INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Jurors found 25-year-old Bradford Vose guilty of murder in the first degree in the trial of State v. Vose at Indian River Courthouse today. Jurors also found the defendant guilty of attempted armed robbery.
Jurors deliberated for nearly five hours today and returned the verdict at 3:22 p.m.
Vose was being tried for the murder of Joseph Farruggio who was shot four times and killed in Vose’s home in Vero Lake Estates on Sept. 8, 2010.
In a trial that began Friday, Jan. 24, jurors heard from more than 20 witnesses and were presented with more than 120 pieces of evidence as the State sought to convince the jury that Vose was guilty of murder in the first degree while committing a felony act.
Assistant State Attorney Chris Taylor argued that Vose and an accomplice, Courtney Jones, had a pre-meditated plan to rob Farruggio of the high-grade marijuana Farruggio was expected to deliver. According to the evidence, the marijuana was worth $1,000-$1,200.
Killing someone – even in self-defense – while committing a felony does not make it justifiable homicide, the State argued.
Vose’s defense counsel made a case for self-defense, arguing that Vose was not stealing the marijuana, but instead was duped by Jones who ran off with the marijuana unexpectedly, leaving Vose to deal with an angry and violent Farruggio.
Farruggio, according to the defense, was the aggressor, beating Vose severely – to the point that Vose lost a tooth during the altercation.
Vose, fearing for his life, pulled a gun on Farruggio, emptying his clip of six bullets, and hitting the man a total of four times.
According to Vose’s defense attorneys, Bobby Guttridge and Adam Chrzan, an appeal is in motion due to the defendant’s right to a speedy trial and to a possible violation of the Williams Rule.
In this case, the Williams Rule pertains to the evidence that was admitted into the courtroom regarding an incident in January 2010 in which the defendant and his accomplice allegedly robbed another drug dealer in a similar manner as the State accused Vose of attempting to rob Farruggio.
According to Guttridge and Chrzan, the irrelevance of the January incident and the lack of evidence to prove the event ever took place are grounds for appealing on the basis of the Williams Rule.
If Vose is denied the appeal, he will be facing life in prison, Guttridge said.
A sentence date has yet to be decided, though Senior Judge Midelis said he expects it will take place sometime in March.
