Opinion ID: 1784402
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Jailhouse Informants

Text: Next, Davis asserts that the trial court erred in denying his claim that the State failed to reveal to his defense counsel that promises of lenient treatment were made to jailhouse informants operating as agents of the State. As a result, Davis contends that the State violated the mandates of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972), Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and United States v. Henry, 447 U.S. 264, 100 S.Ct. 2183, 65 L.Ed.2d 115 (1980). Specifically, Davis's claim refers to contacts between the State and Gary Dolan, Kenneth Gardner, and Shannon Stevens. [8] Davis alleges that Gary Dolan was engaged in negotiations with the State whereby he would receive benefits in exchange for information relating to this case. Davis directs attention to Dolan's testimony at the evidentiary hearing that Assistant State Attorney Beverly Andrews approached him with a list of cases, one of which was Davis's, and indicated that Dolan would receive benefits in exchange for testimony in cases on the list. Davis also relies upon a motion filed by Dolan in his own case wherein Dolan's attorney sought an order from the sentencing court for the benefit of the Department of Corrections indicating that while confined in the Pinellas County Jail, the Defendant, pursuant to an agreement by the State, shall be entitled to receive Statutory Good and Gain Time as if he had been incarcerated in the State Prison System. The granting to the Defendant of this good and gain time was an agreement by the State.... Dolan's testimony at the evidentiary hearing was contradicted by Assistant State Attorney Beverly Andringa (formerly Andrews). Andrews testified that she never requested that Dolan obtain information from a particular defendant in return for any promise. Moreover, Andrews testified that throughout her entire career she has never informed any in-custody witness that he or she should obtain information from a particular defendant for a particular promise. With regard to Davis's claim concerning Dolan, the trial court found that [b]ased upon this inconsistency, and from Dolan's demeanor and obvious grudge against the State, this Court finds his testimony not to be credible. This Court does not believe that the State solicited Dolan as an informant. Based on our review of the record, we conclude that the trial court's finding is supported by competent, substantial evidence and we therefore affirm the trial court's denial of this claim. See Windom v. State, 886 So.2d 915 (Fla.2004) (holding that the Court will not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court on questions of fact and, likewise, on the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given to the evidence by the trial court so long as the trial court's findings are supported by competent substantial evidence); Lightbourne v. State, 841 So.2d 431, 437 (Fla.2003) (holding that when the Court is reviewing an allegation that the State withheld information regarding jailhouse informants, the Court should defer[ ] to the factual findings made by the trial court to the extent they are supported by competent, substantial evidence, but review[ ] de novo the application of those facts to the law). Dolan was not presented by the State to testify at Davis's trial and conflicting testimony was presented at the postconviction evidentiary hearing regarding whether he was negotiating a deal with the State. Moreover, the motion Dolan filed with his sentencing court indicating that a deal had been made with the State makes no mention of any efforts by him in Davis's case. Based on the foregoing, we conclude that Davis has failed to establish his claim that Dolan was acting as an agent of the State. Similar to Davis's allegations regarding Dolan, Davis alleges that the State was involved in negotiations with Kenneth Gardner in exchange for testimony regarding Davis, and that the State knew that Gardner was lying at his deposition. Davis points out that Gardner testified at the evidentiary hearing that he did not want to return to death row, and therefore, he lied in his deposition regarding statements made to him by Davis. Additionally, Davis cites to Gardner's testimony at the evidentiary hearing that he was instructed by the State to obtain information from Davis concerning Davis's case. Notably, Gardner was never called to testify by the State at Davis's trial. Additionally, Gardner's testimony at the evidentiary hearing that his trial attorney, Frank Lauderback, informed him that the State wanted him to obtain information from Davis was specifically contradicted by attorney Lauderback. At the evidentiary hearing, Lauderback testified that during his representation of Gardner, he never told Gardner that the State wanted Gardner to obtain information from Davis. The trial court found Gardner's testimony at the evidentiary hearing to be completely unreliable. The trial court also noted that Gardner's testimony that the State had recently threatened him with denial of parole because he had refused to talk to the State about Davis's case was specifically denied by the investigator that Gardner identified as having made the statement. The trial court's finding that Gardner's testimony was unreliable is supported by competent, substantial evidence in the record and we therefore afford it the appropriate deference because the trial judge was in the best position to hear the live testimony and judge the credibility of the witnesses. See Stephens v. State, 748 So.2d 1028, 1034 (Fla.1999). We therefore conclude that the trial court properly denied this claim.