06-03-2025
New trial sought 5 years after death sentence in girl's Temple Terrace murder
TAMPA — It's been a decade since a 9-year-old girl vanished from Temple Terrace and was later found dead amid the rocks and mangroves off the Courtney Campbell Causeway. It's been five years since a Tampa jury found Granville Ritchie guilty of her murder and recommended he be sentenced to death.
This week, Ritchie returned from death row to the same Tampa courtroom where he was convicted to hear lawyers argue for a new trial. His case now churns in a common yet little understood realm of American law known as post-conviction litigation.
Proponents of harsh and swift punishments oppose this aspect of American justice. But it is an essential component of the right to due process guaranteed under the Constitution — a right that is heightened when the state is trying to take away a defendant's life.
'When the government is imposing the harshest penalty we have, which is killing an individual, then as a democracy it's vitally important that we know that there has been meaningful process,' said Marie-Louise Parmer, a Tampa attorney whose practice includes post-conviction and capital defense and who is not involved in Ritchie's case.
In a hearing that lasted through most of this week, it was as though Ritchie's trial itself was on trial. A string of witnesses testified about various aspects of Ritchie's case as new defense lawyers made claims that a litany of errors deprived him of a fair trial.
Ritchie was found guilty in 2019 for the rape and killing of Felecia Williams. The girl, who lived in East Tampa, vanished in May 2014 after she accompanied a family friend on a visit to Ritchie's apartment in Temple Terrace.
The Florida Supreme Court previously upheld Ritchie's conviction and death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal.
The post-conviction appeal process provides defendants a 'second layer' of review, which allows them to raise mistakes that they were unable to raise or correct in the initial appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, Parmer said. It's rooted in the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment, which guarantees defendants the right to the effective assistance of a lawyer.
'As Floridians, whether we agree or disagree with the death penalty, at least we can know that the system is trying to give them the process they deserve,' Parmer said.
Ritchie appeared thinner and slightly more at ease than he did five years ago, occasionally smiling and exchanging laughs with his attorneys. Now 46, he's been confined for most of the last half-decade to a single-man cell at Union Correctional Institution, northeast of Gainesville.
He wore a red jail shirt stamped with the word 'inmate.' With shackles at his wrists, he occasionally stroked his chin or jotted notes as he listened to a parade of witnesses.
His defense team is from the Office of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, a state agency that represents defendants in death penalty appeals.
Their odds of success are slim, but not impossible. Florida has seen more exonerations after a death sentence than any other state, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
In Ritchie's case, they have raised a litany of challenges based on things they claim his lawyers in his trial failed to do.
They've said the defense failed to seek their own expert witnesses in botany, soil analysis and cellphone signal tracking, all important aspects of the state's evidence against Ritchie.
They've claimed the defense failed to object to certain comments made by witnesses and the prosecutor during the trial. They've asserted there were pretrial motions that weren't filed, witnesses who testified who should not have taken the stand, and evidence that could have spared Ritchie the death penalty if it had ever been discovered and brought before the jury.
The combination of errors, his attorneys argue, denied Ritchie a fair trial.
The legal wrangling puts prosecutors in the unusual posture of having to defend the work of their courtroom adversaries.
Bjorn Brunvand and Daniel Hernandez, who represented Ritchie at trial, each testified Monday about their tactics, experts they consulted, efforts they made in pursuit of a life sentence.
They each detailed their backgrounds, which include decades of experience and extensive training in representing defendants facing the death penalty.
'Would you agree that you are an extremely experienced capital litigator?' Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon asked Brunvand.
'I've been doing it for a while,' Brunvand said. 'Probably more so than most.'
Brunvand estimated he's handled an average of two to three capital defense cases a year for the last 30 years.
He was asked about the intricacies of trial strategy, and his reasons for not making certain arguments to the jury.
'Do you agree that maintaining credibility with the jury is a critical component to success?' Harmon asked.
'Correct,' Brunvand said, adding that working the guilt and penalty phases of a trial was a 'balancing act.' It's part of the reason most death penalty trials feature two defense attorneys who handle each phase.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Michelle Sisco, who presided over Ritchie's trial, is also hearing his post-conviction claims. She is expected to issue an order at a later date on whether he is entitled to a new trial or sentencing hearing.
If he's denied, Ritchie can continue to appeal.
