Opinion ID: 1940167
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: state's 3.850 appeal

Text: Following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Strickland, this Court held that for ineffective assistance of counsel claims to be successful, two requirements must be satisfied: A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, to be considered meritorious, must include two general components. First, the claimant must identify particular acts or omissions of the lawyer that are shown to be outside the broad range of reasonably competent performance under prevailing professional standards. Second, the clear, substantial deficiency shown must further be demonstrated to have so affected the proceeding that confidence in the outcome is undermined. Maxwell v. Wainwright, 490 So.2d 927, 932 (Fla.1986). Ineffective assistance of counsel claims present a mixed question of law and fact and, therefore, are subject to plenary review based upon the Strickland test. See id.; see also Stephens v. State, 748 So.2d 1028, 1033 (Fla.1999). Under this standard, this Court conducts an independent review of the trial court's legal conclusions, while giving deference to the trial court's factual findings. See id. There is a strong presumption that trial counsel's performance was effective. Strickland provides: Because of the difficulties inherent in making the evaluation, a court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, and further: [C]ounsel is strongly presumed to have rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Id. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The defendant alone carries the burden to overcome the presumption of effective assistance: [T]he defendant must overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action `might be considered sound trial strategy.' Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The United States Supreme Court explained: [A] court deciding an actual ineffectiveness claim must judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged conduct on the facts of the particular case, viewed as of the time of counsel's conduct. A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance must identify the acts or omissions of counsel that are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable professional judgment. The court must then determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, the identified acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. Id. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052; see also Asay v. State, 769 So.2d 974, 984 (Fla.2000) ([T]he defendant bears the burden of proving that counsel's representation was unreasonable under prevailing professional standards and was not a matter of sound trial strategy.). Finally, [j]udicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential. 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Initially, the State argues that the trial court shifted the burden from the defendant to the State to prove that counsel's performance was reasonable. After evaluating the postconviction evidentiary hearing testimony provided by Dr. Berland, the mental health expert presented by Duncan, the circuit court, in its order, wrote: Based on Dr. Berland's testimony, the Court finds that counsel knew or should have known of the existence of various mitigating factors that could have been presented during the penalty phase. The onus is therefore on the State to demonstrate that counsel had a valid strategic or tactical basis for declining to present those factors. Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Fifth Amended Motion to Vacate Judgments of Conviction and Sentences at 16 (emphasis added). The lower court further wrote: Simply asserting that something was done for unknown strategic reasons is not sufficient. An evidentiary hearing is held so that the Court may hear what the actual reason was, and may then determine whether that reason is consistent with professional standards. In the absence of a specific reason, the Court is constrained to find that the [sic] Mr. Duncan's allegation has satisfied the performance prong of Strickland. Id. at 18. While the United States Supreme Court has unquestionably determined that the burden of persuasion is on the defendant to demonstrate ineffective assistance, see Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, we have held that [t]he failure to investigate and present available mitigating evidence is a relevant concern along with the reasons for not doing so. Rose v. State, 675 So.2d 567, 571 (Fla.1996). If the trial court's order was understood as holding that Duncan is entitled to relief solely because his former attorney was unable to provide the court with a reason for his failure to call Dr. Berland to testify, then such a holding would be in error, as it would constitute improper burden shifting. Ineffective assistance of counsel is not proven, per se, merely because the attorney whose acts are being questioned cannot provide a justification for his actions. The United States Supreme Court has held, and we have recognized, that the burden is on the moving party to demonstrate that the two components of Strickland, namely that the acts or omissions of the lawyer were outside the broad range of reasonably competent performance and that the substantial deficiency so affected the proceeding that confidence in the outcome is undermined, have been satisfied. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052; Asay, 769 So.2d at 984. Once the moving party has made the required showing, an objective basis for counsel's actions must be found, within the record, to justify counsel's performance and thereby rebut the moving party's claim. If the record itself does not provide such justification, then the court has no choice but to require the State, and the attorney whose performance is in question, to answer the moving party's allegations. In the instant action, the trial court did not improperly shift the burden to the State to prove counsel was effective. A review of the court's order demonstrates that the trial court followed the proper procedure in determining that a new penalty phase is warranted. Initially, the court considered the evidence presented by Duncan, and determined that Duncan had satisfied the demands of Strickland. Next, the court reviewed the record and held that the record, which included the testimony of Duncan's former attorney, did not provide the requisite justification for the attorney's performance, and therefore Duncan was entitled to a new penalty phase. Having reviewed the record and considered both parties' arguments on appeal, we hold that Duncan did satisfy the requirements of Strickland, and the record does not provide an objective basis to justify counsel's actions, and therefore the trial court properly granted Duncan a new penalty phase. To satisfy the first requirement of Strickland, the deficiency prong, the defendant must show that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Ragsdale v. State, 798 So.2d 713, 715 (Fla.2001) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052). The postconviction trial court ruled that Duncan had sufficiently demonstrated counsel's ineffectiveness. With respect to the issue of counsel's failure to present evidence regarding mental health mitigation, Duncan presented several witnesses during the postconviction evidentiary hearing. Most importantly, the court heard the testimony of Dr. Berland, the mental health expert originally hired by defense counsel at the time of the trial, but never called to testify on Duncan's behalf. According to Dr. Berland's testimony at the evidentiary hearing, he first became involved in Duncan's case in 1991. He interviewed Duncan twice, he conducted psychological testing on Duncan, and he interviewed three lay witnesses. Dr. Berland testified that it was his opinion, based on his evaluation, that Duncan suffered from a mental illness, specifically a chronic, long-lasting psychotic disturbance, and that there was evidence of delusional paranoid thinking. Further, Dr. Berland stated that he also had psychological testing that suggested brain injury, although he had no definitive history of brain injury. The lay witnesses contacted by Dr. Berland corroborated symptoms of a psychotic disturbance and significant drug abuse. Dr. Berland explained that while he would have testified regarding Duncan's mental illness, it would have been better if he had been able to continue his evaluation by contacting more lay witnesses. However, he was convinced he had something substantial. In our opinion on direct appeal, we held that [t]here was no evidence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance or of mental disturbance that interfered with Duncan's knowledge of right and wrong. Duncan, 619 So.2d at 283. This lack of evidence caused us to hold that the trial court's consideration of the two mental health mitigating factors in determining the propriety of a death sentence was improper. See id. We note that proper consideration of the mitigating factors in this case is all the more important given the trial court's finding of only one aggravating factor. Clearly, as the trial court originally determined that the two mental health mitigating factors were supported, Duncan's penalty phase counsel must have attempted to argue in support of mental health mitigation. However, we held on direct appeal that he failed to present any evidence to support the two mitigating factors. As was made evident during the postconviction evidentiary hearing, Dr. Berland had evidence to support the mental health mitigators that was not presented. Unquestionably, had the available, substantial evidence been presented to support the two statutory mental health mitigating factors, the case is placed in an entirely different posture and our confidence in the penalty phase is undermined. The trial judge presiding over the postconviction motion and evidentiary hearing determined that Dr. Berland was a credible witness who had available evidence that could have been presented. We agree. The doctor's testimony satisfies Duncan's burden of identifying particular omissions made by his penalty phase counsel that were outside the broad range of reasonably competent performance. It was then the State's obligation to demonstrate, either through the trial record or the testimony of Duncan's trial counsel, a reasonable, objective justification for counsel's failure to present the available evidence of mental health mitigation. Despite the trial court's statement, in its order, that the Court can conceive of sound strategic and tactical reasons for deciding not to call Dr. Berland to testify, Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Fifth Amended Motion to Vacate Judgments of Conviction and Sentences at 18, it is clear to us that the record is completely devoid of any justification for counsel's failure to present the available evidence. The trial court did not provide what it believed to be the sound strategic and tactical reasons for deciding not to call Dr. Berland, nor can we ascertain from this record what those reasons may have been. When questioned during oral argument, the State's attorney could also not provide this Court with any such reasons. We again emphasize that our holding is not based solely upon Duncan's former attorney's failure to provide a justification for his actions. Instead, it is the complete absence in the record before us of any reason to support why the doctor was not called to testify on Duncan's behalf. Duncan, having satisfied his burden under Strickland, is entitled to a new penalty phase.