Wade v. State

Wade v. State

Opinion

 [*1009] PER CURIAM.

Alan Lyndell Wade appeals an order of the circuit court denying his motion to vacate his convictions and sentences—including two convictions for first-degree murder and two sentences of death—filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the postconviction court's order.

I. BACKGROUND

Wade was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping,  [*1010]  and two counts of robbery in connection with the murders of Carol and Reggie Sumner in July 2005. Wade v. State, 41 So. 3d 857, 862 (Fla. 2010). Wade and his codefendants, Michael Jackson and Tiffany Cole, were tried separately for the crimes. Bruce Nixon was also involved in the crimes but pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and received concurrent sentences [**2]  of forty-five years in prison.

In the opinion addressing Wade's direct appeal, this Court set out the facts of the crimes:

At Wade's trial, the evidence established the following. At the time of the murders, Wade had known codefendant Jackson for at least a year. In the summer of 2005, Wade had visited and partied with Jackson and his girlfriend Cole in South Carolina. In June, Wade arrived at his longtime friend Nixon's home in Jacksonville, driving a Mazda RX-8 that Cole had rented in South Carolina. Wade told Nixon of a vague plan to rob someone but offered no specifics. The next time Wade contacted Nixon was two evenings before the July 8 murders. Wade called and asked whether Nixon would like to join him, Jackson, and Cole in digging a hole. Nixon agreed and purloined four shovels from his neighborhood before his three codefendants appeared at his home in the Mazda.

The foursome drove around before deciding on a good location for the hole—a remote, wooded area located just across the state line in Georgia. Leaving the car parked on the road, the foursome hiked into the woods, where the three men dug a large, deep hole, while Cole held a flashlight. When the group returned to the [**3]  car, Wade asked Jackson whether Nixon could join their robbery plan, and Jackson agreed. The group then went to Wade's house but left when Wade's mother ordered Jackson out of her home. She considered Jackson a bad influence on her son.

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