Opinion ID: 1738638
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issues seven and nine

Text: In his seventh claim, Bowles argues that the trial court failed to appropriately weigh all nonstatutory mitigating evidence. Bowles' ninth claim is that the trial court erroneously rejected the two statutory mental mitigating factors: (1) the murder was committed while Bowles was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance; and (2) Bowles' capacity to appreciate the criminality of his acts at the time of the homicide was substantially diminished by his alcohol and drug abuse. We disagree. The trial court made the following findings with regards to mitigating factors. B. Statutory and Other Mitigating Factors. The Defendant asserts the following as statutory or other mitigating factors reasonably established by the greater weight of the evidence: 1. The Defendant suffered from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the murder. The Defendant asserts that evidence of his drinking and abusive childhood requires the finding that at the time of Mr. Hinton's murder, he was suffering from an extreme emotional disturbance. His theory, unsupported by expert testimony, is that the rage within him was unleashed by the use of alcohol and drugs. He argues that the 1982 prior violent felony in which he raped and battered his girlfriend, and Mr. Hinton's murder, can only be explained in the context of an underlying emotional disturbance. The Court finds that the Defendant is an alcoholic and has been using drugs and alcohol since his youth, and that many members of his family and extended family are alcoholics. However, this evidence does not support a finding of this mitigator unless being an alcoholic, standing alone, meets the definition of an extreme emotional disturbance. If so, then the Court would find this statutory mitigator to have been met by the evidence, but entitled to little weight. 2. The capacity of the Defendant to appreciate the criminality of his acts, was, at the time of the homicide, substantially diminished. The Defendant contends that his level of intoxication at the time of the murder substantially reduced his ability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct. On the day of the murder he had been drinking heavily. He drank six beers on his way to the train station with Mr. Hinton and Mr. Smith. He continued to drink. Although the Court finds that the Defendant was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the murder, the greater weight of the evidence does not sustain finding that his ability to appreciate the criminality of his acts was substantially diminished. To commit this crime, the Defendant waited for Mr. Hinton to fall asleep. He needed a hard object to overpower Mr. Hinton. He thought of a stepping stone outside, which was embedded in the ground. He had to lift this heavy object and bring it inside. He then had to enter quietly into Mr. Hinton's room. He had to aim the stone so it fells squarely on Mr. Hinton's head. He had to fend-off Mr. Hinton's efforts to save his life. He was able to think, act, and react in order to commit this murder, despite being under the influence of drugs and alcohol. When he was arrested approximately six days later, he was able to relate with clarity and detail how he killed Mr. Hinton. His only omission was how he stuffed toilet paper down Mr. Hinton's throat. He was also able to tell of events leading up to, and following, the murder. These facts prove to the Court that although he had ingested a substantial amount of alcohol and smoked marijuana, his ability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct was not substantially diminished. The defendant also argues that there was nothing in his post-murder actions to indicate that he was acting in a normal sober manner. After the killing, he was able to drive a car, purchase additional liquor, pick-up a woman on the beach and bring her back to the mobile home where he committed the murder. He was also sufficiently alert to keep her from the room in which Mr. Hinton's dead body lay covered in sheets. These events do not describe an individual whose ability to function and appreciate the criminality of his acts were substantially diminished. On the contrary, this evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Bowles was minimally affected by alcohol and drugs, despite his extensive use. The Court has given no weight to this factor. 3. Background and/or Personal History of the Defendant. The Defendant enjoyed a good childhood until age six or seven. However, by age ten he was sniffing glue and huffing paint. The discipline utilized by both his stepfathers was abusive. Beatings were administered on occasion with belts and fists. His mother testified that on occasion when she returned from work, she observed him bruised from the whippings. His mother was the victim of severe abuse which was witnessed by the defendant and his siblings. The Defendant further asserts as mitigation the fact that he never had a positive male role model in his life. He was abandoned by his mother, who chose an abusive stepfather over him. He did not receive parental encouragement to perform in school. He did not complete junior high school and did not receive the necessary educational tools to function well as a productive member of society. He also asserts his intoxication at the time of the offense, and extensive alcoholic background, to support this element of mitigation. The Defendant further submits that he provided testimony on behalf of the State of Florida in a case where a man was raped in a jail in Tampa, Florida. He further asserts that he cooperated by confessing to the instant crime and other crimes, and by voluntarily pleading guilty in the instant case and in two other homicide cases. The Court has carefully considered the evidence regarding the Defendant's abusive childhood and the severe abuse endured by his mother which he witnessed as a child. Those factors are given significant weight. The Court has also given some weight to the Defendant's history of alcoholism and the absence of a true father figure in his home during his childhood. The Court has given little weight to the Defendant's failure to complete junior high school and lack of an education; or his cooperation in this and other cases; or his voluntary pleas of guilty to this and other murders. The Court has also given little weight to the defendant's use of intoxicants and drugs at the time of the murder. The frequency with which the Defendant has used this as an explanation to law enforcement officers, when confronted about his violent actions, causes the court to give this factor less weight as mitigation and more weight as a convenient, but poor excuse. The Court has not given any weight to the circumstances after he left home. As to the latter, no evidence was presented. After carefully considering and weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances found to exist in this case, and mindful that human life is at stake in the balance, the Court finds that the aggravating circumstances proved beyond a reasonable doubt overwhelmingly outweigh the mitigating circumstances reasonably established by the evidence. Sentencing Order at 11-15. As to Bowles' seventh claim, contrary to Bowles' contention, the sentencing order demonstrates that the trial court made specific findings with regard to each mitigating circumstance presented by the defense. Indeed, the trial court gave significant mitigating weight to Bowles' abusive childhood and the abuse endured by his mother, which Bowles witnessed as a child, and some weight to Bowles' history of alcoholism and the absence of a true father figure in his home during his childhood. Under the total circumstances of this murder and on the basis set forth by the trial judge in the sentencing order, we find no error in the trial court's assignment of little weight to Bowles' use of intoxicants and drugs at the time of the murder. The trial court was well within its discretion in making and weighing such findings. Therefore, we find no error. See Trease v. State, 768 So.2d 1050, 1055 (Fla.2000); Bonifay v. State, 680 So.2d 413 (Fla.1996). We find the trial court's findings similar to what we approved in Brown v. State, 721 So.2d 274, 281 (Fla.1998) (footnote omitted): Brown argues that the trial court erred in rejecting as a statutory mitigating factor that his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired due to excessive alcohol and drug use both on the day of and during the two weeks prior to the murder. We have held that evidence of impaired capacity due to intoxication must be considered as a mitigating factor where the existence of such facts is established by evidence anywhere in the record. [ Hardwick v. State, 521 So.2d 1071, 1076 (Fla.1988).] However, evidence of alcohol and marijuana consumption on the day of the murder, without more, does not compel a finding of this mitigating factor. Cooper v. State, 492 So.2d 1059, 1062 (Fla. 1986). Here, despite Brown's claim that he smoked crack cocaine on the night of the murder and the existence of some evidence of alcohol consumption, there was no evidence that Brown was actually intoxicated at the time of the murder or that his capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired. To the contrary, the evidence indicates that Brown was coherent at the time of the murder and knew what he was doing. As the trial court found, the defendant discussed murdering the victim with the codefendant, he deliberately chose a knife rather than a firearm, the defendant was able to stab the victim many times, and he searched the apartment for money and car keys before absconding with the victim's truck. We note, however, that despite the lack of sufficient evidence to establish this statutory mitigator, the trial court considered Brown's consumption of drugs and alcohol and found that it supported a nonstatutory mitigating factor. In light of the above evidence, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in rejecting this statutory mitigating factor. Accordingly, we find no error. See also Banks v. State, 700 So.2d 363, 368 (Fla.1997). In this case, there was similar competent, substantial evidence supporting the trial court's determination of the proposed mitigation in the evidence which demonstrated how the murder was committed and in the appellant's actions after the murder was committed. The decision as to whether a mitigating circumstance has been established is within the trial court's discretion. See Blackwood v. State, 777 So.2d 399, 409 (Fla.2000); see also San Martin v. State, 705 So.2d 1337, 1347-48 (Fla.1997) (affirming trial court's rejection of extreme emotional disturbance and substantially diminished capacity mitigator, despite expert testimony in support of such mitigation, where evidence in the record showed purposeful conduct which contradicted such mitigation); Johnson v. State, 608 So.2d 4, 13 (Fla.1992) (affirming rejection of extreme emotional disturbance and substantially diminished capacity mitigators where Court found there was too much purposeful conduct for the court to have given any significant weight to Johnson's alleged drug intoxication, self-imposed disability that the facts show not to have been a mitigator in this case); Preston, 607 So.2d at 411 (affirming rejection of extreme emotional disturbance and substantially diminished capacity mitigators in spite of defendant's presentation of expert evidence in support of mitigators where trial court based its decision on competent, substantial evidence of purposeful conduct in committing murder). Even if we did find that the trial court erred in the weighing and evaluation of the mitigation which was proposed, we would find any such error in respect to the mitigation presented to be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The aggravators in this case patently overwhelm the mitigation in this record.