Title: State v. Sireci

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

536 So. 2d 231 (1988)
STATE of Florida, Appellant/Cross-Appellee,
v.
Henry Perry SIRECI, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
No. 70937.

Supreme Court of Florida.
December 22, 1988.
*232 Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Margene A. Roper, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellant/cross-appellee.
Mark E. Olive, Tallahassee, and Richard H. Burr, III, New York City, for appellee/cross-appellant.
PER CURIAM.
The state appeals from an order granting Henry Perry Sireci a new death penalty sentencing hearing. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution.
Sireci was convicted of and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Howard Poteet, the owner of a used car lot. Sireci went to the car lot to take some keys to a car so he could come back later and steal it. A struggle ensued, and Poteet was killed by fifty-five massive stab wounds. This Court affirmed Sireci's conviction and sentence in Sireci v. State, 399 So. 2d 964 (Fla. 1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 984, 102 S. Ct. 2257, 72 L. Ed. 2d 862 (1982). After the governor signed his death warrant, Sireci filed a motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, alleging that his two court-appointed psychiatrists, Drs. Herrera and Kirkland, failed to conduct competent and adequate pretrial evaluations of his sanity. Specifically, Sireci alleged that the two psychiatrists failed to diagnose that he suffered from organic brain syndrome caused by a car accident in which he was left semiconscious for a two-week period and with right side facial paralysis. The trial court granted Sireci's request for an evidentiary hearing with respect to the propriety of his sentencing. In affirming the order, this Court said:
State v. Sireci, 502 So. 2d 1221, 1224 (Fla. 1987).
After holding the evidentiary hearing, the trial court ordered that a new sentencing hearing be conducted, predicated upon the following findings:
Essentially, the state argues that Sireci's original psychiatric examinations were adequate. We acknowledge that there is evidence in the record which would justify this conclusion. On the other hand, there is also competent substantial evidence to support the trial court's findings. This is a classic illustration of a case in which the appellate court should not substitute its judgment for that of the trial judge who has personally heard the pertinent testimony.
*234 On cross-appeal, Sireci contends that he should have been granted a new trial in addition to a new sentencing hearing. We disagree. Sireci previously raised this claim when we approved the evidentiary hearing directed to his sentencing. At that time, we stated that "the alleged violation of due process/equal protection has no bearing on the prior determination of Sireci's guilt." State v. Sireci, 502 So. 2d  at 1223. Moreover, the order now under review also contains the following finding which is amply supported by the evidence:
We affirm the circuit court's order in all respects.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
McDONALD, J., dissents.