Melissa E. Holsman|melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com
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STUART – The family of a beloved Stuart widow butchered in her home 39 years ago might be forced to relive the horrific crime as her then-juvenile killer seeks a sentencing do-over based on new laws and court rulings that govern how to punish minors who murder.
James Morgan’s pursuit to convince a judge to reduce his life prison term marks a new legal twist in an astonishing case that’s churned through four murder trials, four death sentences and one parole hearing held 13 years after his capital punishment was commuted on appeal in 1994. Until then, each time his case was appealed,the Florida Supreme Courttook issue with Morgan being aminorwhen he killed, and that he appeared to struggledevelopmentally.
Morgan, 55, is one of 11 Treasure Coast juvenile murderers —and up to 300 statewide — hoping for a reduced punishment based on a Florida Supreme Court ruling issued in May.
That rulinggranted a resentencing to Angelo Atwell, 42, who is serving a life term for a 1990 homicide he committed at age 16. According to court records, Atwell, of Broward County, killed a high-school teacher during an armed robbery. Morgan and the Treasure Coast inmates like himare in various stages of filing legal papers to get their cases back to a localjudge.
The 4-3 Atwell ruling flows from a series of recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions that bar juveniles from receiving mandatory life prison terms without weighing factors such as youthfulness and other developmental evidence.
In September, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office confirmed it will not try to overturn the Atwell opinion by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We will not seek further review of the Atwell case because the Florida Supreme Court’s decision was based on state law and there is no basis to seek further review,” Bondi spokeswoman Kylie Mason said via email.
In the coming months, Morgan and other local notorious killers, including Victor Brancaccio, 39, from Port St. Lucie, and Brooks Bellay, 51, formerly of Vero Beach, might get the chance to prove to a judge they’ve been rehabilitated since committing homicide as a youth.
MORE | Scroll down for an interactive graphic about the 10 Treasure Coast prisoners whose life terms could be reconsidered by a judge.
Bondi’s office, too, said it will leave it to state prosecutors to determine how best to proceed as these decades-old cases return to court.
“The State Attorney’s offices are tasked every day with interpreting decisions from Florida’s appellate courts and the Florida Supreme Court’s decision is very clear,” Mason noted. “There will be no universal/single answer for all the juvenile cases involved, rather these cases will be determined on a case-by-case basis by each individual state attorney.”
Brancaccio was 16 when he beat to death an 81-year-old widow in 1993; Bellay was 14 in 1979 when he abducted and killed a 4-year-old neighbor girl.
HEINOUS CRIME
Morgan was 16 on June 6, 1977, when he erupted into a killer’s rage and slaughtered Gertrude Trbovichinside her house on Overlook Drive during a frenzied stabbing attack that left the 66-year-old lyingon a blood-soaked floor.
He’d been mowing her lawnbut when rain started, Morgan asked to use the phone to call his father for a ride. Trial records showTrbovich let him in, then returned to writing a letter. When Morgan spied her seatedwith pen in hand, he grew irate, believing she could smell alcohol on him and was alerting his disapproving mother.
Already a drinker with a low I.Q. and a habit of huffing gasoline since age 10, Morgan crushed Trbovich’s skull with a wrench and a glass vase before plunging a serrated bread knife 67 times into her neck, face and hands, according to court filings. He also traumatized her genital area and bit her breast, leaving teeth marks that helped identify him as the killer. He left a bloody footprint onstationary that had fallen to the floor.
“That was the most heinous crime I ever prosecuted who was a juvenile, and my heart goes out to the family,” said senior retired judge Jim Midelis, who was the first prosecutor to convict Morgan of first-degree murder during a December 1977 trial.
Barbara “Bobbi” Jones, 54, of Broward County, recalled her maternal grandmother Trbovich as “kind, warmhearted and very caring of others.”
“She was always dressed immaculately, regal lookingand everyone loved her,” recalled Jones, who was 14 at the time of her death.
She said her extended family in Florida and Trbovich’s three grown children, including her 72-year-old son Steven, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were “devastated” to learn Morgan is seeking a sentencing review based on the Atwell ruling.
“The nearly four-decade familynightmare of having to relive all the graphic and heinous details over and over again continues,” Jones said via email.
Steven Trbovich said his mother was a stickler for safety and always locked her doors. He recalled her saying that Morgan, who worked for his father mowing lawns and often appeared pale and disheveled, scared her. But she also was a devoutCatholic,Trbovich said,and sheknew Morgan and his family were poor and oftenstruggled financially.
“He was just a little strange. He was always in his bare feet and my sister said ‘well, get rid of him, get rid of the family,” Trbovich said. “(Mother)felt bad for the parents, and said ‘oh no.’ ”
At Morgan’s 2007 parole hearing, Jones told the Commission on Offender Reviewher relatives always will fight to keep Morgan incarcerated.
“I implore you to make the decision today to never grant Morgan parole,” Jones told the Commission. “He is a monster. I would fear for my own personal safety, as well as my family members and for that of society.”
LIFE IN PRISON
In his quest to present his case to a new judge, Morgan is relying on many of the same arguments Atwell’s attorneys used to convince the Florida Supreme Court his life sentence was unconstitutional, in part because under the parole system that governs his incarceration, officials calculated Atwell wasn’t eligible for release before 2130.
“Thus, while technically Atwell is parole-eligible,” Justice Barbara J. Pariente wrote, “it is a virtual certainty that Atwell will spend the rest of his life in prison.”
The court’s majority also found Atwell’s punishment didn’t reflect the individualized sentencing required after 2012 for minors facing life in prison without the possibility of parole. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Miller v. Alabama opinion, that ruled it was cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a minor convicted of murder to a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Assistant State Attorney Ryan Butler said in deciding the Atwell case, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the parole system that’s been used for murderers convicted before 1994, who are required to serve life in prison with the possibility for parole after 25 years.
After 1994, parole in Florida was abolished and inmates sentenced to life were expected to remain behind bars.
“The court agreed that Florida’s parole system did not adequately provide an opportunity for release for juvenile killers,” Butler said. “It means that juveniles who were sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for murder would have a right to a new sentencing hearing under the statute that now is in effect.”
To that end, the Florida Supreme Court directed Atwell to be resentenced under the juvenile sentencing statute lawmakers passed in 2014 to comply with the Miller v. Alabama opinion that restricts extreme sentences for minors.
The judge who resentences Atwell may impose a term of 40 yearsup to life imprisonment after a hearing to consider youth-related factors such as immaturity and impetuousness. And unlike the current hold-over parole system criticized by the state Supreme Court, if Atwell is resentenced to a life term, he automatically receives a judicial review after 25 years.
LEGAL QUAGMIRE
While the trend has been to curb the ability to incarcerate a youth for life, state prosecutors largely have been left scratching their heads trying to figure out how to proceed with cases that may return for resentencing that involve murder cases decades old. And given the standards of review required for juvenile killers facing life, should a judge try to consider youth-related factors in defendants now in their 40s or 50s?
Thepathappearsclearerfor punishing more recentteen killers, includingTyler Hadley, who was 17 in 2011 when he bludgeonedhisparents with a claw hammer inside their Port St. Lucie home. A judge in 2014ordered Hadleyto serve twolife terms in prison after holding a nine-day juvenile mitigation hearing. An appeals court, though,granted Hadley anewsentencing,largely because he was convictedjust as state lawmakers were approvingnew guidelines for punishing minors.
Butler said theoretically, if Morgan is resentenced to life that includes an automatic review after 25 years, the time likely would be calculated from the date he was first incarcerated in 1977. Meaning, Morgan might be able to petition a judge for that 25-year review as soon as he’s resentenced.
Or, if a judge found that Morgan should serve the minimum of 40 years, he could walk out of prison a free man, Butler said.
Story continues below the photo gallery.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl said he’s been studying how best to proceed since Morgan filed papers in June to reopen his case.
Morganhad a hearing in July before Martin Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman but only his West Palm Beach lawyer, Michael Salnick, attended. Anotherstatus hearing is Dec.15.
Bakkedahl said he’s unsure how Morgan’s case eventually will play out. But it could be months before ajudge determines the proper punishment for the man who, as a teen, viciously killed a woman during an attack that her family knows lasted at least 30 minutes and perpetuated a painful death.
“The one component of the criminal justice system has always been an issue of retribution: Society has a genuine interest in punishing those who commit crimes,” he said. “He (Morgan) would like to get out and get another chance.
"You think Trbovich’s great-grandchildren would have liked to meet her? We shouldn’t lose sight of that,given the horrific nature of this particular crime.”
Treasure Coast Cases
Based on a May ruling issued by the Florida Supreme Court that granted juvenile killer Angelo Atwell a resentencing, it’s possible these 10 Treasure Coast prisoners will have their life prison terms reconsidered by a judge.
Hover over the blue dots for more information about each prisoner.
For mobile and tablet users, click here to view the graphic in a new browser window.
