Title: James Guzman v. State of Florida

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

Supreme 
Court 
of 
Florida
_________________________
Nos. SC02-860 & SC02-2131
_________________________
JAMES GUZMAN,
Appellant,
vs.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
_________________________
JAMES GUZMAN,
Petitioner,
vs.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
REVISED OPINION
[November 20, 2003]
PER CURIAM.
James Guzman appeals an order of the circuit court denying his motion for
postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.  Guzman
also files a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.  We have jurisdiction under article
1.  Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972).
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V, section 3(b)(1) and (9) of the Florida Constitution.  For the following reasons,
we affirm the circuit court's order as to most of the issues presented in Guzman's
rule 3.850 motion, but we remand this case to the circuit court for a ruling on
Guzman's Giglio1 claim as discussed below.  We deny Guzman’s petition for a
writ of habeas corpus.
BACKGROUND
On August 12, 1991, David Colvin's body was found lying face down on the
bed in the motel room where he lived.  Colvin had been stabbed nineteen times.  A
samurai sword that belonged to Colvin was propped up in a light fixture above his
bed; however, no blood or fingerprints were found on the samurai sword.  The
medical examiner determined that Colvin died between 3 p.m. and midnight on
August 10.  
After Colvin's body was found, police officers interviewed other residents
of the motel where Colvin had lived.  About a week before the murder, Guzman
and Martha Cronin, a prostitute and a crack cocaine addict, had begun living
together at the motel.  The police interviewed both Guzman and Cronin.  Each
denied having any information about Colvin's murder.  On August 16, 1991, the
State published in two local newspapers a reward offer of $500 for information
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about the case.
The police investigation failed to lead to an arrest until November 23, 1991,
when Cronin was arrested on prostitution charges.  Cronin volunteered to testify
about Colvin's murder in exchange for a deal in her own case.  Cronin then told
the police that Guzman had confessed to her that he killed Colvin.  The police
took Cronin to a motel and paid for her room.  Cronin used the room for
prostitution and used crack cocaine; then she left the motel.  The police later
rearrested Cronin.  On January 3, 1992, the police paid Cronin $500 by money
order delivered to the Volusia County jail.  The police detective who arranged the
payment could not recall when she first discussed the reward money with Cronin.  
Guzman was arrested on December 13, 1991.  In January 1992, a grand jury
indicted Guzman for the armed robbery and murder of David Colvin.  Following a
jury trial in September 1992, Guzman was convicted as charged and sentenced to
death.  On direct appeal, this Court reversed and remanded for a new trial, holding
that Guzman's right to a fair trial was violated because his public defender had a
conflict of interest in representing both Guzman and a witness against Guzman. 
Guzman v. State, 644 So. 2d 996, 1000 (Fla. 1994). 
On retrial in December 1996, Guzman waived his right to a jury in both the
guilt and penalty phases.  The waiver was at the instance of Guzman and was
2.  At the time of Guzman's arrest for Colvin's murder on December 13,
1991, Guzman had a survival knife in his possession.
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contrary to the advice of his counsel.  Guzman signed a written waiver.  Both the
trial court and Guzman's counsel questioned Guzman to ensure that Guzman's
waiver was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent. 
At trial, the medical examiner testified that the weapon used to kill Colvin
was a single-edged knife or knife-like object with a slightly curved, heavy blade. 
The medical examiner could not identify the murder weapon used, but he said that
Colvin’s samurai sword could have inflicted some of Colvin's wounds and that a
survival knife like one owned by Guzman2 could have inflicted other wounds.  
Guzman's fingerprints were on the telephone in Colvin's room.  There were
blood stains on other parts of the phone, but Guzman's fingerprints on the phone
were not bloody.  Blood and saliva samples were taken from Guzman, but nothing
was matched to anything found in Colvin's room.  No other physical evidence
connected Guzman to the murder.
Guzman testified at trial that on the day before the murder, Guzman helped
Colvin move from one room to another in the motel.  Guzman said that he used the
phone in Colvin's room at that time and again on the morning of August 10. 
Cronin confirmed that Guzman telephoned her from Colvin's room.
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On the morning of August 10, Guzman and Colvin left the motel in Colvin's
car.  They drank beer at a bar, then went to the International House of Pancakes to
eat breakfast.  Guzman testified that he and Colvin returned to the motel at about
noon.  Guzman said that he gave Colvin's car and room keys back to Colvin and
returned to his own room, where Cronin was getting ready to go to work as a
prostitute.  Cronin left the room at around noon.
Guzman testified that at about 3 p.m., Cronin returned to the room
accompanied by Curtis Wallace.  Guzman said that Wallace gave him a diamond
ring, asking Guzman to trade the ring for crack cocaine.  It is undisputed that on
August 10, at around 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., Guzman took the ring, which had belonged
to Colvin, to a drug dealer named Leroy Gadson.  Guzman sold the ring to Gadson
for drugs and cash.  Guzman testified that he then returned to the room and gave
Wallace some of the drugs. 
Cronin's testimony at trial contradicted Guzman's.  Cronin said that on the
morning of August 10 Guzman told her that he was going to drive Colvin to the
bank.  Cronin stated that Guzman returned to their room at about 11 a.m. and
showed her Colvin's car keys and room keys, saying he was going to help Colvin
move to another room in the motel.  Cronin said she left the room at about 11 a.m.
to work as a prostitute, and returned at about 2:30 p.m.  She said that at about 3
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p.m. Guzman came back to their room, looking upset and carrying a garbage bag
that contained white rags.  Cronin said that Guzman told her he killed Colvin.  She
said Guzman told her that Colvin woke up while Guzman was in the process of
robbing him, so Guzman hit Colvin in the head and then stabbed him with the
samurai sword.  Cronin said that Guzman showed her a ring and some cash he had
taken from Colvin.  Cronin identified the ring at trial.  Cronin said that Guzman
told her before the murder that Colvin would be easy to rob because he was always
drunk and usually had money.  Cronin testified that Guzman had said in a separate
conversation that if he ever robbed anyone he would kill them, and that Guzman
was holding his survival knife when he said this.   
Cronin said that when she was arrested for prostitution in November 1991,
she offered to tell the arresting officers who killed Colvin.  However, Cronin
denied that she received any deal for her testimony against Guzman.  She said she
was taken to a motel room for protection, but that she used the room for
prostitution and continued to use crack cocaine, so she got no deal from the State. 
The detective who paid the $500 to Cronin also testified at trial, stating that
Cronin received no deal for her testimony against Guzman. 
Guzman's counsel attempted to impeach Cronin by bringing out that she
was a prostitute and a drug addict, that she testified against Guzman while she
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faced charges of prostitution, and that she was angry at Guzman because he was
involved with other women.  Guzman's counsel also presented the testimony of
Carmelo Garcia, who said Cronin told him in February of 1992 that Guzman had
not killed anyone and that Cronin admitted she had lied to the police because she
had been arrested. 
Paul Rogers, a jailhouse informant, corroborated Cronin's testimony against
Guzman.  Rogers and Guzman shared a jail cell during the spring of 1992.  At
trial, Rogers testified that Guzman said that he robbed and killed Colvin.  Rogers
testified that Guzman told him that he used Colvin's key to enter Colvin's room,
and that Colvin woke up while Guzman was robbing him.  Rogers said that
Guzman told him that he hit Colvin in the head with a samurai sword and stabbed
him ten or eleven times.  Rogers said Guzman confessed that he took Colvin's ring
and some cash, cleaned up the sword, and put everything in the dumpster. 
Guzman's counsel attempted to impeach Rogers by asking if Rogers had
read Guzman's trial papers, which Guzman kept in the cell they shared, but Rogers
denied reading Guzman's papers.  Rogers also denied learning of the case by
reading the newspaper.  Rogers admitted that after he initially told police that
Guzman confessed to him, Rogers had signed an affidavit saying he knew nothing
about Colvin's murder and indicating that he would not testify against Guzman.
3.  The five aggravating factors found by the trial court were: (1) Guzman
was previously convicted of a violent felony; (2) the murder was committed in the
course of a robbery; (3) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding
arrest; (4) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated
manner (CCP); and (5) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel
(HAC).  
4.  Guzman contended that the trial judge erred by (1) improperly denying
his motion for mistrial; (2) convicting him in the absence of substantial and
competent evidence of guilt; (3) failing to dismiss the case due to double jeopardy;
(4) improperly ruling on "various issues"; (5) imposing a disproportionate death
sentence; (6) improperly finding the HAC aggravator; (7) improperly finding the
"avoiding arrest" aggravator; and (8) improperly finding the CCP aggravator.
-8-
Following the presentation of this evidence at a bench trial, the trial court
convicted Guzman of armed robbery and first-degree murder, and imposed the
death penalty.  In its sentencing order, the court found five aggravating factors,
including that the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated
manner (CCP).3  The court found no statutory mitigating factors.  As nonstatutory
mitigation, the court found that Guzman's alcohol and drug dependency was
entitled to little weight. 
On direct appeal from his second trial, Guzman raised eight issues.4  This
Court held that the evidence did not support the CCP aggravator, but affirmed
Guzman’s convictions and death sentence.  Guzman v. State, 721 So. 2d 1155
(Fla. 1998).  The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.  Guzman v.
Florida, 526 U.S. 1102 (1999).   
5.  The eleven claims Guzman presented to the trial court in his 3.850
motion were: (1) his conviction and sentence on retrial violate double jeopardy as
well as protections against prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of
counsel; (2) ineffective assistance of counsel in the guilt phase in failing to present
evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and use experts; (3) ineffective assistance of
counsel in the penalty phase in failing to adequately investigate and present
mitigating evidence, and in failing to adequately challenge the State's case; (4)
failure of the mental health expert to conduct a competent evaluation; (5) violation
of due process rights in the State's withholding material exculpatory evidence or
failing to correct material false testimony; (6) prosecutorial misconduct in
presenting misleading evidence and improper argument; (7) Florida's capital
sentencing statute is unconstitutional; (8) execution by electrocution is cruel and
unusual punishment; (9) execution by lethal injection is cruel and unusual
punishment; (10) defendant may be incompetent at the time of execution; and  
(11) the cumulative effect of the errors deprived defendant of a fundamentally fair
trial. 
6.  Florida's DNA statute, section 925.11, Florida Statutes (2002), was
enacted effective October 1, 2001, giving Guzman the right to this testing.  
7.  The three claims Guzman added were: (12) the State’s bad faith
destruction of exculpatory evidence violated Guzman’s due process rights; (13)
the State committed a violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by
-9-
Guzman filed a rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief on March 27,
2000, and an amended motion on November 30, 2000, raising eleven claims.5 
During the pendency of his 3.850 motion, Guzman filed a motion for DNA testing
of a clump of hair recovered from the back of Colvin’s thigh at the murder scene.6 
The State filed a response stating that the hair evidence had been destroyed in
November 1992.  Guzman amended his 3.850 motion to add three claims related
to the destruction of the hair evidence.7  The postconviction court, which was the
failing to disclose the destruction of the hair evidence; and (14) ineffective
assistance of trial counsel in failing to ascertain that the hair evidence had been
destroyed.
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same court that convicted and sentenced Guzman, held an evidentiary hearing on
Guzman’s 3.850 motion and denied relief.  Guzman appeals the postconviction
court’s denial of his rule 3.850 motion, and contemporaneously petitions this
Court for a writ of habeas corpus.  
RULE 3.850 APPEAL
Guzman asserts that the circuit court erred in denying four claims: (1) the
State committed a Giglio violation by permitting false testimony at trial denying
that State witness Martha Cronin was paid for her testimony against Guzman; (2)
the State committed a Brady violation by failing to disclose to the defense the
State's $500 payment to Cronin; (3) the State destroyed potentially exculpatory
DNA evidence–a clump of hair from the crime scene–in bad faith; and (4) Guzman
was denied a fair trial due to the prosecutor's presenting misleading evidence and
improper argument.  With respect to Guzman's Giglio claim, we clarify the
appropriate standard and remand for the trial court to apply the law to the facts. 
We deny Guzman relief on his remaining claims.  
I.  Giglio Claim
In his first claim, Guzman asserts that Martha Cronin and the lead detective
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on Colvin's murder case both testified falsely at trial, violating Giglio v. United
States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972).  To establish a Giglio violation, it must be shown
that: (1) the testimony given was false; (2) the prosecutor knew the testimony was
false; and (3) the statement was material.  Ventura v. State, 794 So. 2d 553, 562
(Fla. 2001); see also Rose v. State, 774 So. 2d 629, 635 (Fla. 2000).
The first two prongs of the Giglio test are satisfied in this case.  Both Cronin
and the lead detective on the case testified falsely at trial that Cronin received no
benefit for her testimony against Guzman other than being taken to a motel rather
than jail when she was arrested.  In fact, the State paid Cronin $500, a significant
sum to an admitted crack cocaine addict and prostitute.  The knowledge prong is
satisfied because the knowledge of the detective who paid the reward money to
Cronin is imputed to the prosecutor who tried the case.  See Gorham v. State, 597
So. 2d 782, 784 (Fla. 1992) (holding that the prosecutor is charged with
constructive knowledge of evidence withheld by other state agents, such as law
enforcement officers).
The only disputed issue with respect to Guzman's Giglio claim is the third
prong, which requires a finding that the false testimony presented at trial was
material.  See Ventura, 794 So. 2d at 562.  Guzman asserts that the postconviction
court applied the wrong standard in deciding the materiality prong of his Giglio
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claim.  In its order denying Guzman's rule 3.850 motion, the postconviction court
articulated the Giglio standard of materiality as:
Under Giglio, a statement is material if "there is a reasonable
probability that the false evidence may have affected the judgment of
the jury."  [Ventura v. State, 794 So. 2d 553, 563 (Fla. 2001)]
(quoting Routly [v. State], 590 So. 2d [397, 400 (Fla. 1991).]  "In
analyzing this issue . . . courts must focus on whether the favorable
evidence could reasonably be taken to put the whole case in such a
different light as to undermine confidence in the verdict.  Id. (quoting
White v. State, 729 So. 2d 909, 913 (Fla. 1999)).
Order Denying Claims IIC(1), IIE(1), IIE(4), etc. at 12.  After evaluating the
State's $500 payment to Cronin in light of the other evidence presented at trial, the
postconviction court concluded that "there is not a reasonable probability that the
false evidence would put the whole case in such a different light as to undermine
confidence in the verdict."  Id. at 13.
The postconviction court stated and applied the Giglio standard of
materiality from our decisions in Ventura v. State, 794 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 2001),
White v. State, 729 So. 2d 909, 913 (Fla. 1999), and Routly v. State, 590 So. 2d
397 (Fla. 1991).  Having reviewed these decisions, as well as our other Giglio and
Brady decisions, we conclude that our precedent in this area has lacked clarity,
resulting in some confusion and improper merging of the Giglio and Brady
8. In her specially concurring opinion in Trepal v. State, 846 So. 2d 405,
437 (Fla.) (Pariente, J., specially concurring), cert. denied, 124 S. Ct. 412 (2003),
Justice Pariente noted the confusion and succinctly stated the difference between
the standards. 
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materiality standards.8  For example, in Rose v. State, 774 So. 2d 629, 635 (Fla.
2000), we said:  "The standard for determining whether false testimony is
'material' under Giglio is the same as the standard for determining whether the
State withheld 'material' in violation of Brady."  In reliance on Rose, the trial
court's order that we approved in Trepal erroneously stated that in addressing a
Giglio claim "[t]he materiality prong is the same as that used in Brady."  Trepal v.
State, 846 So. 2d 405, 425 (Fla. 2003).  We recede from Rose and Trepal to the
extent they stand for the incorrect legal principle that the "materiality" prongs of
Brady and Giglio are the same.  We now clarify the two standards and the
important distinction between them.
The Brady standard of materiality applies where the prosecutor fails to
disclose favorable evidence to the defense.  See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83,
87 (1963).  Under Brady, the undisclosed evidence is material “if there is a
reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the
result of the proceeding would have been different.  A ‘reasonable probability’ is a
probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.”  United States v.
9.  This is the same standard that is used to evaluate the prejudice prong of
an ineffective assistance of counsel claim.  See Strickland v. Washington, 466
U.S. 668, 694 (1984) (stating that "the appropriate test for prejudice [in ineffective
assistance of counsel claims] finds its roots in the test for materiality of
exculpatory information not disclosed to the defense by the prosecution," that in
an ineffective assistance of counsel claim "[t]he defendant must show that there is
a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of
the proceeding would have been different" and that "[a] reasonable probability is a
probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome").  
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Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682 (1985).9  A criminal defendant alleging a Brady
violation bears the burden to show prejudice, i.e., to show a reasonable probability
that the undisclosed evidence would have produced a different verdict.  Strickler
v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281 n.20, 289 (1999).
By contrast to an allegation of suppression of evidence under Brady, a
Giglio claim is based on the prosecutor's knowing presentation at trial of false
testimony against the defendant.  See Giglio, 405 U.S. at 154-55.  Under Giglio,
where the prosecutor knowingly uses perjured testimony, or fails to correct what
the prosecutor later learns is false testimony, the false evidence is material “if
there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the
judgment of the jury.”  United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 103 (1976).  Justice
Blackmun observed in Bagley that the test "may as easily be stated as a materiality
standard under which the fact that testimony is perjured is considered material
unless failure to disclose it would be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."  473
10. In United States v. Alzate, 47 F.3d 1103 (11th Cir. 1995) the court, after
articulating the standard of materiality applicable to Brady claims, stated:  
A different and more defense-friendly standard of materiality applies
where the prosecutor knowingly used perjured testimony, or failed to
correct what he subsequently learned was false testimony.  Where
either of those events has happened, the falsehood is deemed to be
material "if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony
could have affected the judgment of the jury."  United States v.
Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 103 (1976) (emphasis added).  As the Supreme
Court has held, this standard of materiality is equivalent to the
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24 (1967), "harmless beyond a
reasonable doubt" standard.  Bagley, 473 U.S. at 679 n.9. 
Id. at 1110 (citations and footnote omittted), quoted in Trepal, 846 So. 2d at 439
(Pariente, J., specially concurring).
11.  The Alzate court stated that the Brady standard of materiality "is
substantially more difficult for a defendant to meet than the 'could have affected'
standard we apply [to Giglio claims]."  Alzate, 47 F.3d at 1110 n.7. 
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U.S. at 679-80.  The State, as the beneficiary of the Giglio violation, bears the
burden to prove that the presentation of false testimony at trial was harmless
beyond a reasonable doubt.  Id. at 680 n.9 (stating that "this Court's precedents
indicate that the standard of review applicable to the knowing use of perjured
testimony is equivalent to the Chapman [v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967)]
harmless-error standard").10
Thus, while materiality is a component of both a Giglio and a Brady claim,
the Giglio standard of materiality is more defense friendly.11  The Giglio standard
12. In its articulation of the Giglio standard, the lower court correctly stated
that the false testimony is material if "there is a reasonable probability that the
false evidence may have affected the judgment of the jury."  The confusion,
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reflects a heightened judicial concern, and correspondingly heightened judicial
scrutiny, where perjured testimony is used to convict a defendant.  See Bagley,
473 U.S. at 682 (explaining that the defense-friendly standard of materiality is
justified because the knowing use of perjured testimony involves prosecutorial
misconduct and "a corruption of the truth-seeking function of the trial process")
(citing Agurs, 427 U.S. at 104).  Under Giglio, once a defendant has established
that the prosecutor knowingly presented false testimony at trial, the State bears the
burden to show that the false evidence was not material.  
In Guzman's case, the postconviction court's resolution of the Giglio claim
does not sufficiently reflect the standard appropriate to a Giglio claim.  In its
order, the court did not state that there was no reasonable likelihood that the false
evidence regarding the $500 payment to Cronin could have affected the court's
judgment as factfinder.  Nor did the court find that the State had demonstrated that
the false evidence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.  Because of this lack
of findings critical to a Giglio analysis, we cannot determine that the court
adequately distinguished the Giglio standard from the Brady standard when
considering and ultimately deciding the Giglio claim.12  We therefore remand this
however, is attributable to the second sentence in the court's articulation, stating
that, "[i]n analyzing this issue . . . courts must focus on whether the favorable
evidence could reasonably be taken to put the whole case in such a different light
as to undermine confidence in the verdict."  This second sentence is correctly used
to analyze Brady claims, but is inappropriate to analyzing claims under the more
defense-friendly standard of Giglio.   
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claim to the trial court for reconsideration and for clarification of its ruling on the
materiality prong of Guzman's Giglio claim.  To reiterate, the proper question
under Giglio is whether there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony
could have affected the court's judgment as the factfinder in this case.  If there is
any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the
judgment, a new trial is required.  The State bears the burden of proving that the
presentation of the false testimony was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. 
II.  Brady Claim
Next, Guzman claims that the State committed a Brady violation by failing
to disclose that Martha Cronin received a $500 reward for her testimony against
Guzman.  Brady requires the State to disclose material information within the
State's possession or control that tends to negate the guilt of the defendant.  To
establish a Brady violation, a defendant must show: (1) evidence favorable to the
accused, because it is either exculpatory or impeaching; (2) that the evidence was
suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and (3) that prejudice
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ensued.  Jennings v. State, 782 So. 2d 853, 856 (Fla. 2001). 
The first prong of Brady is satisfied in this case because the reward to
Cronin was potentially favorable evidence to Guzman as impeachment evidence
against Cronin.  The second prong is satisfied because Guzman filed a specific
discovery demand requesting from the State all agreements or any consideration
given to a State witness, and the State's written response stated that Cronin
received no "agreements, assurances of nonprosecution or leniency, offers,
benefits or understandings." 
The test for prejudice or materiality under Brady is whether, had the
evidence been disclosed, there is a reasonable probability of a different result,
expressed as a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of
the proceedings.  See Cardona v. State, 826 So. 2d 968, 973 (Fla. 2002).  We
review de novo the postconviction court's determination that the suppressed
evidence was not material under Brady.  Way v. State, 760 So. 2d 903, 913 (Fla.
2000).
Having reviewed the record, we conclude that there is no reasonable
probability that, had the reward evidence been disclosed, the outcome of the trial
would have been different.  During cross-examination at trial, Guzman's counsel
presented significant impeachment evidence against Cronin: her addiction to crack
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cocaine; her multiple arrests for prostitution; her attempt to make a deal with the
State when she was arrested, in exchange for her testimony against Guzman; her
initial claim to know nothing about Colvin's murder; and her jealousy of Guzman's
relationships with other women.  Guzman also presented the testimony of Carmelo
Garcia, who said that Cronin told him she had lied to the police about Guzman
committing the murder.  In light of the significant impeachment evidence
presented at trial, evidence of the State's reward to Cronin would have been merely
cumulative.  Further, the record contains other evidence of Guzman's guilt apart
from Cronin's testimony.  Paul Rogers, the jailhouse informant who shared a cell
with Guzman, corroborated Cronin's testimony.  It is undisputed that Guzman
possessed Colvin's ring and traded it for drugs and cash.  Finally, the medical
examiner testified at trial that Colvin's sword and Guzman's survival knife were
consistent with the murder weapon.  In light of this evidence of Guzman's guilt,
and in light of the significant impeachment of Cronin apart from her receipt of the
$500 reward, we conclude that there was not a reasonable probability that had the
information regarding the reward been disclosed to Guzman, the result of the
proceeding would have been different.  The reward evidence fails to put the whole
case in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the verdict.  Guzman is
not entitled to relief on his Brady claim.
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III.  Claim of Bad Faith Destruction of Evidence
Guzman next argues that he was deprived of due process by the State's bad
faith destruction of a clump of hair found on the back of Colvin's thigh at the
murder scene.  Guzman asserts that the hair was potentially exculpatory evidence
because, if DNA testing showed that the hair was not Guzman's or Colvin's, this
would show that someone other than Guzman killed Colvin.  Guzman argues that
the State’s bad faith is established by the destruction of evidence without a written
request or court order, in violation of the Daytona Beach Police Department's rules
and procedures, particularly in light of the fact that the hair evidence was
destroyed by an officer who was subsequently convicted of stealing items from the
evidence room.  As alternatives to a bad faith claim based on these facts, Guzman
asserts that the State committed a Brady violation by failing to disclose the
destruction of the hair evidence, and that Guzman’s trial counsel was ineffective in
failing to ascertain that the hair evidence was destroyed. 
The loss or destruction of evidence that is potentially useful to the defense
violates due process only if the defendant can show bad faith on the part of the
police or prosecution.  See Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 58 (1988). 
Under Youngblood, bad faith exists only when police intentionally destroy
evidence they believe would exonerate a defendant.  Youngblood explained that
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the "presence or absence of bad faith . . . must necessarily turn on the police's
knowledge of the exculpatory value of the evidence at the time it was lost or
destroyed."  Id. at 57 n.*.  Evidence that has not been examined or tested by
government agents does not have “apparent exculpatory value” and thus cannot
form the basis of a claim of bad faith destruction of evidence.  See id. at 57
(rejecting a due process claim based on the government’s failure to preserve
evidence “of which no more can be said than that it could have been subjected to
tests, the results of which might have exonerated the defendant”); see also King v.
State, 808 So. 2d 1237, 1242 (Fla. 2002) (holding that a defendant failed to show
bad faith on the part of the State in destroying hair and tissue evidence, in part
because the defendant failed to show the police made a "conscious effort to
prevent the defense from securing the evidence"); Merck v. State, 664 So. 2d 939,
942 (Fla. 1995) (holding that the defendant failed to show bad faith in a police
detective’s failure to preserve a pair of pants found at a crime scene, because the
detective believed they did not have evidentiary value).
Guzman argues that bad faith exists because the police destroyed the hair
evidence in violation of established practices and procedures.  However, under
Youngblood and this Court’s precedent, the determination of bad faith does not
turn on whether law enforcement officers followed established procedures. 
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Instead, bad faith exists only when law enforcement officers intentionally destroy
evidence they believe would exonerate a defendant.  See Youngblood, 488 U.S. at
57.  Guzman has not shown that the hair sample from the murder scene would
exonerate him, or that police officers ever believed it might.  To the contrary, the
evidence shows that police officers believed the hair evidence was irrelevant to
solving the case.  The lead detective testified at the rule 3.850 hearing that she
believed the clump of hair was the victim's since the victim's skull had been cut
multiple times, the clump of hair appeared to have been cut, the hair was bloody,
and the clump of hair matched the victim's hair color.  The detective stated that she
believed the hair sample was not significant to the case.  
Thus, as in Merck, the police officers in this case believed that the destroyed
evidence had no evidentiary value.  Guzman has not shown that any State actor
intentionally deprived him of evidence which the State actor believed to be
exculpatory.  Guzman asserts that if the hair sample had been tested, the result of
the test might have exonerated him; however, the destruction of evidence that, if
tested, might have exonerated Guzman is not sufficient under Youngblood to
establish a due process violation.  Guzman's claim of bad faith destruction of
evidence must fail.
Likewise, there is no merit in Guzman’s claim that the State committed a
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Brady violation by failing to disclose that the hair evidence had been destroyed. 
The first requisite element of a Brady violation is evidence favorable to the
accused.  Jennings v. State, 782 So. 2d 853, 856 (Fla. 2001).  Guzman has not
shown that the hair was evidence favorable to him.  As discussed above, contrary
to Guzman's argument, the destruction of the hair evidence would not have
enabled him to obtain a dismissal under Youngblood.  Thus, Guzman fails to
establish the first requisite element of a Brady violation. 
Similarly, Guzman has failed to show ineffective assistance of counsel
based on his counsel's failure to discover the destruction of the hair evidence.  To
establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must establish
deficient performance and prejudice.  See Rutherford v. State, 727 So. 2d 216, 218
(Fla. 1998) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)).  We do not
reach the prejudice prong of a Strickland analysis because we find that Guzman's
counsel was not deficient in failing to pursue the hair evidence so as to discover its
destruction before trial.  Guzman's trial counsel testified at the rule 3.850 hearing
that he thought the clump of hair was the victim's, based on the wounds to the
victim's skull, the force of the blows and blood spatter indicating that hair could
have been dislodged, and the fact that the hair was bloody.  This was a reasonable
conclusion; as stated above, it was the same conclusion reached by the lead
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detective on the case.  Because Guzman’s counsel reasonably discounted the
evidentiary value of the hair sample, counsel was not constitutionally ineffective
with regard to this issue.
IV.  Prosecutorial Misconduct Claim
In his final rule 3.850 claim, Guzman asserts that the prosecutor engaged in
misconduct at trial by eliciting testimony about Martha Cronin's polygraph
examination and about Guzman's collateral crime of drug possession.  At trial,
Guzman objected to the prosecutor's attempts to introduce this evidence, and the
trial court ruled that the evidence should be excluded.  Guzman does not assert
error in the trial court's evidentiary rulings, but he claims that the trial proceeding
was tainted by the prosecutor's references to inadmissible evidence, because these
references placed inflammatory and prejudicial evidence before the factfinder.  
These claims are procedurally barred as they could have and should have
been raised on direct appeal.  See Brown v. State, 755 So. 2d 616, 621 (Fla. 2000). 
If considered on the merits, these claims fail because Guzman's trial was a nonjury
trial, and the judge as finder of fact is presumed to have disregarded any
inadmissible evidence or improper argument.  See First Atlantic Nat'l Bank of
Daytona Beach v. Cobbett, 82 So. 2d 870, 871 (Fla. 1955) (stating that a judge
trying a case without a jury "is in a position to evaluate the testimony and discard
13.  Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002).
14.  Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000).
-25-
that which is improper or which has little or no evidentiary value").  Even where a
judge erroneously admits improper evidence, the judge as factfinder is presumed
to disregard it.  See, e.g., State v. Arroyo, 422 So. 2d 50, 51 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). 
Here, the judge did not err, but appropriately excluded inadmissible evidence. 
Given these evidentiary rulings, the judge a fortiori may be presumed to have
disregarded the inadmissible evidence.  Therefore, assuming arguendo that the
prosecutor's attempts to introduce the evidence were improper, the attempts were
harmless.
PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
In his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Guzman raises two claims: (1) his
waiver of a jury for the penalty phase of his trial was invalid in light of Ring13 and
Apprendi14; (2) he may be incompetent to be executed.
I.  Claim of Invalid Waiver of Jury Trial
Guzman claims that his waiver of a jury for the penalty phase of his trial
was invalid.  A defendant’s waiver of a jury trial is valid only if the waiver is
knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.  Tucker v. State, 559 So. 2d 218, 219 (Fla.
1990) (citing Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970)).  Guzman asserts that
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he did not knowingly waive his jury rights, because at the time of his waiver in
1996, neither the trial court nor defense counsel knew the rights that would be
granted by Ring and Apprendi, so they did not explain these rights to Guzman. 
This claim lacks merit because Ring and Apprendi did not invalidate any aspect of
Florida's death sentencing scheme.  See Bottoson v. Moore, 833 So. 2d 693, 695
(Fla.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1070 (2002).  Thus, Ring did not expand Guzman's
jury rights beyond what he knew when he waived those rights.  This claim is
denied.
II.  Claim of Incompetence to be Executed
Guzman's second habeas claim is that he may be incompetent to be
executed.  He concedes that the claim is premature under Florida Rules of
Criminal Procedure 3.811 and 3.812.  Guzman asserts that he makes this argument
to preserve his ability to pursue a similar claim in the federal system.  We agree
with Guzman's concession that this issue is not yet ripe, and we therefore find it to
be without merit.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we remand Guzman's Giglio claim to the
postconviction court for application of the Giglio standard to the facts.  In all other
respects, we affirm the court's order denying Guzman's rule 3.850 motion.  We
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commend the postconviction court for its thorough and well-reasoned order, which
facilitated our review.  We deny Guzman’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
It is so ordered.
ANSTEAD, C.J., and WELLS, PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANTERO, and
BELL, JJ., concur.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND
IF FILED, DETERMINED.
Two Cases:
An Appeal from the Circuit Court in and for Volusia County, 
William C. Johnson, Jr., Judge - Case No. CF91-06795-CFAES
and An Original Proceeding - Habeas Corpus
Eric Pinkard, Assistant CCRC, and James L. Driscoll, Jr., Assistant CCRC, Office
of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel - Middle Region, Tampa, Florida
for Appellant/Petitioner
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Kenneth S. Nunnelley, Senior Assistant
Attorney General, Daytona Beach, Florida,
for Appellee/Respondent