MICHAEL ANTHONY TANZI, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE.

Fla. | 2018-04-05
No. SC17–1640
251 So. 3d 805 Florida Supreme Court (2018) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

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Synopsis

Michael Tanzi appeals the denial of a successive postconviction motion to vacate his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. The Florida Supreme Court holds that while Hurst v. Florida applies to Tanzi's case, any Hurst error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore affirms the denial of postconviction relief.


Holding

Although Hurst v. Florida applies to Tanzi's case, the Hurst error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the jury unanimously found all necessary facts for death by virtue of its unanimous recommendation for death, which is constitutionally required under Hurst. Therefore, Tanzi is not entitled to postconviction relief.


Headnotes

[1] A Hurst error in a death penalty case is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt when the jury unanimously found all necessary facts for the imposition of a death sentence thr…

[2] A defendant is not entitled to relief based on a Hurst violation if the jury's unanimous recommendations were constitutionally sufficient to impose a sentence of death.

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Key Quotes

“the jury unanimously found all of the necessary facts for the imposition of death sentences by virtue of its unanimous recommendations. .... The unanimous recommendations here are precisely what we determined in Hurst to be constitutionally necessary to impose a sentence of death.”

Establishes the court's harmless error rationale—that the jury's unanimous recommendation satisfies Hurst's constitutional requirements

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Facts & Procedural History

Tanzi pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Janet Acosta, whom he carjacked, kidnapped, beat, sexually battered, robbed, and strangled. A jury …

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Michael A. Tanzi appeals an order denying a motion to vacate judgments of conviction, including one of first-degree murder, and a sentence of death under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851.1

The underlying facts of this case were described in this Court's opinion on direct appeal.

*806Tanzi v. State , 964 So.2d 106, 110-12 (Fla. 2007). Tanzi pled guilty to the first-degree murder of Janet Acosta. Id. at 111. He carjacked, kidnapped, beat, sexually battered, robbed, and strangled Ms. Acosta. Id. at 110-11. Following a unanimous jury recommendation for death, the trial court sentenced Tanzi to death for Ms. Acosta's murder. Id. at 111. The trial court found seven aggravating factors2 and ten mitigating circumstances.3 We affirmed Tanzi's convictions and sentence of death. Id. at 121. We also affirmed the denial of Tanzi's initial postconviction motion and denied relief on his habeas petition. Tanzi v. State , 94 So.3d 482, 497 (Fla. 2012).

In this successive postconviction motion, Tanzi argues that he is entitled to relief pursuant to Hurst v. Florida , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 616, 193 L.Ed.2d 504 (2016), and Hurst v. State (Hurst ), 202 So.3d 40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied , --- U.S. ----, 137 S.Ct. 2161, 198 L.Ed.2d 246 (2017). We agree with Tanzi that Hurst is applicable in his case. See Mosley v. State , 209 So.3d 1248 (Fla. 2016). However, because we find that the Hurst error in this case is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, we affirm the denial of postconviction relief. As we stated in Davis v. State , 207 So.3d 142, 175 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied , --- U.S. ----, 137 S.Ct. 2218, 198 L.Ed.2d 663 (2017) :

[T]he jury unanimously found all of the necessary facts for the imposition of death sentences by virtue of its unanimous recommendations. .... The unanimous recommendations here are precisely what we determined in Hurst to be constitutionally necessary to impose a sentence of death.

We reject Tanzi's assertion that the Hurst error was not harmless because the jury was not given a mercy instruction. See Knight v. State , 225 So.3d 661, 683 (Fla. 2017), cert. denied , No. 17-7099, --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 1285, 200 L.Ed.3d 477, 2018 WL 1369193 (U.S. Mar. 19, 2018).

Additionally, we reject Tanzi's Hurst -induced Caldwell4 claim. See Reynolds v. State , No. SC17-793, slip op. at 26-36 (Fla. Apr. 5, 2018).

Accordingly, the Hurst violation in this case is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and, as in Davis , does not entitle Tanzi to relief. Thus, we affirm the denial of postconviction relief.5

It is so ordered.

LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, and LAWSON, JJ., concur.

CANADY and POLSTON, JJ., concur in result.

QUINCE, J., dissents with an opinion.

QUINCE, J., dissenting.

*807I cannot agree with the majority's finding that the Hurst error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As I have stated previously, "[b]ecause Hurst requires 'a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,' the error cannot be harmless where such a factual determination was not made." Hall v. State , 212 So.3d 1001, 1036-37 (Fla. 2017) (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (citation omitted) (quoting Hurst v. Florida , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 616, 619, 193 L.Ed.2d 504 (2016) ); see also Truehill v. State , 211 So.3d 930, 961 (Fla.) (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), cert. denied , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 3, 199 L.Ed.2d 272 (2017). The jury did not make the specific factual findings that Hurst requires a jury to find in order to impose some of the most serious aggravators at issue in this case. Therefore, I dissent.

Dissent
QUINCE, J., dissenting.

QUINCE, J., dissenting. I cannot agree with the majority's finding that the Hurst error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As I have stated previously, "[b]ecause Hurst requires 'a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,' the error cannot be harmless where such a factual determination was not made." Hall v. State , 212 So. 3d 1001, 1036-37 (Fla. 2017) (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (citation omitted) (quoting Hurst v. Florida , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 616, 619, 193 L.Ed.2d 504 (2016) ); see also Truehill v. State , 211 So. 3d 930, 961 (Fla.) (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), cert. denied , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 3, 199 L.Ed.2d 272 (2017).

The jury did not make the specific factual findings that Hurst requires a jury to find in order to impose some of the most serious aggravators at issue in this case.

Therefore, I dissent.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Tanzi v. State, 407 So. 3d 385 (Fla. 2025)
  • Reynolds v. Florida., 139 S. Ct. 27 (U.S. 2018)
    …of the Florida Supreme Court, only two justices concurred in the court's per curiam opinion and one justice concurred specially with an opinion. Of the remaining four justices, two dissented and two concurred only in the result. See Tanzi v. State, 251 So. 3d 805, 806 (2018), cert. denied, supra, p. --- - (citing Davis v. State, 207 So. 3d 142, 175 (2016), for the proposition that the unanimity of a jury's recommendation for death ensures that jurors have made the necessary findings of fact); Johnston v. Sta…

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