THOMAS PERRI, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Perri appeals denial of post-conviction relief, claiming the State failed to disclose impeachment evidence regarding its key witness Steven Weiss—specifically that Weiss had a pending motion to mitigate his sentence at the time of trial. The court affirms, finding the undisclosed evidence was not material under Brady/Bagley because the State presented overwhelming evidence of guilt and the jury was already aware Weiss received a reduced sentence deal.
The court held there was no Brady violation because the undisclosed evidence regarding Weiss's pending motion to mitigate was not material. Under the Bagley test, it cannot be said that within a reasonable probability the failure to disclose this evidence undermined confidence in the trial outcome, given that the jury already knew Weiss received a favorable deal and the State presented overwhelming physical evidence of guilt.
[1] A discovery violation under Brady v. …
[2] Impeachment evidence is not considered significant or material if the jury was already aware of substantial reasons to doubt the witness's credibility.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“it is not shown within a reasonable probability that the failure to disclose Weiss's new deal with the State "undermine[d] confidence in the outcome" of Perri's trial”
Establishes the materiality test—that undisclosed impeachment evidence must undermine confidence in the verdict to constitute Brady violation
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePerri was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and burglary in 1978 and sentenced to death. The State's key witness was Steven Weiss, a co-perpe…
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PER CURIAM.
Thomas Perri appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. As the basis for relief Perri alleges that the State failed to disclose significant impeachment evidence as to its key witness. We disagree that the impeachment evidence was significant, and therefore affirm.
Perri was convicted of first-degree murder and related charges of robbery and burglary in 1978, and was sentenced to death. On direct appeal, the Supreme Court of Florida reversed the death sentence and remanded for a new sentencing proceeding. Perri v. State, 441 So. 2d 606 (Fla.1983). Perri’s rule 3.850 motion was presented to the trial court for consideration prior to resentencing.
At the conclusion of the evidentiary portion of the proceedings, the State acknowledged that it had failed to disclose the fact that its key witness at Perri’s trial, Steven Weiss, a co-perpetrator of the crimes, had pending at the time of Perri’s trial a motion to mitigate his negotiated sentence. Weiss’s attorney had agreed with the State to reschedule Weiss’s motion to mitigate until after Perri’s trial. For that reason, Perri complains he could not impeach Weiss with evidence that Weiss’s sentence could be further reduced in exchange for his testimony.
At trial, Weiss was the subject of substantial impeachment evidence as someone guilty of the same offense, motivated to testify only to save himself. The jury was already aware that Weiss had made a good deal with the State, in the form of a reduced sentence, in exchange for his testimony against Perri. Applying the Bagley1 test of materiality, it is not shown within a reasonable probability that the failure to disclose Weiss’s new deal with the State “undermine[d] confidence in the outcome” of Perri’s trial. The State presented other overwhelming evidence of Perri’s guilt of the gruesome murder, including his fingerprints inside the victim’s house and strands of his hair in the victim’s bathroom.
On these facts, we find no discovery violation under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), because it cannot be said that the result of Perri’s trial probably would have been different if the impeachment evidence regarding Weiss’s pending motion to mitigate a negotiated sentence had been disclosed. United States v. Bagley. Cf. Arango v. State, 497 So. 2d 1161 (Fla.1986) (where the court, using a Brady/Bagley analysis, held that reasonable probability existed that had a pistol found at the murder scene been disclosed to the defense, the results of the murder prosecution would have been different).
Affirmed.
. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985).
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (U.S. 1963)
- United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667 (U.S. 1985)
- Perri v. State, 441 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 1983)
- Arango v. State, 497 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 1986)