Opinion ID: 1931059
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 26

Heading: Failure to Reweigh Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

Text: Finally, Wright argues that this Court struck an aggravating circumstance on direct appeal and failed to reweigh the remaining aggravating and mitigating circumstances as required by Sochor v. Florida, 504 U.S. 527, 112 S.Ct. 2114, 119 L.Ed.2d 326 (1992). Wright also seems to argue that there was mitigating evidence presented that should have been found by the trial court. On direct appeal, we affirmed the trial court's order finding there were no mitigating circumstances. See Wright, 473 So.2d at 1282. Wright did not raise this claim in a motion for rehearing following our opinion in his initial appeal. We therefore conclude that he abandoned this claim. See Lightbourne v. State, 841 So.2d 431, 442 (Fla.2003) (finding that a claim which could have been raised in a motion for rehearing but was not was abandoned and procedurally barred from consideration in a postconviction proceeding); see also Garcia v. State, 816 So.2d 554, 569 (Fla.2002). Therefore, to the extent Wright argues this Court erred in failing to find the existence of mitigation, this claim is procedurally barred. We also deny Wright's claim made pursuant to Sochor v. Florida . On direct appeal, we struck the cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP) aggravating factor, finding that the degree of heightened premeditation necessary for CCP was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We stated: Because the court properly found there were no mitigating and three aggravating circumstances, we conclude the imposition of the death penalty was correct and find it unnecessary to remand for a new sentencing hearing. We also find the imposition of the death penalty in this case is proportionately correct. Wright, 473 So.2d at 1282 (citations omitted). We note that both our decision on direct appeal and our decision in Wright's appeal of the denial of his first 3.850 motion were issued prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Sochor. This habeas petition, filed nearly ten years after this claim arose, is the first time Wright has presented this issue for our review. [8] We conclude that even after removing CCP from consideration of the valid aggravating circumstances, three valid aggravating circumstances [9] remain and no valid mitigating circumstances exist. Striking one aggravating factor when there are no mitigating circumstances does not necessarily require resentencing because, `[i]f there is no likelihood of a different sentence, the error must be deemed harmless.' Sochor v. State, 619 So.2d 285, 293 (Fla.1993) (quoting Rogers v. State, 511 So.2d 526, 535 (Fla.1987)). Under the circumstances of this case, we find that there is no likelihood of a different sentence even if the CCP aggravator had been eliminated from the trial court's consideration. Thus, the trial court's reliance on the unsupported aggravator was harmless error. See Bruno v. Moore, 838 So.2d 485 (Fla.2002); Sochor, 619 So.2d at 293. We therefore deny relief on this claim.