STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
JOHN MICHAEL, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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Michael, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, challenged his sentence through a Rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision granting Michael a new sentencing hearing based on his trial counsel's ineffective assistance during the penalty phase.
The trial court did not err in finding counsel ineffective during the sentencing phase under Strickland v. Washington. Counsel's failure to pursue investigation into mental mitigating factors, despite notice of Michael's disturbed condition, constituted substandard representation that prejudiced the penalty proceeding. Therefore, Michael is entitled to a new sentencing hearing.
[1] A trial court may grant a motion for postconviction relief and order a new sentencing hearing when counsel fails to investigate and present evidence of statutory mental m…
[2] Ineffective assistance of counsel during the sentencing phase of a capital trial can be established by demonstrating that counsel's failure to investigate and present men…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The court found that counsel should have obtained, but did not, the experts' opinions on the applicability of the statutory mental mitigating factors.”
Establishes the specific deficiency in counsel's performance during sentencing phase
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMichael was convicted by jury of first-degree murder of an elderly woman with whom he lived. The jury recommended death and the trial court imposed th…
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PER CURIAM.
The state appeals, and Michael cross-appeals, the trial court’s order granting Michael a new sentencing hearing. We have jurisdiction, article Y, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution, and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, and affirm the trial court’s ruling.
A jury convicted Michael of the first-degree murder of the elderly woman with whom he lived and recommended that he be sentenced to death, which the trial court did. This Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. Michael v. State, 437 So. 2d 138 (Fla.1983), cert, denied, 465 U.S. 1013, 104 S.Ct. 1017, 79 L.Ed.2d 246 (1984). In 1985 the governor signed a death warrant for Michael, who then filed a motion for postconviction relief and requested a stay of execution.
Michael raised twelve issues in his post-conviction motion: 1) prosecutorial misconduct; 2) denial of funds for an investigator; 3) ineffective assistance of counsel; 4) denial of a mental health expert’s assistance; 5) denial of right of confrontation; 6) counsel’s conflict of interest; 7) use of involuntary statements; 8) introduction of hypnotically refreshed testimony; 9) prejudicial references to homosexuality; 10) lack of independent expert witnesses; 11) ineffectiveness of experts who examined Michael; and 12) Michael’s suffering from a personality disorder.
The trial court granted a stay of execution, dismissed issues 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, except as they might relate to ineffective assistance of counsel, and granted an evidentiary hearing on trial counsel’s effectiveness and the newly discovered evidence regarding Michael’s purported mental illness. After the evidentiary hearing, the trial court analyzed the ineffective assistance of counsel issue pursuant to Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed. 2d 674 (1984). The court found that counsel was not ineffective in the guilt phase.
In regards to the sentencing phase, however, the court found that counsel should have obtained, but did not, the experts’ opinions on the applicability of the statutory mental mitigating factors. According to the court, even though counsel correctly decided there was no insanity defense to pursue, counsel admitted he was on notice of Michael’s disturbed condition. The court found the failure to pursue this line of investigation so unreasonable as to constitute substandard representation, the first prong of the Strickland test. The inability to gauge the effect of this omission undermined the court’s confidence in the outcome of the penalty proceeding.
Therefore, the court decided that the second prong of the Strickland test, prejudice, had also been established and granted Michael a new sentencing proceeding. The court held the other instances of alleged ineffectiveness of counsel’s assistance and of the psychiatric experts’ assistance moot because a new sentencing hearing would be conducted.
On appeal the state claims that the court erred in finding counsel ineffective during the sentencing phase. Michael, on the other hand, urges affirmance of the trial court’s order. He also cross-appeals and reargues the issues presented to that court in support of his position.
The trial court based its decision on competent substantial evidence, and the state has presented nothing to convince us to disturb the court’s findings. Henderson v. Dugger, 522 So. 2d 835 (Fla.1988); Martin v. State, 515 So. 2d 189 (Fla.1987); Stewart v. State, 481 So. 2d 1210 (Fla.1985); Demps v. State, 462 So. 2d 1074 (Fla.1984). Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s vacating Michael’s death sentence and order that Michael’s resentencing proceeding be held within ninety days of the filing of this opinion. We have examined the guilt-phase issues raised on the cross-appeal and find no merit to them. Due to our affirming the order on resentencing, we do not consider the sentencing issues raised in the cross-appeal.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, McDonald, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur. SHAW, J., concurs in result only.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Lara, 581 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. 1991)…stand trial or had a valid insanity defense, it is clear that the defendant’s trial counsel should have investigated and prepared these areas for presentation to the jury as evidence in mitigation at the penalty phase of the trial, State v. Michael, 530 So. 2d 929 (Fla.1988); Middleton v. Dugger, 849 F. 2d 491 (11th Cir.1988), and that, had such evidence been presented, the jury might well have recommended a penalty other than death. Clearly defense counsel’s actions were not based on any tactical decisions o…
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Cooper v. State, 667 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)…the appeal from the post-conviction motion to prevent that action. The state’s right to appeal the ruling affording Mr. Cooper a new sentencing hearing accrued at the time the motion for postcon-viction relief was granted in part. State v. Michael, 530 So. 2d 929 (Fla.1988), confirms the state’s right to seek review of an adverse ruling finding ineffectiveness of trial counsel mandates a new sentencing hearing. And Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(g) provides for the appellate remedy to aggrieved mov…
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Lamont Taylor v. State, 96 So. 3d 989 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)…the appeal from the postcon-viction motion to prevent that action. The state’s right to appeal the ruling affording Mr. Cooper a new sentencing hearing accrued at the time the motion for postconviction relief was granted in part. State v. Michael, 530 So. 2d 929 (Fla.1988), confirms the state’s right to seek review of an adverse ruling finding ineffectiveness of trial counsel mandates a new sentencing hearing. And Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(g) provides for the appellate remedy to aggrieved mov…
Authorities Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984)
- Bennie Demps v. State, 462 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 1984)
- Eagle Elk v. United States, 465 U.S. 1013 (U.S. 1984)
- Wilson v. United States, 465 U.S. 1013 (U.S. 1984)
- Henderson v. Dugger, 522 So. 2d 835 (Fla. 1988)
- Stewart v. State, 481 So. 2d 1210 (Fla. 1985)
- Nollie Lee Martin v. State, 515 So. 2d 189 (Fla. 1987)
- Michael v. State, 437 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1983)