Opinion ID: 147677
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ground Two: Ineffective Assistance Regarding Evidence of Racial Bias

Text: In the last numbered paragraph of his application, Jones obliquely references the argument in his petition that his attorneys were ineffective for failing to object to evidence that Jones used a racial slur in a post-arrest interview and has a tattoo that he says jurors would associate with white supremacist activity. Jones does not explain why the decision of the district court to deny relief on this ground is arguably wrong. We cannot see why it is. As an initial matter, we agree with the district court that Jones is not procedurally barred from raising this claim in federal court. On the appeal of the denial of Jones's motion under Rule 3.850, the Florida Supreme Court rejected this claim of ineffective assistance of counsel as procedurally barred because Jones's allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel is merely a variant of the issues [of the admissibility of the evidence] raised on direct appeal. Id. at 1033. The Florida Supreme Court did not employ a state procedural rule to avoid deciding Jones's claim on the merits; it only declined to reconsider its prior ruling on an issue that it found determinative of the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See Grossman v. McDonough, 466 F.3d 1325, 1348 (11th Cir.2006). The refusal to re-adjudicate this issue on the merits a second time does not bar federal habeas review. Green v. Nelson, 595 F.3d 1245, 1249 n. 1 (11th Cir.2010). On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court had decided that the trial court did not err in admitting either the evidence that Jones used a racial slur (and that, if it had, the error was harmless) or the evidence of Jones's spider web tattoo: In this case the jury was informed that Jones used a racial slur when he first gave his version of events to explain the scratches on his face in an attempt to deny his involvement in the murder. The detective did not repeat the racial slur but only indicated that a racial slur was used. Therefore, in this case we do not agree that the comments constituted impermissible appeals to the biases or prejudices of the jurors. .... ... [I]n this case, we do not find that there was any attempt to inject race as an issue in the trial, or an impermissible appeal to bias and prejudice. We further note that Jones was a white male charged with murdering a white female. In addition, the actual racial slur was not used before the jury and the comment was not repeated or subsequently highlighted. Based on the foregoing, we find that even if the admission of this reference to Jones using a racial slur was error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant also argues in this point on appeal that the prosecutor elicited improperly prejudicial testimony that the defendant had a spider web tattoo on his elbow, allegedly associated with white supremacist gang activity. The only evidence regarding the tattoo during the trial was elicited from ... [two] witnesses [who] testified that they noticed Jones' distinctive spider web tattoo at the time they encountered him [when he attempted to have the interior of McRae's Blazer cleaned], and Jones was asked to display this tattoo for the jury. There was no suggestion ever made to the jury by the State that the spider web tattoo was linked to racism, and it was only referred to before the jury as a distinctive characteristic assisting the witnesses in identifying the defendant. Accordingly, we find no error in the admission of this testimony. Jones I, 748 So.2d at 1023 (citations omitted). Jurists of reason would not debate the decision of the district court to deny relief on this ground. Again the record supports the description of the evidence by the Florida Supreme Court, and it is not debatable that the Florida Supreme Court reasonably applied clearly established federal law.