Convicted Jacksonville ax murderer will get new trial in 1999 killings, Florida Supreme Court says

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Death Row inmate Jason Andrew Simpson, who was convicted of killing a fellow drug dealer and the dealer’s pregnant girlfriend with an ax in 1999 in Jacksonville.

The Supreme Court said prosecutors for Simpson, who was sentenced in 2007, did not disclose that a witness against him was a confidential informant for the state.

Simpson, now 48, was convicted of killing Archie Howard Crook Sr., 38, and Kimberli Michelle Kimbler, 29. They were hacked to death and nearly decapitated in the bedroom of their Derito Drive home off Normandy Boulevard, according to the Supreme Court ruling.

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The witness whose work as an informant had not been disclosed was Crook’s son, Archie Clyde Crook Jr. — identified in the ruling as “Little Archie.” Simpson’s defense attorneys argued during the trial that Little Archie had killed his father and Kimbler.

Little Archie had served as an informant against another man, George Michael Durrance, who was described in the ruling as being an associate of the Crook father and son and Simpson in the drug trade.

Durrance also was a figure in the Simpson murder case, and the Supreme Court, in a 5-1 decision, said Little Archie’s role as a confidential informant should have been disclosed.

The majority opinion said the “relationship between Simpson, Little Archie, and Durrance was of critical importance in this case, and the information Little Archie provided to law enforcement pertaining to Durrance casts a different light on this relationship.”

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The opinion, shared by Justices Ricky Polston, Jorge Labarga, Alan Lawson, John Couriel and Jamie Grosshans, also said “Little Archie’s testimony and credibility were of significant consequence when we consider the lack of evidence linking Simpson to the scene of the crime.”

But Chief Justice Charles Canady dissented, writing that the failure to disclose the information about the informant “was not material and did not prejudice Simpson.”

“The fact that Little Archie had been a source to law enforcement in unrelated matters is of little, if any, relevance, and in light of the other information known to the jury about Little Archie, would not have been an indication that he had a particular bias toward law enforcement or the state,” Canady wrote. “There is no reasonable probability that had this information been disclosed to Simpson, the result of Simpson’s trial would have been different.”

Justice Carlos Muniz was recused from the case.

The prosecutors in the case were Assistant State Attorneys Mark Caliel and Melissa Nelson, who is the current state attorney.

Simpson remains at Union Correctional Institution, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website. It isn't clear when a new trial date will be scheduled.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Death Row inmate Simpson to get new trial in Jacksonville ax killings