Opinion ID: 1133717
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Keesee's Testimony Regarding Ponticelli's Cocaine Use

Text: Ponticelli's second Giglio claim alleges that the State knowingly permitted Timothy Keesee to testify at trial that he did not see Ponticelli use drugs on the night of the homicides. This claim is also without merit. At trial, Keesee testified that when he and his brother arrived at the Grandinettis' trailer on the night of the homicides, he saw Ponticelli there discussing money Ponticelli owed the Grandinettis for prior cocaine purchases. Keesee testified that he saw cocaine sitting on the table in the trailer, but he did not see anyone using it. [15] At the evidentiary hearing, Keesee testified that this testimony was false, that he had seen Ponticelli use cocaine at the Grandinettis' trailer, and he certainly told the state investigator this, if not the prosecutor as well. [16] Keesee attributed his false testimony to the facts that (1) he was under the influence of cocaine at the time of his deposition and trial, [17] and (2) he wanted to get out of the spotlight in regard to his own drug use and criminal charges. [18] In addition to the prosecutor's interview notes and state investigator's report, which are described earlier in regard to Ponticelli's Brady claim, Ponticelli also alleges that a note the prosecutor jotted on Keesee's deposition testimony supports his Giglio claim. Next to Keesee's statement that he [d]idn't see them do cocaine. Didn't tell anyone they did cocaine, the prosecutor had underlined didn't tell anyone and wrote in the margin Told BM. [19] Taped. At the evidentiary hearing, the prosecutor testified that she could not determine what the note in the margin meant. She testified: I don't know if [the note] meant that I thought it was inconsistent with something [the state investigator] had, a tape [the state investigator] had made, or that if it was something inconsistent with something [the state investigator] had taped. . . . . I'm not sure if it was something that was a big dispute between [defense counsel] and I wanted to make a note that I thought that [Keesee] had said the same things somewhere else, he told [the state investigator] the same thing and it was a tape, or, like you're saying, that it's inconsistent with something that he had told [the state investigator] that was taped. So, I don't know. . . . . Oftentimes I'll put a question mark next to it too [to indicate that a witness may have made an inconsistent statement] and there's not a question mark. Ponticelli's defense counsel disagreed with the prosecutor's interpretation of this note. He testified that he believed this note indicated that the prosecutor acknowledged that Keesee told the state investigator that Keesee saw Ponticelli use cocaine and that the prosecutor wanted to know if Keesee's statement was in a form that was available to the defense. The trial court denied this claim because it found no evidence that the State either knowingly presented, or allowed to be presented, perjured testimony at trial. It recognized that Keesee testified adamantly at deposition and at trial that he did not see Ponticelli use cocaine on the day of the crimes, and that [r]eferences to drug use found in [the state investigator's] and [the] Prosecutor['s] notes are vague . . . It is understandable that [the prosecutor] and [the state investigator] could have overlooked vague statements in their notes when faced with this testimony. These findings are supported by competent, substantial evidence. The prosecutor's notation on Keesee's deposition testimony does not clearly indicate that the prosecutor knew Keesee was testifying falsely. At the evidentiary hearing, defense counsel and the prosecutor gave conflicting interpretations of this evidence. We defer to the trial court's findings of fact in regard to the resolution of conflicting testimony presented at the evidentiary hearing. See Sochor v. State, 883 So.2d 766, 785 (Fla.2004) (recognizing that the trial court must resolve conflicting testimony presented at the evidentiary hearing by assigning weight to each witness's testimony). Therefore, we affirm the trial court's denial of this claim.