Opinion ID: 1842460
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Supplemental Ring and Atkins Claims

Text: We remanded this case to the trial court solely for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether Arbelaez's trial counsel was ineffective in failing to pursue penalty phase mitigation evidence. After the hearing but before a ruling, Arbelaez attempted to supplement his rule 3.850 motion with arguments based on two recent Supreme Court decisions, Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), and Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002). The trial court rejected the supplemental motion as beyond the scope of our remand. We review such decisions under an abuse of discretion standard. See Way v. State, 760 So.2d 903, 916 (Fla.2000). Although we recognize that it might have been more efficient for the trial court to hear Arbelaez's Ring and Atkins claims during the remand, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in declining to hear them. The trial court was justified in adhering strictly to our instructions on remand and dismissing the supplemental motion. For purposes of efficiency, however, we note that Arbelaez's Ring and Atkins claims would certainly fail on the merits. Contemporaneously with the conviction for first-degree murder, the jury also convicted Arbelaez of kidnapping. Id. at 911. That conviction became the basis for one of the aggravating factors the trial court found. See Arbelaez, 775 So.2d at 912. This Court has repeatedly dismissed arguments under Ring where one of the aggravating factors is a previous or contemporaneous conviction. See, e.g., Kimbrough v. State, 886 So.2d 965 (Fla.2004); Douglas v. State, 878 So.2d 1246 (Fla.2004); Doorbal v. State, 837 So.2d 940, 963 (Fla.), cert. denied, 539 U.S. 962, 123 S.Ct. 2647, 156 L.Ed.2d 663 (2003). Arbelaez cannot feed Atkins through Ring. He contends that, after Atkins, the absence of mental retardation is now an element of capital murder that, under Ring, the jury must consider and find beyond a reasonable doubt. We have rejected such arguments. See Bottoson v. Moore, 833 So.2d 693 (Fla.2002) (rejecting the defendant's Atkins claim on the ground that the trial judge had found the defendant not to be mentally retarded). Other state supreme courts have reached the same conclusion. See, e.g., Head v. Hill, 277 Ga. 255, 587 S.E.2d 613, 619-21 (2003); Russell v. State, 849 So.2d 95, 148 (Miss.2003); State v. Williams, 831 So.2d 835, 860 n. 35 (La.2002). Arbelaez has no right under Ring and Atkins to a jury determination of whether he is mentally retarded. [2]