Opinion ID: 2492624
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: johnston's habeas claims

Text: Johnston also filed a petition for habeas corpus raising five issues. As explained below, because all of Johnston's claims are either without merit or procedurally barred, we hold that Johnston is not entitled to relief.
Johnston first claims that his mental disorders constitutionally bar imposition of the death penalty. Citing Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), and Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005), Johnston seeks relief based on his mental status. Because Johnston's claim is both procedurally barred and without merit, we deny relief. This Court has repeatedly held that there is no per se bar to imposing the death penalty on individuals with mental illness. See, e.g., Nixon v. State, 2 So.3d 137, 146 (Fla.2009); Lawrence v. State, 969 So.2d 294, 300 n. 9 (Fla.2007). Specifically, this Court has recently considered and rejected the precise arguments that Johnston raises here regarding the evolving standards of decency in death penalty jurisprudence. See Johnston v. State, 27 So.3d 11, 26-27 (Fla.2010) (denying David Eugene Johnston's claim, based on the reasoning in Atkins and Roper, that mental illness is a bar to execution), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 459, 178 L.Ed.2d 292 (2010). And this Court has made clear that we find no reason to depart from these precedents. Id. at 27. Accordingly, we hold that Johnston is not entitled to relief on this claim.
Johnston raises four additional claims in habeas that are procedurally barred because they are mere duplications of issues raised in his instant postconviction motion: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to object to the verbal jury instructions, (2) ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to challenge the fingerprint evidence, (3) ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to move to suppress Johnston's statements to law enforcement, [11] and (4) trial court error in admitting the Williams rule evidence of the Coryell murder. A habeas petition may not be used to litigate issues that have already been raised in a postconviction motion. See McDonald v. State, 952 So.2d 484, 498 (Fla.2006). Therefore, Johnston's petition for writ of habeas corpus is denied.