Opinion ID: 1611770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Guilt Phase Ineffective Assistance Claims Denied Without an Evidentiary Hearing

Text: In his first claim, Cole raises numerous arguments, alleging trial counsel's ineffectiveness, which the trial court summarily denied without an evidentiary hearing. We address here only subclaim seven, the subclaim relating to the guilt phase. We will address the remaining subclaims to this claim in the penalty phase section of this opinion. Cole's seventh subclaim is that trial counsel failed to object to hearsay statements made by Dan Jackson and Deputy Tammy Jicha. Dan Jackson was the motorist that Pam Edwards flagged down when fleeing the national forest. He testified that while driving Pam out of the forest to call the police that she said that she had been tied up and raped. Tammy Jicha was a deputy with the Lake County Sheriff's office and responded to Pam's telephone call. Deputy Jicha testified that even though she determined that the alleged crimes occurred in Marion County and not in Lake County, she continued talking with Ms. Edwards to determine whether Ms. Edwards was reporting real events or making a false crime report. Deputy Jicha further testified, I felt like she was telling the truth, because everything just added up, right down the line. Counsel did not object to these statements. Cole contended in his rule 3.850 motion that the failure to object to these statements allowed the State to improperly bolster Ms. Edwards' credibility and that the prejudice was the extra weight the jury likely gave her testimony. The trial court ruled that the rule 3.850 motion contained insufficient allegations as to prejudice and that the allegations made were entirely speculative. On the basis of the evidence in the trial record, we find no error in the trial court's denial of this claim for lack of prejudice. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The trial record contains substantial other evidence corroborating Pam's testimony that she had been tied up and raped. Mary Gamble testified that Cole confessed to raping Pam. Nails removed from the trees where Pam was tied up were introduced into evidence, and twine was still attached to one nail. Accordingly, Cole is not entitled to Strickland relief on this claim. See Arbelaez v. State, 775 So.2d 909, 914 (Fla.2000); see also Gudinas v. State, 816 So.2d 1095,1101 n. 6 (Fla.2002) (finding no error in trial court's summarily denying legally sufficient claims where claims were conclusively refuted by trial record).