While acknowledging a prosecutor made improper statements, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a Death Row inmate convicted of sexually battering and murdering a woman in 2018 in Monroe County.
Justices unanimously upheld the conviction and death sentence of Steven Matthew Wolf in the murder of Michelle Osborne, whose nude body was found by a fisherman in Marathon.
Wolf was arrested driving a van in a nearby area.
He told police that he had picked up the woman and her boyfriend at a Walmart in Florida City and indicated the boyfriend was responsible for the death, according to Thursday’s main opinion.
But Wolf, now 64, ultimately was convicted of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual battery with force likely to cause injury and tampering with physical evidence.
Wolf raised a series of issues at the Supreme Court, including that a prosecutor had impermissibly suggested to jurors during sentencing that they should show Wolf the same “mercy” he showed Osborne.
The main opinion agreed that such statements were improper.
“While the state (the prosecutor) did not directly say to the jury that it should show Wolf that same mercy Wolf showed the victim, the clear implication was that the jury should show Wolf no mercy because he showed the victim no mercy,” the opinion said. “This (Supreme) Court has repeatedly condemned such arguments.”
But the opinion declined to overturn the death sentence because of the prosecutor’s statements.
“Despite the impermissible nature of the comments, they do not rise to such a level that a recommendation of death could not have been obtained without them,” the opinion said. “Given the strength of the evidence against Wolf, the gravity and weight of the aggravators (aggravating factors in the case), and the minimal and relatively weak mitigation, it cannot be said that the jury would not have recommended a death sentence or that the trial court would not have imposed a death sentence if the improper ‘same mercy’ comments had not been made.”
The main opinion was shared by Chief Justice Carlos Muniz and Justices Charles Canady, John Couriel and Renatha Francis. Justices Jamie Grosshans and Meredith Sasso wrote concurring opinions, while Justice Jorge Labarga concurred in the result of the main opinion.