State prepares for fourth trial of murder defendant

PANAMA CITY — State prosecutors are preparing for their fourth attempt at convicting a Fountain man charged with the stabbing, shooting and bludgeoning death of his friend and neighbor.

The state’s prosecution of Philip Dean Brock for the murder of 65-year-old Terry Brazil will continue with its fourth jury trial. Brock is charged with first-degree murder, grand theft and robbery with a firearm and could face a life sentence if convicted as charged. Prosecutors, however, so far have failed to unanimously convince three separate juries of Brock’s alleged guilt for the crimes committed December 2012.

A pretrial hearing is set for May 28 at 1 p.m.

Retrials of cases that end in a hung jury are not limited by Florida statute. The prosecution can continue to request a retrial until a jury reaches a consensus or the prosecution drops its case.

State Attorney Glenn Hess pointed out that in each of the three trials, a majority of jurors sided with the prosecution. Between eight and 10 jurors — out of 12 — have been prepared to convict Brock during each trial’s deliberations.

“We had more information the second time, and we had even more information the third time,” Hess said. “Every time the case gets better, but we need to look and see where we are going with it.”

Hess said prosecutor Larry Basford will remain on the case despite the outcomes of the three previous trials. Because the gun and knife used in the murder were never retrieved, Hess said establishing a strong link between Brock’s DNA evidence and a bedpost, also used as one tool in the violent killing of Brazil, would be essential to the prosecution, Hess said.

“You have the victim’s blood on one side of it, you have the defendant’s DNA on the other side of it and you have it thrown in the bushes with duct tape and (Brock’s) truck in the same spot,” Hess said. “The DNA on that bed post has a lot to do with the outcome of this case.”

Brock’s defense has not attempted to deny the presence of his DNA on the bedpost, but argued the presence of a third, unidentified person’s DNA found on evidence at the scene of the crime left a doubt as to Brock’s guilt.

Defense attorney Kim Jewell said she could not comment on the trial because of its ongoing nature.

Attorney Waylon Graham, former prosecutor and a local private attorney of 25 years, said prosecutors will initially go for one retrial to hear the defense’s case and fill any holes punched in their own. Although Florida law allows retrials in perpetuity, he said, new evidence does not usually come to light to fill those gaps in a third or fourth retrial.

“If a jury continues to hang, even if in our heart we believe they did it and we believe we have evidence to prove it, it becomes a business decision in a way,” he said. “If you keep getting hung up, how long do you go on wasting taxpayer money?”

The figure on the cost of a trial was unavailable Tuesday.