BENNIE DEMPS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Bennie Demps, under a death sentence and execution warrant set for November 5, 1987, sought post-conviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's summary denial of relief, finding all claims procedurally barred or lacking merit under established law.
The trial court's summary denial of post-conviction relief was affirmed. All of Demps' claims were procedurally barred under Rule 3.850 because they either should have been raised on direct appeal or in his first post-conviction motion, were filed after the January 1, 1987 deadline without sufficient newly discovered evidence, or did not constitute a sufficient change in law to overcome the procedural bar.
[1] Post-conviction relief is procedurally barred unless the petitioner alleges facts previously unknown and not discoverable or raises a newly established fundamental consti…
[2] A recent Supreme Court decision does not constitute a sufficient change in the law to overcome a procedural bar for post-conviction relief if the issue could have been ra…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Demps' was required under the rule to request post-conviction relief by January 1, 1987, since his conviction and sentence became final prior to January 1, 1985. Relief is now procedurally barred unless Demps alleges facts previously unknown and not discoverable, or raises a newly established fundamental constitutional right.”
Establishes the procedural bar for untimely post-conviction relief under Rule 3.850.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDemps was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1978. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal in 1981. He prev…
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PER CURIAM.
Bennie Demps, under sentence of death and execution warrant, appeals the trial court’s summary denial of post-conviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 and stay of execution. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. This is Demps’ second death warrant and fifth appearance before this Court. We affirmed his conviction for first-degree murder and sentence of death in Demps v. State, 395 So. 2d 501 (Fla.), cert, denied, 454 U.S. 933, 102 S.Ct. 430, 70 L.Ed.2d 239 (1981). We reversed the trial court’s summary denial of a motion for post-conviction relief under rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and remanded for an evidentiary hearing in Demps v. State, 416 So. 2d 808 (Fla.1982). We subsequently affirmed the trial court’s denial of post-conviction relief in Demps v. State, 462 So. 2d 1074 (Fla.1984). Demps recently petitioned this Court for habeas corpus relief which we denied. Demps v. Dugger, 514 So. 2d 1092 (Fla.1987).
Demps filed with the trial court an emergency motion to vacate judgment and sentence with special request for leave to amend, motion for stay of execution, and request for continuance of evidentiary hearing. The court issued the following order denying all relief:
Notwithstanding the fact that defendant has previously and unsuccessfully sought relief under Rule 3.850 Fl.R.Cr.P. from his 1978 death sentence, and also notwithstanding the fact that the instant 3.850 Motion violates the provisions of such Rule by its having been filed subsequent to January 1, 1987, this Court, during the evening of November 2, 1987, immediately after receiving this Motion and continuing during the morning hours of November 3, 1987, has carefully reviewed this Motion, the several opinions previously written by the Supreme Court of Florida in this case, and cases and material cited and referred to in this Motion. This Court finds nothing in the instant Motion that either should not or could not have been raised in either the prior direct appeal or in the prior Motion for Post Conviction Relief.
Recognizing that the execution of this sentence now set for November 5, 1987 will result in the death of defendant, this Court has also studied the instant Motion to ascertain if any extraordinary circumstances were presented to suggest intervention by this Court under the inherent power of the Court to grant such relief, and no such circumstances are found.
The defendant in this case has received the benefit of every constitutional right and privilege available, and the judgment and sentence have been upheld both on direct appeal and by later affirmance after the Court ordered evidentiary hearing on a portion of the prior Motion for Post Conviction Relief.
There is absolutely no reason to further study, further plead, or hold hearings or further delay this case.
It is therefore ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the Emergency Motion to Vacate Judgement and Sentence with Special Request for Leave to Amend, Motion for Stay of Execution, and Request for Continuance of Evidentiary Hearing in all respects is hereby denied.
Demps’ was required under the rule to request post-conviction relief by January 1, 1987, since his conviction and sentence became final prior to January 1, 1985. Relief is now procedurally barred unless Demps alleges facts previously unknown and not discoverable, or raises a newly established fundamental constitutional right. Rule 3.850.
Demps argues that relief should be granted because the trial court denigrated the jury’s role in violation of the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985). Caldwell is not a sufficient change in the law to overcome a procedural bar. Copeland v. Wainwright, 505 So. 2d 425 (Fla.1987); Al-dridge v. State, 503 So. 2d 1257 (Fla.1987).
Demps next alleges that, after repeated requests, the state withheld evi dence impeaching witness Hathaway’s credibility. He claims that he only recently obtained the information after invoking the Florida Public Records Act, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1985). The act was equally available to Demps prior to January 1, 1987, the cut off date for post-conviction relief in the instant case. Rule 3.850 bars an untimely petition based on information previously ascertainable through the exercise of due diligence. Further, Demps argued on direct appeal and in his first proceeding for post-conviction relief that the state induced Hathaway’s trial testimony. These issues are now barred.
Demps also claims that he was denied notice and an opportunity to rebut a presentencing investigation report, and that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach Hathaway and for failing to present certain mitigating evidence. These issues could have and should have been raised either on direct appeal or in Demps’ first request for post conviction relief, and are therefore procedurally barred. See Rule 3.850; Quince v. State, 477 So. 2d 535 (Fla.1985).
Accordingly, we approve the trial court’s order and deny all relief. No petition for rehearing will be entertained.
It is so ordered.
McDonald, C.J., and OVERTON, EHRLICH, SHAW and GRIMES, JJ., concur. KOGAN, J., concurs specially with an opinion, in which BARKETT, J., concurs.
KOGAN, Justice,
specially concurring.
I concur in the conclusion that the trial court’s denial of appellant’s most recent 3.850 motion should be affirmed. However, I adhere to the views expressed in my dissent in Demps v. Dugger, 514 So. 2d 1092 (Fla.1987).
BARKETT, J., concurs.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (26 total)
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Johnson v. State, 536 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 1988)…nce became final prior to January 1, 1985, shall have until January 1, 1987, to file a motion in accordance with this rule. This Court has previously applied the two-year limit in rejecting postconviction petitions in several cases. Demps v. State, 515 So. 2d 196 (Fla.1987); Delap v. State, 513 So. 2d 1050 (Fla.1987); White v. State, 511 So. 2d 984 (Fla.1987). Johnson’s suggestion that the rule is somehow ambiguous is utterly without merit. We also reject his contention that his claims fall within one of th…
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Zeigler v. State, 632 So. 2d 48 (Fla. 1993)…50 motion in 1986, before the cut-off date, but did not avail himself to the Act at that time. Thus, it is clear that the information was ascertainable prior to 1987 through the exercise of due diligence. These issues are now barred. Demps v. State, 515 So. 2d 196, 198 (Fla.1987); Agan v. State, 560 So. 2d 222 (Fla.1990). As his third claim under rule 3.850, Zeigler contended that the State fabricated evidence which was presented at trial, specifically a bullet discovered in an orange grove. After an evident…
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Kight v. Dugger, 574 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 1990)…of Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985), and appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this [*1071] claim. Caldwell is not such a change in the law as to overcome a procedural bar. Demps v. State, 515 So. 2d 196 (Fla.1987). A claim of ineffective assistance may not be used to circumvent the rule that habeas corpus proceedings do not provide a second appeal. Blanco v. Wainwright, 507 So. 2d 1377, 1384 (Fla.1987). Further, counsel was not ineffective for fail…
Previewing 3 of 26 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Bennie Demps v. State, 462 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 1984)
- Bennie Demps v. State, 395 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1981)
- Bennie E. Demps v. State, 416 So. 2d 808 (Fla. 1982)
- Levis Leon Aldridge v. State, 503 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 1987)
- Demps v. Florida, 454 U.S. 933 (U.S. 1981)
- Mercer v. Missouri, 454 U.S. 933 (U.S. 1981)
- Quince v. State, 477 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 1985)
- Copeland v. Louie L. Wainwright, 505 So. 2d 425 (Fla. 1987)
- Bennie Demps v. Dugger, 514 So. 2d 1092 (Fla. 1987)