Duckett's Brief

STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS

The Statement of the Case and Facts as set out on pages 1-19

of Duckett’s brief is argumentative and is denied.

The Facts from Direct Appeal

On direct appeal, this Court summarized the facts of this

case in the following way:

The facts in this opinion are set forth in extensive

detail since the convictions are based on

circumstantial evidence. Duckett, a police officer for

the City of Mascotte, was the only officer on patrol

from 7:00 p.m., May 11, 1987, to 7:00 a.m., May 12,

1987. Between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. on May 11, Teresa

McAbee, an eleven-year-old girl, walked a short

distance from her home to a convenience store to

purchase a pencil. Teresa left the store with a

sixteen-year-old Mexican boy, who was doing laundry

next door. The boy testified that they walked over to

the convenience store's dumpster and talked for about

twenty minutes before Duckett approached them. A clerk

at the convenience store testified that Duckett

entered the store and asked her the girl's name and

age, at which time she advised him that Teresa was

between ten and thirteen years old. After indicating

that he was going to check on her, Duckett exited the

store and walked toward the dumpster, where he located

the two children. Duckett testified that he conversed

with the children and subsequently, acting in his

capacity as a police officer, instructed Teresa to

return home. The sixteen-year-old boy testified that,

after speaking with Duckett, he went to the laundromat

to wait for his uncle, who arrived soon thereafter;

that Duckett and Teresa were standing near the patrol

car; and that Duckett asked the uncle the nephew's

age. Subsequently, Duckett suggested that the uncle

talk to his nephew while he spoke to Teresa. According

to the uncle and the boy, Duckett placed Teresa in the

passenger's side of his patrol car and shut the door

before proceeding to the driver's side. The uncle also

testified that he never saw Teresa touch the hood of

Duckett's car.

At approximately 11:00 p.m., Teresa's mother walked to

the convenience store, searching for her daughter.

Upon arrival, she was told by the store's clerk that

Duckett may have taken her daughter to the police

station. The mother then left the store and spent

about an hour with her sister driving around Mascotte

in search of Teresa. During this time, the mother did

not see a police car. She next went to the Mascotte

police station and, finding no one there, she drove a

short distance to the Groveland police station. There,

she told an officer that she wanted to report her

daughter as missing. The officer told her that he

would contact a Mascotte officer to meet her at the

Mascotte police station. Teresa's mother returned to

the Mascotte police station and waited for fifteen to

twenty minutes before Duckett arrived. After arriving,

Duckett told her that he had spoken with Teresa at the

store; that she had been in his police car; and that

he had directed her to return home. Before returning

home, the mother also filed a missing person report

with Duckett. Subsequently, Duckett went to the

mother's residence to get a picture of her daughter,

called the police chief to inform him of the missing

person report, and advised the police chief that he

had made a flyer and did not need any help in the

matter. Duckett then returned to the convenience store

with a flyer but told the clerk not to post it since

it was not a good picture. Although he told the clerk

that he would return with a better one, he never did.

Duckett did bring flyers to two other convenience

stores. The clerk at one of these stores testified

that, while the police usually drove by every

forty-five minutes to an hour, Duckett came by at 9:30

p.m. but failed to return until he brought the flyer

later that evening. A tape of Duckett's radio calls

indicated none between 10:50 p.m. and 12:10 a.m. At

1:15 a.m., Duckett went to the uncle's house to

question his nephew about Teresa, and Duckett returned

to the mother's home around 3:00 a.m.

Later that morning, a man saw what he believed to be

a body in a lake and went to find the police chief,

who determined that it was Teresa's body. The lake is

less than one mile from the convenience store where

Teresa was last seen.