MARLON FOSTER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2004-11-10
No. 4D04-468
GROSS and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
886 So. 2d 1037 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2004) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 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

The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of Foster's motion for postconviction relief claiming ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to evidence from the co-defendant's home. The court held that counsel's failure to object was a deliberate strategy decision to attribute the crime to the co-defendant, and Foster failed to demonstrate prejudice under the Strickland standard.


Holding

Trial counsel's failure to object constituted a deliberate strategic decision to support the defense theory that the co-defendant was the sole perpetrator, and Foster failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different without the alleged ineffectiveness. No ineffective assistance of counsel was proven.


Headnotes

[1] A criminal defense attorney's decision to not object to evidence, when that evidence supports the defense's theory of the case, does not constitute ineffective assistance…

[2] An evidentiary hearing is not necessary to determine if a failure to object to evidence was a matter of trial strategy when the record clearly demonstrates the evidence w…

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Key Quotes

“It is clear from the record that counsel did not object to the evidence because it supported the defense theory that the co-defendant was solely responsible for the robbery and murder.”

Establishes the court's finding that counsel's failure to object was a deliberate strategy choice rather than ineffective assistance.

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Facts & Procedural History

Foster was convicted of felony murder. At trial, evidence was introduced that had been seized from co-defendant O'Connor's home, including a shotgun, …

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Opinion of the Court
WARNER, J.

WARNER, J.

We affirm the denial of appellant’s motion for postconviction relief from his conviction for felony murder, in which he claimed his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to evidence introduced at trial. It is clear from the record that counsel did not object to the evidence because it supported the defense theory that the co-defendant was solely responsible for the robbery and murder. No ineffectiveness has been proven.

The facts of this case are set forth in O’Connor v. State, 835 So. 2d 1226 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). There, we reversed co-defendant O’Connor’s conviction because of the admission of evidence found in his house, including a shotgun and bullet proof vest unconnected to the crime. We held the admission of these items was error, which was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. 835 So. 2d at 1231-32.

In his motion for postconviction relief, appellant claims that this evidence and other items seized from O’Connor’s house were also irrelevant and inadmissible in his trial. These other items included “show” money used in fake drug deals. Because the shotgun, bullet proof vest, and show money were not proven to be part of this crime, appellant says that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to then-admission and claims this evidence was prejudicial.

We fail to see how appellant was prejudiced by the admission of evidence found in O’Connor’s house. Trial counsel’s theory was that O’Connor alone committed the robbery and killing as an independent act, and appellant had only planned to rip off the victim by selling him fake cocaine. Trial counsel used the evidence found in O’Connor’s home to show that O’Connor was the mastermind behind the crime. On the face of the record, counsel’s use of the evidence to support his theory, rather than seeking its exclusion, constitutes a strategy decision. Although in most cases an evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine whether a failure to object was a matter of trial strategy, it is apparent on the face of this record that trial counsel did not object in order to use the evidence to place the blame on the co-defendant. No evidentiary hearing is necessary. See Harris v. State, 768 So. 2d 1179, 1183 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000).

In addition, appellant has failed to show that there was a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different without counsel’s ineffectiveness, should we consider counsel ineffective. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 692-93, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The mere fact that we reversed based upon the erroneous admission of the same evidence in O’Connor is not disposi-tive of the issue in this case, in which the theories of both the state and defense were different.

Appellant also raises a claim that trial counsel failed to preserve the argument that the evidence was insufficient, without the admission of his confession, to establish the corpus delicti of the robbery as the felony murder predicate. However, in a felony murder case, the corpus delicti is the fact of death through criminal agency, and proof of the underlying felony is not required. McArthur v. State, 793 So. 2d 1190, 1194 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001).

Affirmed.

GROSS and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Dawson v. State, 23 So. 3d 841 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)
    …rt a felony murder conviction.” Rivera v. State, 717 So. 2d 477, 487 (Fla.1998). Indeed, “in a felony murder case, the corpus delicti is the fact of death through criminal agency, and proof of the underlying felony is not required.” Foster v. State, 886 So. 2d 1037, 1038 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Given the substantial competent evidence in the record to support the jury instruction, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in giving the felony murder instruction. See Newman v. State, 976 So. 2d 76,…

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