FREDDIE LEE HALL, APPELLANT/PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE/RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1982-10-05
Nos. 62696, 62697
ALDERMAN, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, McDonald and EHRLICH, JJ., concur.
420 So. 2d 872 Florida Supreme Court (1982) Caution
Cited by 42 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Freddie Lee Hall appealed the denial of his motion to vacate his death sentence for first-degree murder and petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's denial and rejected Hall's claims of constitutional violations and ineffective assistance of counsel, finding his execution could proceed.


Holding

The Court affirmed the denial of Hall's motion to vacate and petition for habeas corpus. Hall's absence during jury selection did not violate his rights because he was present at all critical stages and available to consult counsel. The reduced conviction still supported the aggravating circumstance of prior criminal history. Enmund v. Florida was distinguishable because Hall both provided the murder weapon and was present at the death, intending the victim's death as an aider and abettor to the homicide itself. No ineffective assistance of counsel was shown, and the denial of continuance was proper.


Headnotes

[1] Issues previously raised on direct appeal or that could have been raised on direct appeal are generally not cognizable in a collateral attack.

[2] A defendant's absence from jury selection proceedings does not necessarily abrogate fundamental constitutional rights if the defendant was present at all critical stages…

Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“In Enmund the Supreme Court held that Florida's death penalty statute cannot be applied to one who did not kill, attempt to kill, intend to kill, or intend that lethal force be used.”

Establishes the standard from Enmund v. Florida for imposition of death penalty; Hall distinguished himself from this category.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

A jury convicted Freddie Lee Hall of first-degree murder of Karol Hurst and recommended death. The trial court followed the recommendation and the Flo…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Freddie Lee Hall appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his conviction and sentence, applies to this Court for a stay of execution, and petitions for a writ of habeas corpus. We affirm the trial court’s denial and deny the petition for habeas corpus and application for stay of execution.

A jury convicted Hall of the first-degree murder of Karol Hurst and recommended that he be sentenced to death. The trial court followed that recommendation, and this Court affirmed both Hall’s conviction and death sentence. Hall v. State, 403 So. 2d 1321 (Fla.1981).

On September 9, 1982 the governor signed Hall’s death warrant, effective for the week of October 1 through 8, and the department of corrections scheduled his execution for October 6. The trial court, in response to Hall’s claims that he had sought, but could not find, legal counsel, appointed the public defender to represent Hall for purposes of post-conviction relief. The trial court conducted a hearing on Hall’s motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his judgment and sentence on September 30 and issued an order denying both that motion and Hall’s application for a stay of execution on the following day. This detailed and conscientiously prepared order addresses each of the points raised and finds no merit to Hall’s contentions.

Before this Court, Hall claims that the trial court improperly denied the motion to vacate and that the denial of his motion for a continuance on September 30 violates due process of law and access to the courts. In a separate petition for writ of habeas corpus, Hall claims ineffective assistance of counsel at the appellate level. We, like the trial court, find no merit to Hall’s attacks on his conviction and sentence.

The majority of issues raised in the motion to vacate were raised on appeal. Most of the remaining issues could have been raised there. They are, therefore, not matters which will support a collateral attack. Adams v. State, 380 So. 2d 423 (Fla.1980); Sullivan v. State, 372 So. 2d 938 (Fla.1979). Several of the points raised, however, merit discussion.

Hall claims that he was not present during some of the jury selection and that his absence abrogated his fundamental constitutional rights. Francis v. State, 413 So. 2d 1175 (Fla.1982). The trial court found Francis distinguishable from the instant case. We agree. Hall was not present at the roll call of prospective jurors or at the general qualification of prospective jurors. He was, however, present at all critical stages of the proceedings and available to consult with his counsel.

Regarding sentencing errors, Hall claims that because we reduced his sentence for a later-in-time crime to second-degree murder, Hall v. State, 403 So. 2d 1319 (Fla.1981), that crime could not be used to show the aggravating circumstance of prior criminal history. We recently considered this point in denying a stay of execution for Hall’s codefendant, Mack Ruffin. Ruffin v. State, 420 So. 2d 591, Case No. 62,631 (Fla. Sept. 29, 1982). As pointed out by the trial court, the reduced conviction still meets the criteria for finding past criminal history in aggravation. Additionally, Hall had also been convicted previously of an unrelated assault with intent to commit rape. The trial court is correct in concluding that, had we found that the reduction in the degree of homicide affected the death penalty in the instant case, we would have said so in our prior opinion.

Citing Enmund v. Florida, - U.S. -, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982), Hall claims that the death penalty cannot be imposed because he did not actually and intentionally kill the victim. In Enmund the Supreme Court held that Florida’s death penalty statute cannot be applied to one who did not kill, attempt to kill, intend to kill, or intend that lethal force be used. We agree with the trial court that Enmund is distinguishable from the instant case. Hall provided the weapon used to kill Mrs. Hurst and was present at her death. Additionally, Enmund was an aider and abettor only to the underlying felony. Hall, on the other hand, was an aider and abettor to the homicide as well as the underlying felony. There is no doubt in the Court’s mind that Hall intended Mrs. Hurst’s death.

Hall presented the trial court with numerous other points regarding his sentencing proceeding. As did the trial court, we find no merit to them. Nothing urged would remotely affect the conviction or sentence in this case. At the worst, these claims point to alleged shortcomings by trial and appellate counsel.

Hall had two attorneys at trial, and these attorneys also represented him on appeal. In his order denying the motion to vacate, the trial court recited his familiarity with these attorneys’ work both in this case and in general. He “has always found both men to be well prepared, able, thorough, effective and competent attorneys.” Although available at the hearing, Hall did not choose to question them regarding their alleged incompetency, instead, evidently, choosing to let a cold record speak for itself.

Almost any attorney, including the one who conducted the trial, can look at a prior trial and point to things which could have been done differently; hindsight makes all of us better advocates. A defendant is assured of a fair trial, not a perfect one. Despite Hall’s contentions, we can find nothing in the record to support his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Additionally, we find the denial of the continuance of these proceedings to have been proper. Hall’s current counsel notes that he had only fourteen days between his appointment and the scheduled execution and expresses his concern that Hall’s right to due process and access to the courts might be adversely affected by time constraints.

In the legal profession, as in many other facets of life, it is not the amount of time that one spends on something that counts, but, rather, the quality of what one accomplishes with the time available. Hall’s counsel has used his fourteen days well, and we commend him for the effort he has expended in representing his client and for the diligence with which he has pursued the task appointed to him. We find that Hall’s rights have been well protected and that Hall has been served thoroughly.

The trial court’s denial of the motion to vacate is affirmed, and the petition for writ of habeas corpus is denied. The application for stay of execution is denied.

It is so ordered.

ALDERMAN, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, McDonald and EHRLICH, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (21 total)

  • Smith v. State, 500 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 1986)
    …entitled to an objective consideration of all evidence properly before the court, free from harmful error. He is not, however, entitled to a perfect trial, free from all possible error. Stang v. State, 421 So. 2d 147, 149 (Fla.1982); Hall v. State, 420 So. 2d 872, 874 (Fla.1982); Hoffman v. State, 397 So. 2d 288, 290 (Fla.1981); Lackos v. State, 339 So. 2d 217, 219 (Fla.1976). The criminal discovery rules were never intended to furnish a defendant with a procedural device to delay litigation or escape justic…
  • Brown v. State, 473 So. 2d 1260 (Fla. 1985)
    …to accept appellant’s assertion that no act of his was proven to have caused the death — that is, even if this were a felony murder case — the above factors would be sufficient to distinguish Enmund and justify the death sentence. See Hall v. State, 420 So. 2d 872 (Fla.1982); Ruffin v. State, 420 So. 2d 591 (Fla.1982). We do not base our decision of this issue on these distinctions from Enmund, however. We find that the Enmund principle is totally inapplicable to this case because this is a case of premeditat…
  • Hall v. State, 541 So. 2d 1125 (Fla. 1989)
    …321 (Fla.1981) (Hall I). In September of 1982 a death warrant was signed, scheduling Hall for execution. This Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Hall’s rule 3.850 motion, as well as Hall’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Hall v. State, 420 So. 2d 872 (Fla.1982) (Hall II). The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted a stay of execution, but eventually denied relief. Hall v. Wainwright, 565 F.Supp. 1222 (M.D.Fla.1983) (Hall III). The eleventh circuit affirmed in par…

Previewing 3 of 21 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw