A federal appeals court Monday rejected arguments for a Florida inmate who was sentenced to death in the murder of a 75-year-old Panhandle woman while he was on a crack-cocaine binge.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a challenge to the death sentence imposed against Jesse Guardado, who murdered Jackie Malone in 2004 in a secluded area of Walton County home before stealing money and other items.
Monday’s opinion, written by Judge Robert Luck and joined by Chief Judge William Pryor and Judge Jill Pryor, said Malone had helped Guardado find a place to stay and a job after he had been in prison. Guardado went to Malone’s home at night on Sept. 13, 2004, and said he needed to use the telephone.
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After she let him in, Guardado hit her in the head with a tool known as a breaker bar, stabbed her in the chest and slit her throat, Monday’s ruling said.
Guardado pleaded guilty to the murder, but the appeal centered on arguments that his attorneys were “ineffective” during the penalty phase of the case that resulted in the death sentence. In part, Guardado argued that his attorneys did not properly investigate and present “mitigating” evidence that could have prevented a death sentence and that they did not properly try to prevent three jurors from taking part in the penalty phase.
But the appeals court, in a 76-page decision, rejected the arguments.
Guardado, now 62, is an inmate at Union Correctional Institution, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website.
