The Florida Supreme Court today upheld a trial court's ruling not to set aside the sentence of a death row inmate in a Pinellas County slaying.
Martin Edward Grossman is scheduled to die Feb. 16 for the Dec. 13, 1984, murder of state Wildlife Officer Margaret Park. The jury unanimously recommended death.
Grossman's attorneys claimed he was entitled to a new hearing to explore whether his trial lawyer was ineffective for failing to have him examined by a competent mental health professional. Grossman was examined, but the doctor said his testimony wouldn't help the defense, court records show.
Grossman's attorneys also claimed the state's death penalty statute was arbitrarily applied because jurors didn't hear all the available mitigating evidence. They also said an inmate who testified for the state lied about conversations he had with Grossman.
The trial court in January denied Grossman's first two claims and dismissed the third.
The Supreme Court upheld that denial.
Park, 26, was a two-year law enforcement officer waiting to transfer to a job as a naturalist when she was murdered.
She was patrolling an undeveloped area near the border of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties when she encountered Grossman, then 19, and another man shooting a handgun that Grossman had stolen during a burglary.
Grossman begged Park not to turn him in because he was on probation for grand theft and breaking and entering.
When Park reached for her radio, Grossman grabbed her heavy metal flashlight from her belt and struck her repeatedly. He then grabbed Park's .357 Magnum and shot her in the back of the head.
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