Opinion ID: 1828411
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admission of Statement Regarding Sexual Battery

Text: Owen argues that the trial court erred in denying his claim that counsel was ineffective for allowing the jury to learn that Owen committed an uncharged sexual battery and to hear Owen's irrelevant and prejudicial statements about that sexual battery. The State called Captain Kevin McCoy of the Boca Raton Police Department to testify during the penalty phase about his investigation of three prior felonies committed by Owen, including the attempted murder of Marilee Manley. During cross-examination, defense counsel twice asked Captain McCoy if Owen had confessed to having sex with Manley, and McCoy answered in the affirmative. On redirect examination, the State asked the trial court for permission to introduce a statement Owen had made to Captain McCoy about the Manley sexual battery. Over defense objection, the trial judge allowed Captain McCoy to read the following lines transcribed from a video recording of Owen's confession: Answer by Mr. Owen: Yeah. So I opened up all the drawers, couldn't still find nothing. All I had was just that ring. So she was still knocked out, so at that point I figured, well, hell, man, I might as well just go over there and take advantage of her shit. Question [by Captain McCoy]: Uh-huh. Answer: Because she wasn't that bad looking. Question: Right. Answer: So I went over there and I ended up raping her, you know. . . . . Answer: No. I ended up taking them [the victim's pants] off then, you know, going about my work and Question: Okay. So you raped her on the bed. Answer: Yeah. The postconviction trial court found that counsel acted reasonably in not objecting to this line of questioning because the details of that crime were consistent with Owen's insanity and sexual confusion defense. The trial court also found that Owen was not prejudiced by this testimony because the prior violent felony aggravator was proven by Owen's conviction for the murder of Georgianna Worden. The record supports the trial court's findings. When reviewed in context, attorney Haughwout's questions appear to have been part of a strategy to portray Owen as sexually confused due to being a victim of childhood sexual abuse. The questions revealed that the attempted murder of Manley included a sexual battery and were followed by questions highlighting the sexual aspect of other crimes committed by Owen. Counsel is not ineffective for making a strategic decision to present evidence, even when in hindsight that decision opened the door to admission of evidence that is not entirely favorable to the defendant. For example, in Dillbeck v. State, 964 So.2d 95, 105-06 (Fla. 2007), this Court held that counsel was not ineffective for presenting evidence about Dillbeck's mental health and model prisoner evidence despite the presentation of such mitigation opening the door to evidence of a prior stabbing, an escape attempt, and the stabbing of another inmate. The Court found reasonable counsel's belief that the jury would be more likely to recommend death if the defense introduced no mitigation at all. Id. at 106. Furthermore, Owen has not demonstrated that he was prejudiced by admission of his statements because all four aggravating factors were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, independent of Owen's statements about the Manley sexual battery, and the trial judge found both statutory mental health mitigating factors and two nonstatutory mental health mitigating factors to be established despite Owen's account of the sexual battery.