Title: Jennings v. State

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

583 So. 2d 316 (1991)
Bryan Fredrick JENNINGS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Bryan Fredrick JENNINGS, Petitioner,
v.
Richard DUGGER, Respondent.
Nos. 75689, 74926.

Supreme Court of Florida.
June 13, 1991.
Rehearing Denied August 20, 1991.
*317 Larry Helm Spalding, Capital Collateral Representative, Martin J. McClain, Chief Asst. CCR, and Jerome H. Nickerson and Bret R. Strand, Asst. Capital Collateral Representatives, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tallahassee, for appellant/petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Barbara C. Davis and Kellie A. Nielan, Asst. Attys. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee/respondent.
PER CURIAM.
Bryan Fredrick Jennings appeals to this Court from the trial court's denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. Jennings additionally petitions this Court for habeas corpus relief. Because the death penalty was imposed in this case, we have jurisdiction under article V, sections 3(b)(1), (9), of the Florida Constitution.
The facts of Jennings' murder of six-year-old Rebecca Kunash were summarized by the trial judge in his original sentencing order and quoted by this Court in a prior opinion in this case:
Jennings v. State, 512 So. 2d 169, 175-176 (Fla. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1079, 108 S. Ct. 1061, 98 L. Ed. 2d 1023 (1988). After two initial trials and convictions,[1] Jennings was again tried and convicted of first-degree *318 murder, kidnapping, sexual battery, aggravated battery, and burglary, all in connection with Rebecca's death.[2] This Court affirmed those convictions and the death sentence in Jennings, 512 So. 2d 169.
First, we consider Jennings' appeal from the trial court's denial of his rule 3.850 motion. Jennings' first claim in this appeal is that the state withheld material, exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963). Jennings claims that the state withheld a taped interview with Judy Slocum, who had driven Jennings home to change his clothes on the night of the murder. In the interview, Slocum stated that Jennings was "very much loaded" when she drove him home. Jennings argues that Slocum's testimony would have been material to both the guilt and penalty phases of the trial.
In rejecting this claim, the trial court stated:
(Footnotes omitted.) We agree with the trial court's analysis of the effect the tape would have had on the trial. The trial court properly rejected this claim because there was not a reasonable probability that the tape would have caused a different outcome at the trial. See Duest v. Dugger, 555 So. 2d 849 (Fla. 1990).
We do find merit in Jennings' next claim that he is entitled to certain portions of the state's files as public records under chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1989). In State v. Kokal, 562 So. 2d 324, 327 (Fla. 1990), we held that
Therefore, in accordance with Provenzano v. Dugger, 561 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 1990), the two-year time limitation of rule 3.850 shall be extended for sixty days from the date of the disclosure solely for the purpose of providing Jennings with the time to file any new Brady claims that may arise from the disclosure of the files.
Jennings' next claim is that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during the guilt phase of his trial. He claims that his defense counsel failed to contact two witnesses who could have testified to his extreme intoxication. The trial court rejected this claim as follows:
(Footnotes omitted.) As we stated in Bertolotti v. State, 534 So. 2d 386, 387 (Fla. 1988):
Further, the existence of another theory of defense, which may be inconsistent with the chosen theory of defense, does not mean that counsel was ineffective. Engle v. Dugger, 576 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 1991); Combs v. State, 525 So. 2d 853 (Fla. 1988). We agree with the trial court that Jennings' counsel's performance was not deficient under the dictates of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984), and affirm the denial of this claim.
Next, we turn to Jennings' claim that his mental health experts gave inadequate evaluations because they were not provided with "the relevant and crucial background facts regarding Mr. Jennings' alcohol intake the night of the offense." The trial judge rejected this claim, stating that "[a]ll of the experts were well aware of the testimony of excessive alcohol consumption." He further referred to the testimony of two of the experts who testified as to how Jennings' excessive alcohol intake would affect their evaluation of his mental state on the night of the murder. Finally, the trial judge concluded:
We agree with the trial court that the mental health experts had adequate information as to Jennings' alcohol consumption the night of the murder and that the additional evidence of intoxication would have been merely cumulative. We also summarily reject the claim that they lacked adequate information on Jennings' history of alcohol problems.
Jennings' next claim is that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during the penalty phase of his trial because his counsel failed to investigate and present evidence of mitigation as to his alcohol consumption. The trial judge also rejected this claim as follows:
We agree that defense counsel's performance at the penalty stage was not ineffective under Strickland and affirm the denial of this claim.
Jennings also claims that the cold, calculated, and premeditated factor was unconstitutionally applied retroactively during sentencing. We have previously rejected this claim on its merits. Zeigler v. State, 580 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 1991); Combs v. State, 403 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 984, 102 S. Ct. 2258, 72 L. Ed. 2d 862 (1982).
The final claim that we will discuss on Jennings' motion for postconviction relief is his claim that the State Attorney for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, the office which prosecuted him at this trial, was a senior public defender in the Office of the Public Defender when that office represented him in 1982. It should be noted, however, that the public defender's office was permitted to withdraw from representation of Jennings during his 1982 prosecution. Moreover, Jennings did not move to disqualify the state attorney's office based on any alleged conflict prior to the trial upon which his current conviction rests. This claim is procedurally barred.
Jennings makes several other claims that we summarily reject because they are procedurally barred:
*322 (1) The state's mental health experts improperly relied on Jennings' unconstitutionally obtained confession.
(2) The jury was improperly instructed on the three murder counts and the appropriateness of the death penalty after Jennings was convicted on all three counts.
(3) Jennings' due process and confrontation rights were violated because he was not allowed to introduce prior sworn statements of a state witness during cross-examination.
(4) Jennings was prejudiced because the jury knew of his prior convictions for these crimes.
(5) The trial court allowed evidence seized in a warrantless arrest to be admitted at trial.
(6) The trial court failed to weigh independently aggravating and mitigating factors.
(7) The jury instruction for the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating factor was unconstitutional under Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 108 S. Ct. 1853, 100 L. Ed. 2d 372 (1988).
(8) The jury instruction for the cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravating factor was unconstitutional under Maynard v. Cartwright.
(9) Jennings' death sentence rests upon an unconstitutional automatic aggravating circumstance.
(10) The prosecutor argued for the application of nonstatutory aggravating factors.
(11) The judge and jury failed to find mitigating circumstances established in the record, and the judge improperly instructed the jury on what it could consider in mitigation.
(12) The jury instructions at sentencing shifted the burden of proof to Jennings to prove that death was not the appropriate penalty.
(13) The jury instructions at sentencing diluted the jury's sense of responsibility for Jennings' sentence.
(14) The judge failed to instruct the jury that his instruction during the guilt phase to set aside sympathy and mercy did not apply during the sentencing phase.
(15) Victim impact evidence was improperly admitted. We also note that we do not find any ineffective assistance of trial counsel in the subject matter of these claims.
We reject without discussion Jennings' remaining claims, listed below, brought in his rule 3.850 motion:
(1) The state violated Brady by withholding a letter from Clarence Muszynski requesting the appointment of an attorney.
(2) The trial court erred because it did not hold an evidentiary hearing on the rule 3.850 motion.
Next, we turn to Jennings' petition for habeas corpus. The only claim which merits discussion[3] is Jennings' claim that the *323 jury was impermissibly influenced by victim impact evidence in violation of Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S. Ct. 2529, 96 L. Ed. 2d 440 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805, 109 S. Ct. 2207, 104 L. Ed. 2d 876 (1989). He claims that the state improperly introduced evidence of the victim's personal characteristics and the impact of her murder on her family through the testimony of her mother, father, and school principal.
We addressed this claim as to the father's and principal's testimony on direct appeal.
Jennings, 512 So. 2d  at 172. We agree that this claim is procedurally barred because Booth was released two months before this Court released its decision in Jennings, 512 So. 2d 169. However, we also note that any prejudice associated with this relevant testimony was not of the content or quality so as to require reversal under Booth or Gathers. See Valle v. State, 581 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 1991); Bush v. Dugger, 579 So. 2d 725 (Fla. Mar. 28, 1991). As to the mother's testimony, no appropriate objection was made to her testimony to preserve Booth-type error and, therefore, this claim is procedurally barred. Jackson v. Dugger, 547 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 1989). Further, the mother's testimony was relevant and did not violate Booth or Gathers.
Therefore, we deny Jennings' petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Further, we affirm the denial of all of his claims raised in his motion for postconviction relief except for his claim for public records under chapter 119. That claim is granted as discussed within this opinion.
It is so ordered.
SHAW, C.J., and OVERTON, McDONALD, BARKETT, GRIMES, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur.
[1]  Jennings' first convictions were vacated by this Court in Jennings v. State, 413 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 1982). His next convictions were affirmed by this Court, Jennings v. State, 453 So. 2d 1109 (Fla. 1984), but vacated by the United States Supreme Court in Jennings v. Florida, 470 U.S. 1002, 105 S. Ct. 1351, 84 L. Ed. 2d 374 (1985). This Court then remanded for the third trial. Jennings v. State, 473 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 1985).
[2]  The trial judge imposed the death penalty, finding: (1) the murder was heinous, atrocious, or cruel; (2) the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated; and (3) the murder was committed during burglary, kidnapping, and rape.
[3]  We summarily deny the following claims as procedurally barred because they either were raised or should have been raised on direct appeal:

(1) The jury instruction for the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating factor was unconstitutional under Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 108 S. Ct. 1853, 100 L. Ed. 2d 372 (1988).
(2) The jury instruction for the cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravating factor was unconstitutional under Maynard v. Cartwright.
(3) The judge and jury failed to find mitigating circumstances that were established in the record and the judge improperly instructed the jury on what it could consider as mitigating evidence.
(4) The cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravating factor was unconstitutionally applied retroactively.
(5) Jennings' due process and confrontation rights were violated because he was not allowed to introduce prior sworn statements of a state witness during cross-examination.
(6) The jury instructions at sentencing shifted the burden of proof to Jennings to prove that death was not the appropriate penalty.
(7) The trial court failed to weigh independently aggravating and mitigating factors.
(8) The state's mental health experts improperly relied on Jennings' unconstitutionally obtained confession.
(9) The judge failed to instruct the jury that his instruction during the guilt phase to set aside sympathy and mercy did not apply during the sentencing phase.
(10) The trial court allowed evidence seized in a warrantless arrest to be admitted at trial.
(11) Jennings was prejudiced because the jury knew of his prior convictions for these crimes.
(12) Jennings' death sentence rests upon an unconstitutional automatic aggravating circumstance.
(13) The prosecutor argued for the application of nonstatutory aggravating factors.
(14) The jury instructions at sentencing diluted the jury's sense of responsibility for Jennings' sentence.
(15) The jury was improperly instructed on the three murder counts and the appropriateness of the death penalty after Jennings was convicted on all three counts.
We also deny the claims of ineffective assistance of counsel as they relate to the foregoing claims.