Opinion ID: 2543852
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Good Adjustment to Life in Prison

Text: We next address the trial court's rejection of the proposed mitigating circumstance that Ault, having successfully completed a prison sentence, could adjust to life in prison. The trial court's discussion of this factor states only that it did not consider this ability to be a mitigator for murder. We agree with Ault that this ruling was error. First, the trial court erred in concluding that, as a matter of law, the ability to successfully adjust to a sentence of life in prison is not mitigating in nature. As the United States Supreme Court has observed, while evidence of good conduct in prison does not reduce culpability for a defendant's crime, it could be mitigating in the sense that it might serve as a basis for a sentence less than death. Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1, 7, 106 S.Ct. 1669, 90 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986); see also Fead v. State, 512 So.2d 176, 179 (Fla. 1987) (finding evidence that the defendant was a model prisoner during his previous commitment constituted a valid mitigating factor). Second, the trial court failed to provide specific written findings of fact based upon ... the records of the trial and the sentencing proceedings. § 921.141(3), Fla. Stat. (2007). During the penalty phase, evidence was presented demonstrating that Ault had completed a term in prison. At the same time, some evidence was presented that might have supported the rejection of this fact as mitigation. For example, Dr. Carter noted that, in reviewing Ault's personal history, she had reviewed some jail records containing disciplinary reports. The trial court's order failed to discuss this evidence or to rule on whether the proposed mitigation was proven. As we have previously stated, the failure to consider and properly evaluate mitigating evidence deprives this Court of the tools to meaningfully review the sentence imposed or to undertake a proportionality review. Harris, 843 So.2d at 869. We find that the trial court's order was deficient in this regard. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court erred in summarily rejecting the possibility of a positive adjustment to life in prison as a mitigating circumstance.