Case Name: Matthew MARSHALL, Petitioner, v. James V. CROSBY, Jr., etc., Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2005-05-26
Citations: 911 So. 2d 1129
Docket Number: No. SC02-420
Parties: Matthew MARSHALL, Petitioner, v. James V. CROSBY, Jr., etc., Respondent.
Judges: WELLS, QUINCE, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 911
Pages: 1129–1153

Head Matter:
Matthew MARSHALL, Petitioner, v. James V. CROSBY, Jr., etc., Respondent.
No. SC02-420.
Supreme Court of Florida.
May 26, 2005.
Rehearing Denied Sept. 15, 2005.
Neal A. Dupree, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel — South, Melissa Minsk Do-noho, Special Assistant CCRC-South, and Leor Veleanu, Assistant CCRC-South, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Petitioner.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Debra Rescigno, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Matthew Marshall, a prisoner under sentence of death, petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See Art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. For the reasons set forth below, we deny Marshall's petition for habeas relief.
BACKGROUND
Matthew Marshall was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of Jeffrey Henry. This Court previously summarized the facts surrounding this case on direct appeal. See Marshall v. State, 604 So.2d 799 (Fla.1992). The jury found Marshall guilty of first-degree murder and recommended a sentence of life imprisonment. The trial court, however, rejected the jury's recommendation and imposed a sentence of death. In so doing, the trial court "concluded that facts supporting a conclusion that the mitigating circumstances did not outweigh the aggravating circumstances were 'so clear and convincing that no reasonable person could differ.' " Id. at 802. This Court affirmed the jury override on appeal. See id. at 805-06. The United States Supreme Court denied Marshall's petition for writ of certiorari on May 17, 1993. See Marshall v. Florida, 508 U.S. 915, 113 S.Ct. 2355, 124 L.Ed.2d 263 (1993). Subsequently, Marshall filed a motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, which the trial court denied. See Marshall v. State, 854 So.2d 1235, 1237 (Fla.2003). On appeal, this Court affirmed the denial of the motion, but remanded Marshall's claim on potential juror misconduct for an evidentiary hearing. Id. at 1253.
ANALYSIS
In his present habeas corpus petition, Marshall raises three claims: (1) appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise on direct appeal the trial court's denial of trial counsel's motion for the appointment of an additional mental health expert, (2) the trial judge's override of the jury's recommendation in favor of life violates the Constitution pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's opinions in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), and (3) the standard for jury override cases announced in Tedder v. State, 322 So.2d 908 (Fla.1975), was arbitrarily applied in Marshall's case. We address each of these claims in turn.
Additional Mental Health Expert
In his first claim, Marshall argues that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise as error on direct appeal the trial court's denial of his motion for appointment of an additional mental health expert. Marshall alleges that as a result of the trial court's ruling, he was deprived of his right to a competent mental health expert pursuant to Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985). Ake requires that a defendant be afforded access to a "competent psychiatrist who will conduct an appropriate examination and assist in evaluation, preparation, and presentation of the defense." Id. at 83, 105 S.Ct. 1087.
The issue of appellate counsel's ineffectiveness is appropriately raised in a petition for writ of habeas corpus. See Freeman v. State, 761 So.2d 1055, 1069 (Fla.2000). However, in order to grant habeas relief on the basis of ineffectiveness of appellate counsel, this Court must determine
whether the alleged omissions are of such magnitude as to constitute a serious error or substantial deficiency falling measurably outside the range of professionally acceptable performance and, second, whether the deficiency in performance compromised the appellate process to such a degree as to undermine confidence in the correctness of the result.
Pope v. Wainwright, 496 So.2d 798, 800 (Fla.1986); see also Freeman, 761 So.2d at 1069. "The defendant has the burden of alleging a specific, serious omission or overt act upon which the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel can be based." Freeman, 761 So.2d at 1069.
Prior to trial, defense counsel requested that a mental health expert be appointed to examine Marshall for competency and sanity, as well as for the existence of possible mitigating circumstances. Defense counsel specifically requested that Dr. Joel Klass, with whom the public defender's office had previously worked, be appointed. The trial court granted the motion and appointed Dr. Klass to examine Marshall. Subsequent to Dr. Klass's examination, however, defense counsel filed a motion for an additional mental health expert, expressing counsel's dissatisfaction with both Dr. Klass's examination of Marshall and his correspondence with defense counsel. Accordingly, in the motion defense counsel requested that an additional mental health expert be appointed to evaluate Marshall.
The trial court held a hearing on Marshall's motion, during which defense counsel reiterated claims from the motion for an additional mental health expert, including a claim that Dr. Klass apparently spent no more than one hour with Marshall, and that aside from two short letters, he had failed to communicate with defense counsel or inform counsel of what tests, if any, were administered and what evidence might be gathered in mitigation. The State opposed Marshall's motion, arguing that (1) it would be a waste of the trial court's time and the county's money to appoint an additional expert, since Dr. Klass had completed an evaluation and simply needed to communicate with defense counsel in accordance with the trial court's order, and (2) the additional expert specifically requested, a Dr. Robert Ber-land, was not qualified to perform the desired work. The State suggested that the trial court order Dr. Klass to comply with its previous order appointing him. Thereafter, the trial court orally denied Marshall's motion for an additional mental health expert. In so doing, the trial court noted that based upon its prior experience with Dr. Klass, it did not believe he was incompetent, nor had defense counsel shown Dr. Klass was incompetent. However, the trial court indicated that it would order Dr. Klass to comply with its previous order and to conduct another interview of Marshall if necessary. The trial court subsequently entered a written order denying Marshall's motion and requiring Dr. Klass to comply with its previous order and submit a written report to defense counsel in addition to communicating with defense counsel by telephone.
As noted above, Marshall contends appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the trial court's denial of his motion for an additional mental health expert on direct appeal. In our most recent opinion concerning Marshall, we indicated that trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to get the trial court to appoint an additional expert and that the issue regarding the appointment of an additional expert was "adequately documented in the record and could have been raised on appeal." Marshall, 854 So.2d at 1248. To be effective, however, appellate counsel is not required to raise every conceivable issue on appeal. See Atkins v. Dugger, 541 So.2d 1165, 1167 (Fla.1989). Moreover, appellate counsel cannot be ineffective for not raising on appeal an issue with little or no merit. See Rutherford, v. Moore, 774 So.2d 637, 643 (Fla.2000) ("If a legal issue 'would in all probability have been found to be without merit' had counsel raised the issue on direct appeal, the failure of appellate counsel to raise the meritless issue will not render appellate counsel's performance ineffective.").
A trial court's ruling on a motion for appointment of experts will be affirmed on appeal in the absence of an abuse of discretion. See San Martin v. State, 705 So.2d 1337, 1347 (Fla.1997); Sliney v. State, 699 So.2d 662, 671 (Fla.1997); Martin v. State, 455 So.2d 370, 371-72 (Fla.1984). In San Martin, this Court explained the applicable standard when a defendant alleges error in the trial court's decision to not appoint an expert:
In evaluating whether there was an abuse of discretion, courts have applied a two-part test: (1) whether the defendant made a particularized showing of need; and (2) whether the defendant was prejudiced by the court's denial of the motion requesting the expert assistance.
San Martin, 705 So.2d at 1347 (citing Dingle v. State, 654 So.2d 164, 166 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)).
In the instant case, the trial court's order denying Marshall's request for an additional mental health expert specifically ordered Dr. Klass to comply with the court's previous order, submit a written report to defense counsel on the issues specified in that order, and communicate with defense counsel for the purposes of pretrial preparation. Although the trial court declined to appoint an additional mental health expert, it sought to remedy the specific difficulties defense counsel was reportedly experiencing with Dr. Klass by ordering Dr. Klass to comply with the court's initial order of appointment, as well as communicate with defense counsel. Notably, defense counsel made no subsequent representations to the trial court that he continued to experience difficulties with Dr. Klass or that Dr. Klass had failed to comply with the trial court's order. Nor did trial counsel contest the trial court's refusal to appoint an additional mental health expert in Marshall's motion for a new trial. Under these circumstances and in light of the trial court's order directing Dr. Klass to comply with its initial order of appointment, we conclude that Marshall has failed to demonstrate that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for appointment of an additional mental health expert. Accordingly, appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise this claim on direct appeal.
Apprendi and Ring Claim
Marshall's next claim is that the trial judge's decision to override the jury's recommendation in favor of life violates the principles set out in the Supreme Court's decisions in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). In over fifty cases since Ring's release, we have rejected Ring claims.
Although we have not addressed Ring's application in the context of a jury override verdict, our previous conclusions with regard to Ring claims preclude Marshall from being granted relief on his claim. First, as our plurality opinion noted in Bottoson, "the United States Supreme Court repeatedly has reviewed and upheld Florida's capital sentencing statute over the past quarter of a century." Bottoson, 833 So.2d at 695 & n. 4 (Fla.2002) (listing as examples Hildwin v. Florida, 490 U.S. 638, 109 S.Ct. 2055, 104 L.Ed.2d 728 (1989), Spaziano v. Florida, 468 U.S. 447, 104 S.Ct. 3154, 82 L.Ed.2d 340 (1984), Barclay v. Florida, 463 U.S. 939, 103 S.Ct. 3418, 77 L.Ed.2d 1134 (1983), and Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913 (1976)). In fact, the United States Supreme Court expressly upheld the jury override aspect of Florida's sentencing scheme. See Spaziano, 468 U.S. at 466, 104 S.Ct. 3154 ("We see nothing that suggests that the application of the jury-override procedure has resulted in arbitrary or discriminatory application of the death penalty, either in general or in this particular case."). Spaziano remains good law, and as was noted in the Bottoson plurality opinion, despite any tension between Spaziano and Ring, this Court relies on the United States Supreme Court's admonition that lower courts should "follow the case which directly controls, leaving to this Court the prerogative of overruling its own decisions." Bottoson, 833 So.2d at 695 (quoting Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, 490 U.S. 477, 484, 109 S.Ct. 1917, 104 L.Ed.2d 526 (1989)).
Second, Ring did not alter the express exemption in Apprendi that prior convictions are exempt from the Sixth Amendment requirements announced in the two cases. See Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). We have repeatedly relied on the presence of the prior violent felony aggravating circumstance when denying Ring claims. In the instant case, one of Marshall's aggravating circumstances was that he had been previously convicted of nine violent felonies. Therefore, even if Ring were to call Florida's jury override procedures into question, Marshall's nine prior violent felonies are an aggravating circumstance that takes his sentence outside the scope of Ring's requirements.
Finally, we have recently held in Johnson v. State, 904 So.2d 400 (Fla.2005) that we will not apply Ring retroactively in postconviction cases even assuming it affected Florida law.
Application of Tedder Standard
In the final claim of his habeas petition, Marshall alleges that Tedder v. State, 322 So.2d 908 (Fla.1975), which allows the trial judge to override a jury recommendation in capital cases, was arbitrarily applied in this case based on language found in Keen v. State, 775 So.2d 263 (Fla.2000). In Tedder, this Court held that "[i]n order to sustain a sentence of death following a jury recommendation of life, the facts suggesting a sentence of death should be so clear and convincing that virtually no reasonable person could differ." Tedder, 322 So.2d at 910. More recently, this Court in Keen reiterated the proper analysis for a Tedder inquiry: "The singular focus of a Tedder inquiry is whether there is 'a reasonable basis in the record to support the jury's recommendation of life,' rather than the weighing process which a judge conducts after a death recommendation." Keen, 775 So.2d at 283-84 (citation omitted). The Court further explained that "the jury's life recommendation changes the analytical dynamic and magnifies the ultimate effect of mitigation on the defendant's sentence." Id. at 285.
In Mills v. Moore, 786 So.2d 532 (Fla.2001), this Court rejected an argument similar to the one currently raised by Marshall. In so doing, this Court stated:
While conceding that Keen is not new law, Mills nonetheless argues that Keen's application of Tedder constitutes a new standard by which jury override cases are reviewed. Keen is not a major constitutional change or jurisprudential upheaval of the law as it was espoused in Tedder. Keen offers no new or different standard for considering jury overrides on appeal. Thus, we disagree with Mills' contention that Keen offers a new standard of law and we reject the contention that Keen was anything more than an application of our long-standing Tedder analysis.
Tedder is the seminal case in Florida on jury overrides and remains so after Keen. Tedder was applied to this case. Keen provides no basis for our reconsideration of this issue.
Id. at 539-40.
In the instant case, we reviewed the propriety of the trial court's override on direct appeal under the standard set forth in Tedder. In particular, this Court explained:
Marshall next alleges that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing Marshall to death where the jury had made a recommendation of life imprisonment. It is well settled in Florida that a judge imposing sentence in a capital case must accord the jury recommendation great weight. E.g., Tedder v. State, 322 So.2d 908, 910 (Fla.1975). Where a jury has recommended a life sentence, the court must follow that recommendation unless "the facts suggesting a sentence of death [are] so clear and convincing that virtually no reasonable person could differ." Id. Where the record contains no evidence supporting a life recommendation, the trial court does not err in declining to follow that recommendation.
In this case, the record contains insufficient evidence to reasonably support the jury's recommendation of life. Marshall's father was unable to attend the trial, but the defense and prosecution stipulated that he would have testified that Marshall did well in school until his early teens when his older brother influenced him to run the streets and break the law; that Marshall's mother did not discipline Marshall and allowed him to believe there would be no consequences for his behavior; and that Marshall's father loved him and requested a life sentence for his son. The trial court determined these facts were not mitigating, but did find Marshall's behavior at trial as well as his entering prison at a young age to be mitigating. We find no error in the court's assessment of this mitigation and conclude that it does not provide a reasonable basis for the jury's recommendation of life in this case. Even viewing this mitigation in the light most favorable to Marshall, it pales in significance when weighed against the four statutory aggravating circumstances, including Marshall's record of violent felonies consisting of kidnapping, sexual battery, and seven armed robberies.
Furthermore, defense counsel's argument composed largely of a negative characterization of the victim does not provide a reasonable basis for the jury's life recommendation. Moreover, contrary to Marshall's assertion, the facts surrounding the murder do not suggest that the murder was committed in self defense or in a fit of rage. The witnesses heard muffled screams and moans emanating from the victim's cell and observed Marshall leaving the cell with what appeared to be blood on his chest and arms. Within a few minutes, Marshall reentered the cell and similar noises were again heard. The victim was found lying face down with his hands bound behind his back and his ankles were restrained. The victim received no less than twenty-five separate wounds and blood was sprayed and splattered about the cell. Death was caused by blows to the back of his head. Nothing in these facts supports the notion that Marshall acted in self defense or that he simply killed the victim in the heat of a fight. We thus conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the facts supporting the death sentence to be "so clear and convincing that no reasonable person could differ." See Tedder, 322 So.2d at 910.
Marshall, 604 So.2d at 805-06. Accordingly, as in Mills, this claim provides no basis for relief.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, we deny Marshall's petition for writ of habeas corpus.
It is so ordered.
WELLS, QUINCE, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur.
CANTERO, J., concurs with an opinion, in which WELLS and BELL, JJ., concur.
LEWIS, J., concurs in result only with an opinion.
PARIENTE, C.J., dissents with an opinion.
ANSTEAD, J., dissents with an opinion.
. The trial court found the following four aggravating circumstances: (1) the murder was committed by a person under sentence of imprisonment; (2) the defendant was previ ously convicted of violent felonies; (3) the murder was committed while the defendant was engaged in the commission of or an attempt to commit a burglary; and (4) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC). In mitigation, the trial court found that the defendant's behavior at trial was acceptable and that the defendant entered prison at a young age. The trial court, however, specifically rejected as mitigation that the defendant's older brother influenced him and led him astray to run the streets and break the law, and that his mother caused him to be-Heve he would suffer no negative consequences for his bad behavior. See id.
. In our previous opinion, we rejected a similar claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, noting that trial counsel's performance was not deficient pursuant to the test in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). See Marshall v. State, 854 So.2d 1235, 1248 (Fla.2003).
. See Bates v. State, 750 So.2d 6, 15-17 (Fla.1999) (holding trial court did not violate Alee by refusing to appoint additional experts to evaluate MRI results where court-appointed expert opined defendant suffered from organic brain damage, defense counsel claimed MRI would not show this functional brain damage, and MRI results revealed no presence of organic brain damage); see also Rose v. State, 506 So.2d 467, 471 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (concluding trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to appoint additional experts where several experts had been previously appointed); cf. Morgan v. State, 639 So.2d 6, 11-12 (Fla.1994) (concluding that denial of defendant's request for additional experts on grounds that experts were biased was error, but harmless given that at least five experts had been previously retained to aid in defense); but see Cade v. State, 658 So.2d 550, 555 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995) (holding trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant's motion for appointment of DNA expert given the central importance of DNA evidence to the State's case); Dingle v. State, 654 So.2d 164, 167 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (concluding trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant's motion for additional experts which were sought to rebut the State's evidence concerning the timing of the victim infant's injuries).
. In his original habeas petition, Marshall argued that the death penalty is unconstitutional as applied to him in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). After Marshall's petition was filed, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), which applied the Apprendi decision to death penalty cases. Subsequently, in the plurality decisions in Bottoson v. Moore, 833 So.2d 693, 695 (Fla.2002), and King v. Moore, 831 So.2d 143 (Fla.2002), this Court addressed the application of Ring in Florida, and while there was no single majority view expressed in either case, this Court denied relief. After the release of Bottoson and King, we allowed supplemental filings by Marshall and the State on this issue.
. See, e.g., Robinson v. State, 865 So.2d 1259 (Fla.2004); Smith v. State, 866 So.2d 51 (Fla.2004); Parker v. State, 873 So.2d 270 (Fla.2004); Guzman v. State, 868 So.2d 498 (Fla.2003); Davis v. State, 875 So.2d 359 (Fla.2003); Zakrzewski v. State, 866 So.2d 688 (Fla.2003); Henry v. State, 862 So.2d 679, 681 (Fla.2003); Owen v. State, 862 So.2d 687, 704 (Fla.2003); Johnston v. State, 863 So.2d 271, 286 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 946, 124 S.Ct. 1676, 158 L.Ed.2d 372 (2004); Cummings-El v. State, 863 So.2d 246, 253 (Fla.2003); Anderson v. State, 863 So.2d 169, 189 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 940, 124 S.Ct. 1662, 158 L.Ed.2d 363 (2004); Jones v. State, 855 So.2d 611, 619 (Fla.2003); Rivera v. State, 859 So.2d 495, 508 (Fla.2003); Davis v. State, 859 So.2d 465, 480 (Fla.2003); Stewart v. State, 872 So.2d 226 (Fla.2003); Conde v. State, 860 So.2d 930, 959 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 977, 124 S.Ct. 1885, 158 L.Ed.2d 475 (2004); McCoy v. State, 853 So.2d 396, 409 (Fla.2003); Owen v. Crosby, 854 So.2d 182, 193 (Fla.2003); Fennie v. State, 855 So.2d 597, 611 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 975, 124 S.Ct. 1877, 158 L.Ed.2d 471 (2004); Caballero v. State, 851 So.2d 655, 664 (Fla.2003); Nelson v. State, 850 So.2d 514, 533 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1091, 124 S.Ct. 961, 157 L.Ed.2d 797 (2003); Belcher v. State, 851 So.2d 678, 685 (Fla. July 10, 2003); Allen v. State, 854 So.2d 1255, 1262 (Fla.2003); Wright v. State, 857 So.2d 861, 878 (Fla.2003), 541 U.S. 961, 124 S.Ct. 1715, 158 L.Ed.2d 402 (2004); Blackwelder v. State, 851 So.2d 650, 653 (Fla.2003); Duest v. State, 855 So.2d 33, 49 (Fla.2003); Cooper v. State, 856 So.2d 969, 977 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1222, 124 S.Ct. 1512, 158 L.Ed.2d 159 (2004); Pace v. State, 854 So.2d 167, 172 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1153, 124 S.Ct. 1155, 157 L.Ed.2d 1049 (2004); Butler v. State, 842 So.2d 817, 834 (Fla.2003); Harris v. State, 843 So.2d 856, 870 (Fla.2003); Lawrence v. State, 846 So.2d 440, 456 (Fla.2003); Banks v. State, 842 So.2d 788, 793 (Fla.2003); Grim v. State, 841 So.2d 455, 465 (Fla.2003); Lugo v. State, 845 So.2d 74, 119 (Fla.2003); Jones v. State, 845 So.2d 55, 74 (Fla.2003); Kormondy v. State, 845 So.2d 41, 54 (Fla.2003); Doorbal v. State, 837 So.2d 940, 963 (Fla.2003); Anderson v. State, 841 So.2d 390, 408 (Fla.2003); Cole v. State, 841 So.2d 409, 431 (Fla.2003); Conahan v. State, 844 So.2d 629, 642 (Fla.2003); Spencer v. State, 842 So.2d 52, 72 (Fla.2003); Porter v. Crosby, 840 So.2d 981, 987 (Fla.2003); Lynch v. State, 841 So.2d 362, 366 (Fla.2003); Lucas v. State, 841 So.2d 380, 389 (Fla.2003); Fotopoulos v. State, 838 So.2d 1122, 1136 (Fla.2002); Israel v. State, 837 So.2d 381, 394 (Fla.2002); Bruno v. Moore, 838 So.2d 485, 492 (Fla.2002); Marquard v. State, 850 So.2d 417, 431 (Fla.2002); Chavez v. State, 832 So.2d 730, 767 (Fla. Nov.21, 2002); Washington v. State, 835 So.2d 1083, 1091 (Fla.2002); Bottoson v. Moore, 833 So.2d 693, 694 (Fla.2002); King v. Moore, 831 So.2d 143, 144 (Fla.2002).
. See, e.g., Smith v. State, 866 So.2d 51, 68 (Fla.2004) (denying relief on Ring claim and "specifically not[ing] that one of the aggravating factors present in this matter is a prior violent felony conviction"); Davis v. State, 875 So.2d 359, 374 (Fla.2003) (stating that "[w]e have denied relief in direct appeals where there has been a prior violent felony aggravator"); Johnston v. State, 863 So.2d 271, 286 (Fla.2003) (stating that the existence of a "prior violent felony conviction alone satisfies constitutional mandates because the conviction was heard by a jury and determined beyond a reasonable doubt"), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 946, 124 S.Ct. 1676, 158 L.Ed.2d 372 (2004); Henry v. State, 862 So.2d 679, 687 (Fla.2003) (stating in postconviction case that this Court has previously rejected Ring claims "in cases involving the aggravating factor of a previous violent felony conviction"); see also Rivera v. State, 859 So.2d 495, 508 (Fla.2003); Jones v. State, 855 So.2d 611, 619 (Fla.2003); Conde v. State, 860 So.2d 930, 959 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 977, 124 S.Ct. 1885, 158 L.Ed.2d 475 (2004); Belcher v. State, 851 So.2d 678, 685 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1054, 124 S.Ct. 816, 157 L.Ed.2d 706 (2003); Blackwelder v. State, 851 So.2d 650, 654 (Fla.2003); Duest v. State, 855 So.2d 33, 49 (Fla.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 993, 124 S.Ct. 2023, 158 L.Ed.2d 500 (2004); Grim v. State, 841 So.2d 455, 465 (Fla.2003); Jones v. State, 845 So.2d 55, 74 (Fla.2003); Lugo v. State, 845 So.2d 74, 119 n. 79 (Fla.2003); Doorbal v. State, 837 So.2d 940, 963 (Fla.2003).