Guzman Sentenced to Die for Third Time in Murder of David Lee Colvin

Tue, Aug 30, 2016 at 2:24PM

Guzman Sentenced to Die for Third Time in Murder of David Lee Colvin

   P R E S S   R E L E A S E 

August 30, 2016

 

 

Guzman Sentenced to Die for Third Time in Murder of David Lee Colvin

 

DAYTONA BEACH – A Daytona Beach man previously convicted twice of the murder of David Lee Colvin in 1991 was convicted by a Volusia County Jury of First Degree Murder and Robbery with a Deadly Weapon for a third time on April 27, 2016. James Guzman, 52, was convicted following a seven-day trial and approximately four hours of deliberation. Today, August 30, 2016, Guzman was sentenced to die by Circuit Judge Terence R. Perkins.

 

            On August 10, 1991, James Guzman used a samurai sword to kill David Lee Colvin, a man who Guzman worked for. Guzman stole money and a diamond ring from Colvin before selling the ring for crack cocaine and $350.00. Many of the witnesses in the case were deceased so testimony from previous trials was read into the record. During the deliberation phase of the trial, jurors asked to handle the sword used to kill Colvin during the trial.

 

            Guzman’s prior criminal history includes prison sentences for burglary, grand theft, second degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery. Guzman was previously convicted of this murder twice, but both times the case was sent back for new trials after the appellate process.

 

            In rendering the verdict of death, Judge Perkins found that the four aggravating factors found unanimously and beyond all reasonable doubt by the jury during sentencing “overwhelmingly outweighed” the mitigating factors presented by the defense. The aggravators included the fact that Guzman had previously been convicted of a capital felony in the 1982 slaying of a Miami woman while committing an armed kidnapping and robbery, that this capital offense was committed during the commission of a robbery, that this capital felony was committed to avoid arrest or to elude law enforcement, and that this capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel. The mitigating factors considered by the court included Guzman’s age at the time of the offense, his age at the time of the sentencing, his drug addiction, and the fact that he had received a GED and other certifications while in prison.

 

Assistant State Attorney Ed Davis of the State Attorney’s Homicide Unit tried the case before retiring in May, with Assistant State Attorney John Reid, of the Career Criminal Unit. Circuit Judge Terence R. Perkins presided over the case and pronounced the death sentence.

 

 For more information contact:

 

Spencer S. Hathaway

Public Information Officer / Assistant State Attorney

Office of R.J. Larizza

State Attorney, Seventh Judicial Circuit

SAOPIO@SAO7.org

(386)562-4043 – Cell


Bookmark & Share



User Comments


Be the first to comment on this post below!