hurst,7 Brooks received a new penalty phase. “After the new penalty phase trial, . . . on August 27, 2019,” Brooks was resentenced “to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”8
Brooks remains in DOC custody. He is 52 years old.
Dominick DeAngelo (Orange County)
Dominick DeAngelo was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in April 1990. In sentencing, the trial court considered “that DeAngelo used to serve as a volunteer fire-fighter, that he served his country in the army, and that he confessed to the crime” as mitigation.9
On direct appeal in 1993, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed DeAngelo’s conviction for first-degree murder but reduced his death sentence “to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for twenty-five years,” determining “the sentence of death in this case is disproportionate when compared with other capital cases where th[e] Court has vacated the death sentence and imposed life imprisonment.”10
DeAngelo remains in DOC custody. He is 63 years old.
Humberto Delgado (Hillsborough County)
In 2011, Humberto Delgado was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in August 2009. The jury recommended death by a vote of 8-4. In sentencing, the trial court considered that Delgado “honorably served in the United States Army until his mental illness and medical condition interfered with continued service” as mitigation.”11
On direct appeal in 2015, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed DeAngelo’s conviction for first-degree murder but reduced his death “sentence to life imprisonment,” determining “death is not a proportionate penalty when compared to other cases.”12
Delgado remains in DOC custody. He is 49 years old.
Raymond Drake (Pinellas County)
Raymond Drake was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1977. On direct appeal in 1981, the Florida Supreme Court reversed his conviction and remanded for a new trial based on “the erroneous admission of . . . similar facts evidence.”13
After a second trial, Drake was again convicted and sentenced to death. On direct appeal in 1983, the Florida Supreme Court “reverse[d] Drake’s first-degree murder conviction and remand[ed] to the circuit court for a new trial” based on the trial court’s improper admission of Drake’s taped statement into evidence.14
According to a Tampa Bay Time's article, Drake “was found guilty again after his third murder trial in 1984, but this time he was convicted of second-degree murder, which does not carry the death penalty. Afterward, Judge Jerry Parker said he still thought death was the best sentence. But with that option off the table, he sentenced Drake to 99 years in prison.” The article also states that Drake is a “Navy veteran.”
Drake’s sentence is now over. But because of his history of sex offenses, Drake is "being detained under the Jimmy Ryce act.”
Paul Durousseau (Duval County)
In 2007, Paul Durousseau was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in July 1999. The jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2. On direct appeal in 2010, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Durousseau’s conviction and sentence of death. His sentence became final in October 2011.
In 2017, the Florida Supreme Court granted Durousseau a new penalty phase in light of Hurst.15 He was resentenced to life and remains in DOC custody. He is 54 years old.
Michael P. Fitzpatrick (Pasco County)
Michael Fitzpatrick was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1996 following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 10-2.16 On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed his sentence of death. The Court’s decision indicated that “the trial court was apprised of Fitzpatrick's military background and specifically weighed the mitigation resulting from Fitzpatrick's military service when deciding whether death was the appropriate sentence.”17
On postconviction, the trial court determined that Fitzpatrick was entitled to relief for several Strickland claims—ineffective assistance of counsel—and vacated Fitzpatrick’s conviction and sentence of death and ordered a new trial. On appeal, in 2013, the Florida Supreme affirmed.18
In 2019, Fitzpatrick was resentenced on lower charges. He remains in custody and is 62 years old.
Thomas Halliwell (Hillsborough County)
Thomas Halliwell was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1974. On direct appeal in 1975, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Halliwell’s first-degree murder conviction but reversed the death sentence and “remanded to the trial court with instructions to reduce the penalty to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for twenty-five years,” determining “the death penalty is not warranted” after “weigh[ing] both the aggravating and the mitigating circumstances as shown in the record.”19
DOC records indicate Halliwell was released in 2001.
Thewell Hamilton (Holmes County)
Thewell Hamilton was originally convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in September 1986. On direct appeal in 1989, the Florida Supreme Court reversed Hamilton’s convictions and sentences for a new trial.20
On retrial, Hamilton was again convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death following the jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 7-5 on both counts.21
The trial court then granted a new penalty phase because “unauthorized publications were present in the jury room during deliberations.”22 The State appealed, and the Florida Supreme Court reversed the order, finding that the error was harmless.23 On remand, Hamilton was again sentenced to death. As mitigation, the trial court considered “Hamilton's good military record and good character.”24
On direct appeal in 1996, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Hamilton’s convictions but determined the trial court’s findings on aggravation were in error. As a result, the Court vacated his death sentences and remanded for “Hamilton to be resentenced to life imprisonment on each of the two first-degree murder convictions.”25
DOC records indicate that Hamilton died on May 29, 2003, while in custody.
Agan v. Dugger, 835 F.2d 1337, 1339 (11th Cir. 1987).
Barrett v. State, 649 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1994).
Bedford v. State, 589 So. 2d 245, 253 (Fla. 1991).
Id. at 254.
Brooks v. State, 175 So. 3d 204, 211 (Fla. 2015).
Brooks v. State, 918 So. 2d 181, 188 & n.2 (Fla. 2005)
Brooks v. Dixon, 2022 WL 22856736, at *2 (N.D. Fla. Dec. 14, 2022).
DeAngelo v. State, 616 So. 2d 440, 443 (Fla. 1993).
Id. at 444.
Delgado v. State, 162 So. 3d 971, 981 n.6 (Fla. 2015).
Id. at 983.
Drake v. State, 400 So. 2d 1217, 1220 (Fla. 1981).
Drake v. State, 441 So. 2d 1079 (Fla. 1983).
Durousseau v. State, 218 So. 3d 405 (Fla. 2017).
Fitzpatrick v. State, 900 So. 2d 495, 503 (Fla. 2005).
Id. at 524.
State v. Fitzpatrick, 118 So. 3d 737 (Fla. 2013).
Halliwell v. State, 323 So. 2d 557, 562 (Fla. 1975).
Hamilton v. State, 547 So. 2d 630 (Fla. 1989).
State v. Hamilton, 574 So. 2d 124 (Fla. 1991).
Id. at 124.
Id. at 131.
Hamilton v. State, 678 So. 2d 1228, 1230 (Fla. 1996).
Id. at 1232.