Case Name: John Ruthell HENRY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2006-10-12
Citations: 948 So. 2d 609
Docket Number: No. SC04-153
Parties: John Ruthell HENRY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: WELLS, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 948
Pages: 609–635

Head Matter:
John Ruthell HENRY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. SC04-153.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Oct. 12, 2006.
As Revised on Denial of Rehearing Jan. 25, 2007.
Baya Harrison, III, Monticello, FL, for Appellant.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Candance M. Sabella, Assistant Attorney General, Chief of Capital Appeals, Tampa, FL, for Appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
John Ruthell Henry, a prisoner under sentence of death for the murder of his five-year-old stepson, Eugene Christian ("Eugene"), appeals the denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.850 and 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. Applying the two-prong test from Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-96, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), we determine that Henry has failed to establish either that his counsel's performance was deficient or that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. In doing so, we recognize that defense counsel's strategy entailed significant risk to the defendant and should be employed with caution and only after careful analysis. Nevertheless, we cannot find that this strategy fell below the "wide range of professionally competent assistance" when evaluated from counsel's perspective at the time defense counsel suggested and Henry agreed to this strategy. See id. at 689-90, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Furthermore, Henry has not shown that "there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's [allegedly] unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different." Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052; see also Hodges v. State, 885 So.2d 338, 345-46 (Fla.2004).
Statement of the Facts and the Case
Eugene's death originated from a dispute that occurred on December 22, 1985, in Pasco County, between John Ruthhell Henry ("Henry") and his estranged wife, Suzanne Henry ("Suzanne"). It ended when Henry, by his own admission, "freaked out," stabbed Suzanne thirteen times in the neck, and covered her body with a rug. According to Henry, he then picked up her son, Eugene, who was watching television in another room, and drove the child to Plant City in Hillsbor-ough County. The two stopped a number of times to purchase beer and cocaine for Henry and a snack for the child. Henry smoked some of the cocaine as he drove. On the way back to Pasco County, Henry thought he saw flashing lights in the background. He pulled over into an isolated area where the car got stuck in the mud. Henry and Eugene walked a short distance. Henry stopped to smoke more cocaine, took Eugene on his knee, and stabbed the boy to death.
Two days later, Henry led the police to Eugene's body. The police had arrested Henry in connection with Suzanne's murder. After reading Henry his Miranda rights, Detective Fay Wilber questioned Henry about Eugene's whereabouts. At one point in the interview, Detective Wil-ber stood up and said that he was going to leave and find the boy without Henry's help. After this, Henry confessed. He told Detective Wilber that Eugene was in Plant City, that the boy was not alive, and that he would lead the police to the crime scene. At the crime scene, the police discovered the five-year-old's body with five stab wounds in the neck. Henry recounted the details of what happened on December 22 to the police and confessed to murdering both Suzanne and Eugene.
On November 15, 1987, Henry was sentenced to death in Hillsborough County for killing Eugene, but this Court reversed the conviction on direct appeal and required that Henry be given a new trial. Henry v. State, 574 So.2d 66, 71-73 (Fla.1991). In August 1992, he received this new trial and was again convicted. The jury recommended death by a vote of eleven to one. The trial judge agreed that death was the appropriate penalty. Finding that the two aggravating factors outweighed the two statutory and six non-statutory mitigating factors, the court sentenced Henry to death. This Court affirmed the judgment and sentence on direct appeal. Henry v. State, 649 So.2d 1361 (Fla.1994).
On September 12, 2002, Henry filed a "Complete Post Conviction Motion to Vacate Judgment and Death Sentence" pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Following a Huff hearing, the trial court ordered an evidentiary hearing on three of Henry's ineffective assistance of counsel claims. The evidentiary hearing occurred on October 17, 2003, and on December 17, 2003, the trial court entered an order denying relief. The trial court found that Henry failed to meet either prong of the Strickland test.
The first claim asserted that defense counsel failed to adequately investigate the defense of insanity. Henry voluntarily waived this defense at the evidentiary hearing.
The second claim was that defense counsel failed to adequately investigate the defense of voluntary intoxication. The trial court recognized that Henry's counsel presented three experts and two lay witnesses at trial who testified that Henry lacked the specific intent to commit this crime. Moreover, at the evidentiary hearing, Henry provided no other witnesses that could have testified. As determined by the trial court, "just because Dr. Mosman [i.e., the expert whom Henry's appellate counsel asked to testify at the evidentiary hearing] or any other individual, with the benefit of hindsight would have proceeded with the experts differently, does not entitle Defendant to post conviction relief." Henry did not contest the trial court's finding in his appeal to this Court.
Henry's third claim was that his counsel was ineffective for leading him to testify that he (1) had earlier been convicted of stabbing Patricia Roddy; (2) had served only half his sentence for this crime; and (3) had been given the death penalty for Suzanne's murder. In denying this claim, the trial court found that defense counsel "made a tactical, strategic decision, with the joint consent of both co-counsel, Mr. Wells, and the Defendant to disclose the Roddy murder to the jury during the guilt phase." It also found that the decision to disclose Henry's sentence for the Roddy murder and his death sentence for Suzanne's murder were "tactical, strategic decisions." Moreover, it recognized that the decisions were made by the lead de fense counsel, who had significant trial court experience.
At the evidentiary hearing, Henry's lead defense counsel, William Fuente, testified to the dire situation facing defense counsel as they approached Henry's second trial for Eugene's murder and the fourth trial for the events surrounding Eugene's death:
[F]rom our perspective it was a very difficult case. First of all, [Henry] had been convicted once before. Secondly . the underlying facts were that he had confessed to the authorities to the offense, that so that was difficult.... And beyond that . there was a lot of other evidence beyond this confession that implicated him in the offense.
Defense counsel also testified that its trial strategy was to disclose everything:
Well, the decision to proceed the way we did, and this is let Mr. Henry testify and acknowledging everything, was arrived at . within a couple of months of the trial commencing. And my recollection of this we had a — we had a meeting, Mr. Henry, Mr. Wells [defense co-counsel] and myself . just throwing the idea around. At the time, the thinking was that [Henry] had already been convicted once of his offense . and then again in [Pasco] County of a homicide that occurred previously, and based upon our assessment of the evidence the state had against him, it was highly unlikely we were going to achieve an acquittal. So our best hope — our thought was our best hope was to try to achieve, number 1, a conviction on a lesser on some defense where we could get into the — his mental history, and the only way that could happen was we would agree with an insanity or a voluntary intoxication defense, and we chose the latter. We excluded considering the insanity defense because of the, really the flip-flopping of one or two of the doctors.
And the other concern was that after discussing with Mr. Henry my having been in this situation before and Mr. Wells having been in this situation whereby if we approached this case on a pure not guilty, then denying the offense, if you will, it would have likely culminated in a situation where that jury would not have known, likely would not have known about . the Pasco County murder, which happened very shortly before and the Roddy murder which happened some ten years before. So we would have been faced with a client whose jury just found him guilty and then at penalty phase for the first time that.jury would have known about two other homicides. We were almost certain that would result in a recommendation of death. So our strategy, if you will, was to lay it all out on the table so that the jury would not be surprised, they would know everything there was to know and again, that was a calculated decision on all our parts.
(Emphasis added.) Moreover, defense counsel testified that this decision was specifically discussed with Henry in advance and that Henry consented to it:
I [Henry's trial counsel] have a photographic recall of one brief part of that interview and I remember myself saying . to the other two, Mr. Henry and Mr. Wells, what do you folks think about us letting everything hang out . and I recall we had further discussions and we certainly contemplated pros and cons . and I remember reaching that consensus.
Analysis
The issue on appeal is whether Henry's counsel was ineffective for leading Henry to testify on direct examination during the guilt phase that (1) in 1976, he had pled no contest to second-degree murder in the death of his first wife, Patricia Roddy, and had served seven and a half years of his fifteen-year sentence for that murder; (2) Patricia Roddy, like Eugene, was stabbed to death; and (3) Henry had received the death sentence for Suzanne's murder.
To prevail on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Henry must show both deficient performance and prejudice arising from this deficiency. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. We apply a mixed standard of review, deferring to the trial court for findings of fact and reviewing the trial court's legal conclusions de novo. Cave v. State, 899 So.2d 1042, 1052 (Fla.2005). We find that Henry has failed to establish either prong. Defense counsel's decision to elicit the details of Henry's prior conviction and death sentence during the guilt phase certainly entailed significant risk for the defendant. However, in the final analysis, we cannot find that this decision was "outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance" given the totality of the circumstances facing defense counsel as they prepared for this case. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Furthermore, Henry has not established that "there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the [trial] would have been different." Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. We explain this conclusion by elaborating first upon the standard for ineffective assistance of counsel in Strickland and then applying this standard to the particular facts of this case.
Under the Strickland test for ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must first establish that defense counsel's performance was deficient, or that defense counsel's performance fell beyond an "objective standard of reasonableness," such that counsel could not be said to be functioning as the "counsel" guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Id. at 687-88, 104 S.Ct. 2052. This showing requires the defendant to overcome a strong presumption that the counsel's action was not deficient. Mansfield v. State, 911 So.2d 1160, 1171 (Fla.2005) (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052). As the United States Supreme Court instructed in Strickland:
Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential. It is all too tempting for a defendant to second-guess counsel's assistance after conviction or adverse sentence, and it is all too easy for a court, examining counsel's defense after it has proved unsuccessful, to conclude that a particular act or omission of counsel was unreasonable. Cf. Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 133-34, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982). A fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel's challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from the counsel's perspective at the time. Because of the difficulties inherent in making evaluations, a court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance; that is, the defendant must overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action "might be considered sound trial strategy." See Michel v. Louisiana, supra, 350 U.S. at 101, 76 S.Ct. 158.
466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052.
In light of this measured deference, evidence that counsel's conduct was part of a deliberate, tactical strategy that the defendant understood and approved almost always precludes the establishment of this prong. Downs v. State, 453 So.2d 1102, 1108 (Fla.1984) (characterizing defense counsel's strategic or tactical decision as "virtually unchallengeable" in a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel). This is especially true if the defense counsel considered and rejected alternative courses of action. Lawrence v. State, 831 So.2d 121, 129 (Fla.2002) ("This Court has held that defense counsel's strategic choices do not constitute deficient conduct if alternative courses of action have been considered and rejected."); see also Patton v. State, 878 So.2d 368, 373 (Fla.2004) (rejecting ineffective assistance of counsel claim raised in 3.850 motion, in part because trial counsel "thoroughly considered her options [and] weighed the pros and cons [of the action]").
If a defendant establishes that his counsel's performance was deficient, he must establish the second prong as well, which requires him to show that defense counsel's actions prejudiced him. The defendant must establish that defense counsel's deficient performance was so serious that the defendant was deprived of a fair trial. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. To establish deprivation of a fair trial, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, "absent the errors, the factfinder would have a reasonable doubt respecting guilt." Robinson v. State, 770 So.2d 1167, 1172 (Fla.2000) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 695, 104 S.Ct. 2052). A reasonable probability is a "probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. It does not require the defendant to show that "counsel's deficient conduct more likely than not altered the outcome," but it does require the defendant to show that in light of all the evidence surrounding his conviction, defense counsel's conduct renders the results of the proceeding unreliable. Gaskin v. State, 822 So.2d 1243, 1247 n. 3 (Fla.2002) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S.Ct. 2052); see also Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052.
I. Deficient Performance
Applying this two-prong test from Strickland, we find that Henry has failed to establish that his counsel's performance was deficient in making the decision — well before trial and with Henry's informed consent — to question Henry about Patricia Roddy's murder, the sentence he served for this crime, and the death sentence he received for Suzanne's murder. While this testimony would not otherwise have been admissible if it had not been raised by the defendant on direct examination, we recognize that the facts of this case would lead reasonably prudent defense counsel to believe there was a strong likelihood Henry would be convicted in the guilt phase and, therefore, that counsel would need to consider the impact of the guilt phase on the penalty phase. See Florida v. Nixon, 543 U.S. 175, 191, 125 S.Ct. 551, 160 L.Ed.2d 565 (2004) (recognizing that the gravity of the potential sentence in a death penalty trial and the two-tier proceeding "vitally affects counsel's strategic calculus" when approaching a death penalty case). Henry had confessed to brutally stabbing to death his five-year-old stepson hours after he killed the child's mother in a similar manner. Three prior juries had recommended Henry be sentenced to death for these crimes. Confronted with this reality, defense counsel was obligated to prepare a strategy that considered not only the guilt phase, but also the penalty phase. Given these circumstances, we do not find the decision to question Henry about his past criminal record to be outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (defining "deficient performance" as "outside the wide range of professional competence").
The decision to question Henry about these otherwise inadmissible facts was jointly reached. It was part of a deliberate strategy to avoid a death sentence, suggested by highly experienced criminal defense attorneys and agreed to by Henry. Fuente testified that "a couple months before trial," he, Henry, and co-counsel Wells met to discuss possible trial strategies. The decision to reveal Henry's past criminal history began as an idea that they were "just throwing . around." However, after "further discussions" and "con-templat[ing] the pros and cons," they mutually decided it was the best available option.
Fuente's testimony portrays the extremely difficult situation defense counsel faced in preparing for Henry's second trial for Eugene's murder. Not only had Henry been convicted of first-degree murder in each prior trial involving the deaths of Eugene and Suzanne, a jury had recommended the death sentence in each of these trials. This recommendation was unanimous in both trials for Suzanne's murder, and affirmed by a strong vote of ten to two in the prior trial for Eugene's murder. Moreover, counsel recognized that underlying each of these recommendations was a very strong case for the State in the guilt phase. As Fuente testified, "the facts as I remember them, the underlying facts were that [Henry] had confessed to the authorities.... And beyond that . there was a lot of other evidence . that implicated [Henry] in the offense." In light of this, Fuente expressed a fear that withholding information regarding Henry's prior background
would have likely culminated into a situation where the jury would not have known, likely would not have known about the . [Pasco] County murder, which happened very shortly before and the Roddy murder which happened some ten years before. So we would have been faced with a client whose jury just found him guilty and then at penalty phase for the first time that jury would have known about the two other homicides. We were almost certain that would result in a recommendation of death.
(Emphasis added.) Therefore, the defense strategy was "to lay it all out on the table so that the jury would not be surprised." In Fuente's words,
The potential benefit [of telling the jury about the Roddy homicide in the guilt phase], as [defense counsel] perceived it, was simply to let the jury know everything there was to know upfront, be completely candid, and if they returned a verdict of first degree murder, there would be no surprise, nothing more for them to consider, nothing more aggravating if you will [in the penalty phase].
In reaching this strategic decision, defense counsel and Henry considered other alternatives. Fuente testified that both Henry and co-counsel Wells agreed to this unusual strategy after several meetings in which they considered its pros and cons. In doing so, they considered the available defenses, including insanity. An insanity defense was abandoned because the experts "flip-flopp[ed]" on whether the defendant was insane, making it unlikely the jury would render a verdict of not guilty based on insanity. Defense counsel believed Henry's "best hope" was to present a voluntary intoxication defense and argue for a lesser included offense; but, given the strong evidence against Henry and that the prior jury had rejected the evidence in support of this defense, counsel had to anticipate and be prepared for a penalty phase.
We have repeatedly rejected claims of ineffective assistance of counsel when the allegedly improper conduct was the result of a deliberate trial strategy. See Lawrence, 831 So.2d at 129 (citing Shere v. State, 742 So.2d 215, 220 (Fla.1999), for the proposition that "[t]his Court has held that defense counsel's strategic choices do not constitute deficient conduct if alternative courses of action have been considered and rejected"); see also Patton, 878 So.2d at 373 (citing Shere for the same proposition). Indeed, the facts of this case closely parallel Shere.
In Shere, this Court rejected an ineffectiveness claim based on defense counsel's strategic decision to offer evidence of a codefendant's admission during the guilt phase. 742 So.2d at 219-20. The Court found that "[a]t the conclusion of the State's case, the defendant was in a desperate situation," because "[t]he State's case-in-chief did not leave any doubt that the defendant played a major role in the murder." Id. (quoting trial court's order). This Court also relied on the fact that "defendant was represented by a highly competent and ethical trial attorney" who had made a "tactical decision after considering all of the evidence against his client and after considering all other alternatives." Id. (quoting trial court's order).
The same is true in Henry's case. Fuente had more than fifteen years of experience litigating criminal cases before he represented Henry. He had tried numerous capital murder cases, five of which involved the death penalty. Cf. Atwater v. State, 788 So.2d 223, 230 (Fla.2001) (relying, in part, on defense counsel's seventeen years of experience in criminal litigation and the fact that counsel had handled five or six capital cases to find that a preplanned strategy to concede defendant's guilt to a lesser crime was not "reviewable under Strickland "). When it became time to present Henry's defense, Fuente knew he would be facing a situation at least as desperate as the defendant's in Shere. At the time he rose to present Henry's case, the State would have just presented overwhelming evidence that Henry had brutally murdered his five-year-old stepson hours after he had brutally murdered the boy's mother. This evidence would have included the details of Suzanne's murder, as this Court had previously determined that the facts were "inextricably intertwined with [Eugene's] murder" and, therefore, admissible. Henry v. State, 649 So.2d at 1364-65. The State's case would also have included Henry's detailed confession to the police and the fact that Henry had led the police to the boy's body. As noted earlier, a prior jury had convicted Henry of first-degree murder based on these facts and recommended a sentence of death by a vote of ten to two. It is not unreasonable for defense counsel, when faced with these circumstances, to believe that extreme measures might be necessary in order to maintain credibility with the jury throughout both phases of the trial.
Both this Court and the United States Supreme Court have recognized the appropriateness of the end Fuente sought to achieve. In Atwater, this Court recognized the importance of establishing credibility with the jury. 788 So.2d at 229-30. The Court found that defense counsel was not deficient for conceding defendant's guilt of second-degree murder in its closing argument and supporting this concession by showing photographs of the crime scene to the jury. Id. "In light of the evidence against Atwater, defense counsel properly attempted to maintain credibility with the jury by being candid as to the weight of the evidence." Id. at 231.
Similarly, as previously mentioned, the United States Supreme Court has recently recognized the importance of preparing for the penalty phase in death penalty cases. "[T]he gravity of the potential sentence in a capital trial and the proceeding's two-phase structure vitally affect counsel's strategic calculus" in regard to deciding whether to concede guilt in the guilt phase. Florida v. Nixon, 543 U.S. 175, 190-91, 125 S.Ct. 551, 160 L.Ed.2d 565 (2004). In cases like Henry's, where "the evidence is overwhelming and the crime heinous," id. at 191, 125 S.Ct. 551, "avoiding execution [may be] the best and only realistic result possible." Id. at 190, 125 S.Ct. 551 (alteration in original) (emphasis added) (quoting Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases, § 10.9.1 cmt. (rev. ed.2003)). Therefore, "in a capital case, counsel must consider in conjunction both the guilt and penalty phases in determining how best to proceed." Id. at 192, 125 S.Ct. 551 (emphasis added).
We recognize that these cases are distinguishable from Henry's in that Henry's counsel did not merely concede guilt to a lesser offense but led his client to testify to highly incriminating evidence that would otherwise have been inadmissible in the guilt phase. This distinction, however, does not justify a finding that counsel's performance was deficient. When determining ineffective assistance claims, our duty is "not to grade counsel's performance," Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697, 104 S.Ct. 2052, or to use the Sixth Amendment to "improve the quality of legal representation." Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. In hindsight, we might seriously question counsel's decision to introduce this evidence during the guilt phase. But such a hindsight evaluation does not answer the question of whether counsel was deficient. When determining whether counsel's performance is deficient, our duty is to make every effort "to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight . [and] evaluate the conduct from counsel's perspective at the time [counsel prepared for trial]." Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Viewed from this perspective, we find counsel's performance was not deficient. Henry's highly experienced trial counsel reasonably believed Henry almost certainly faced a penalty phase proceeding and that the only chance of avoiding execution was complete candor with the jury. They believed the only way to achieve this candor was to lead Henry to testify to these otherwise inadmissible facts during the guilt phase. Henry agreed to this strategy. Given the unique circumstances of this case, we find Henry has failed to overcome the strong presumption that counsel's performance was not deficient. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688-90, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (recognizing that defendants bringing an ineffectiveness claim must overcome a strong presumption and that courts must consider counsel's action in light of all the evidence in the case because "[n]o particular set of detailed rules for counsel's conduct can satisfactorily take account of the . range of legitimate decisions regarding how best to represent a criminal defendant").
II. Prejudice
In most cases, our determination that Henry has failed to meet the first prong of the Strickland test would end any further analysis. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (authorizing courts to dispose of ineffectiveness claims after addressing only one prong of the analysis). Nonetheless, given the uniqueness of this case, we will address the second prong as well.
Even if we agreed with Henry that defense counsel's line of questioning constituted deficient performance, this deficiency would not warrant reversal because Henry has not established that counsel's actions prejudiced him. To reiterate, Strickland requires defendants to show "there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different." 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Such a "reasonable probability" is a "probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Id. This second prong does not require proof that "counsel's deficient conduct more likely than not altered the outcome of the case." Gaskin v. State, 822 So.2d 1243, 1247 n. 3 (Fla.2002) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S.Ct. 2052). Instead, it requires a showing that, in light of all the evidence surrounding his conviction, the conduct renders the results of the proceeding unreliable. Id. at 1247; see also Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052.
Viewing this case in its entirety, we find that Henry has not satisfied this burden. As explained above, defense counsel were confronted with an extremely strong case against their client. They had to calculate the impact of the guilt phase testimony upon a likely penalty phase. While Henry asserts that his defense of voluntary intoxication would have resulted in a conviction of a lesser included offense, thereby avoiding a penalty phase, he has failed to establish this claim. He has not established a reasonable probability that the result of the guilt phase would have been different. In other words, he has not proven this claim with a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. First, voluntary intoxication is not a particularly strong defense to such crimes, and the evidence in support of this defense was weak. The only direct evidence establishing that Henry was intoxicated at the time he killed Eugene was Henry's own testimony. The two other lay witnesses presented at trial could only testify that Henry was intoxicated hours earlier — even before he killed Suzanne. And for the murder of Suzanne, Henry again had received a death sentence in the second trial for her murder, an act "inextricably intertwined" with the case at hand. Second, the trial court found that defense counsel adequately presented this defense through the testimony of two expert witnesses and three lay witnesses, including Henry himself. Yet, the jury still rejected this defense. In summary, Henry has still failed to establish a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.
Conclusion
We hold that Henry has failed to establish a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm the trial court's denial of Henry's motion to vacate judgment and death sentence.
It is so ordered.
WELLS, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur.
WELLS, J., specially concurs with an opinion, in which CANTERO and BELL, JJ., concur.
PARIENTE, J., concurs in result only with an opinion.
LEWIS, C.J., concurs in result only.
ANSTEAD, J., dissents with an opinion.
QUINCE, J., recused.
. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. Henry was tried separately for Suzanne's and Eugene's deaths, in part because the deaths occurred in different counties. Henry's first trial for Suzanne's murder occurred in Pasco County shortly after his first trial for Eugene's murder. Henry was convicted and, after a unanimous jury recommendation, received a death sentence for Suzanne's murder. This Court reversed that conviction and sentence on appeal. Henry v. State, 574 So.2d 73, 74-76 (Fla.1991). It found that the cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP) ag-gravator was not supported by the evidence, and the lower court erred in admitting evidence of Eugene's murder at the trial for Suzanne's murder. Id. The second trial for Suzanne's death took place on October 7, 1991. Henry was again found guilty and, after another unanimous jury recommendation, was sentenced to death. This Court affirmed that judgment and sentence in Henry v. State, 649 So.2d 1366 (Fla.1994), and affirmed the denial of a motion for postconviction relief. Henry v. State, 862 So.2d 679 (Fla.2003).
. The jury recommended the death sentence by a vote of ten to two.
. In Henry's first direct appeal of his conviction and sentence for Eugene's murder, Henry raised six allegations that this Court addressed. The first allegation claimed that the evidence did not support the finding that Henry had kidnapped Eugene, and the Court unanimously rejected this argument. Five allegations involved alleged trial court error in (1) failing to suppress the confession given after Henry told one detective he was "saying nothing" to him; (2) striking the insanity defense; (3) admitting evidence regarding Suzanne's murder at Henry's trial for Eugene's murder; (4) allowing the prosecution to impeach the defense mental health expert by asking how much of his practice was devoted to those convicted of first-degree murder; and (5) declining the jury's request to rehear the mental health expert testimony. Henry v. State, 574 So.2d 66, 69-71 (Fla.1991). The Court unanimously rejected Henry's third, fourth, and fifth allegations but split four to three, with a majority finding error sufficient to warrant a new trial on the first and second allegations.
. In this second trial, Henry relied on the defense of voluntary intoxication. He presented three lay witnesses (including himself) and three expert witnesses who testified that he lacked the specific intent to commit first-degree murder because he was under the influence of cocaine at the time of the killing.
. The aggravating factors were: (1) previous conviction for another capital felony and (2) that the murder was committed during the course of a kidnapping. Henry, 649 So.2d at 1363. These aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors, which were assigned "some weight" by the trial court. Id. at 1363-64. The statutory mitigators in this case were both mental health mitigators (i.e., that the murder was committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance and impaired capacity to appreciate the criminality of conduct or conform to the requirements of the law). The six nonstatuto-ry mitigators recognized that Henry (1) pled guilty and turned himself in for the murder of his first wife, Patricia Roddy; (2) cooperated with law enforcement officials; (3) exhibited good conduct in jail; (4) treated Eugene well when the child was alive and was remorseful for this crime; (5) had a history of drug and alcohol abuse; and (6) suffered brain damage from a childhood fall. Id. at 1364 n. 6.
. Henry claimed nine grounds for relief in his first direct appeal following his second conviction for Eugene's murder. Three of these claims alleged that the trial court erred in denying motions to (1) remove the state attorney and appoint a special prosecutor; (2) suppress the admission and statements made during custodial interrogation because of a remark made by Pasco County detective Fay Wilber; and (3) suppress Henry's confession, which was given after he told another detective he would not talk. Four of these claims alleged that the trial court erred in ways unrelated to motions filed by the defense, such as (4) allowing mention of Henry's con viction for Suzanne's murder and admitting evidence of her murder at the trial for Eugene's murder; (5) failing to read back the testimony of Dr. Berland, a defense expert witness; (6) failing to find the prosecutor's impeachment of Dr. Berland improper; and (7) giving the standard jury instruction on reasonable doubt. Finally, Henry's last two claims were general allegations that (8) Florida's aggravating factor of murder in the course of a felony is unconstitutional, and (9) the death penalty was disproportionate in this case. The Court rejected each of these arguments. Henry, 649 So.2d at 1364-65.
The only claim relevant to this postconviction appeal is the fourth claim. Henry asserted on direct appeal that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Suzanne's murder at the trial for Eugene's murder. This Court unanimously rejected this claim, finding evidence of Suzanne's murder admissible because it was "inseparable" from the case at hand. Id. at 1365. This Court explained:
[T]he State was faced with proving that Henry premeditated the murder of [Eugene] and that [Eugene] was kidnapped rather than taken unlawfully. Henry, 574 So.2d at 70. Given this burden of proof, evidence from the Suzanne Henry murder was necessarily admitted to adequately describe the events leading up to [Eugene's] death. Further, the facts of Suzanne Henry's murder were so inextricably intertwined with [Eugene's] murder that to separate them would have resulted in disjointed testimony that would have led to confusion. Griffin v. State, 639 So.2d 966 (Fla.1994); Erickson v. State, 565 So.2d 328, 333 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), review denied, 576 So.2d 286 (Fla.1991).
Id. at 1365.
. Huff v. State, 622 So.2d 982 (Fla.1993).
. The trial court found that Henry's lead counsel, William Fuente, had "extensive criminal experience both prosecuting and defending capital cases prior to representing [Henry]." Fuente testified that he spent five years in the state attorney's office where he handled many murder prosecutions and was eventually appointed division chief and special prosecutor. In 1980, twelve years before he defended Heniy, he went into private practice as a defense attorney. His practice focused on state trial and appellate work, although he did some federal trial and appellate practice work as well. He testified that he had handled "between 10 and 15 capital cases" before representing Henry, and "probably 5 of these went to trial as death penalty cases." Two or three of the death penalty cases resulted in a sentence of death.
. See § 90.404(2)(a), 90.610, Fla. Stat. (2004) (stating that evidence of prior crimes is not admissible to establish propensity, but may be admissible to impeach a witness).