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Nunes Granted New Trial In 2003 Homicide Case

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2008

TAMPA - A 22-year-old man convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a firearm and second-degree arson in March 2007 will get a new trial, according to an opinion handed down today by the 2nd District Court of Appeals.

According to the document, the case of Garrett Nunes was reviewed by a panel of judges, who decided that statements Nunes made in a 2003 homicide case should not have been submitted as evidence during his trial.

Nunes was 17 when he and Pablo Arturo Sandoval robbed another teen, Eric Harris, of drugs and money in September 2003. Harris was found dead in the back of a burned automobile. He died from two gunshot wounds in the neck.

A jury found Nunes guilty of dousing Harris and the car with gasoline then setting it on fire. Sandoval was the shooter, the Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives said.

Nunes' attorney, Caroline Tesche, recommended to her client and his father, Mitch Nunes, that Garrett Nunes should cooperate with detectives.

Nunes, his father and Tesche "expected that such cooperation would garner favorable treatment," court documents said. When Nunes met with detectives, he was under the impression that it was the start of plea negotiations.

Prosecutors "made it clear that there was no plea offer on the table" but told Nunes that before any plea could be offered, "it would have to verify the accuracy" of Nunes' information, court documents said.

Nunes then gave "a lengthy recorded statement in which he implicated himself in the death" of Harris, the opinion document said.

Nunes cooperated with detectives during the investigation, which led to Sandoval's arrest. Although Nunes gave a statement and helped crack the homicide case, prosecutors charged him as an adult, the document said.

Prosecutors offered Nunes a 30-year prison term for a reduced charge of second-degree murder, but he refused. Nunes was sentenced to consecutive life sentences in prison on the murder and robbery charges and 30 years in prison for the arson charge.

Before his trial, Nunes filed two motions to suppress the statement he gave to prosecutors, arguing that the information he gave them was made during plea negotiations, the document said.

The judges, in reviewing the case, agreed.

According to the opinion document, the judges ruled that Nunes' "statements were given for purposes of what can be viewed only as plea negotiations" and recommended he should receive a new trial.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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