Opinion ID: 1597347
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Failure to Investigate and Present Mitigation

Text: Taylor asserts that there were more mitigating factors that could have been presented that counsel, Manuel Lopez, failed to present, but does not specify what these factors could be. Instead, Taylor attempts to demonstrate counsel's ineffectiveness by focusing solely on the number of hours Lopez spent preparing for resentencing. We have held: An attorney has a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation, including an investigation of the defendant's background, for possible mitigating evidence. Porter v. Singletary, 14 F.3d 554, 557 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1009, 115 S.Ct. 532, 130 L.Ed.2d 435 (1994). The failure to do so may render counsel's assistance ineffective. Bolender [v. Singletary], 16 F.3d [1547,] 1557 [(11th Cir.1994)]. Rose v. State, 675 So.2d 567, 571 (Fla. 1996). In Rose, we found counsel was ineffective where counsel made practically no investigation, and Rose was able to demonstrate substantial mitigation that counsel failed to uncover and present. Id. at 572. The record demonstrated that counsel was inexperienced, and this Court held that his uninformed decision did not amount to strategy. Id. Likewise, in Hildwin v. Dugger, 654 So.2d 107 (Fla.1995), the petitioner also was able to demonstrate mitigation that trial counsel failed to uncover. Id. at 110. The trial court found, and we conclude, that trial counsel's performance at sentencing was deficient. Trial counsel's sentencing investigation was woefully inadequate. As a consequence, trial counsel failed to unearth a large amount of mitigating evidence which could have been presented at sentencing. For example, trial counsel was not even aware of Hildwin's psychiatric hospitalizations and suicide attempts. Id. at 109. However,  Strickland does not require counsel to investigate every conceivable line of mitigating evidence no matter how unlikely the effort would be to assist the defendant at sentencing. Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 533, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003). Rather, in deciding whether trial counsel exercised reasonable professional judgment with regard to the investigation and presentation of mitigation evidence, a reviewing court must focus on whether the investigation resulting in counsel's decision not to introduce certain mitigation evidence was itself reasonable. Ferrell v. State, 918 So.2d 163, 170 (Fla.2005) (citing Wiggins, 539 U.S. at 523, 123 S.Ct. 2527; Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. 2052). When making this assessment, `a court must consider not only the quantum of evidence already known to counsel, but also whether the known evidence would lead a reasonable attorney to investigate further.' Ferrell, 918 So.2d at 170 (quoting Wiggins, 539 U.S. at 527, 123 S.Ct. 2527). Ultimately, in Ferrell, we agreed with the trial court's assessment that trial counsel was not deficient, stating that this was not a case where counsel presented no mitigation, nor a case where counsel made no attempt to investigate. Id. at 171 (citing Torres-Arboleda v. Dugger, 636 So.2d 1321, 1326 (Fla.1994)). The record shows this is not a case where trial counsel failed to investigate and present available mitigating evidence. Cf. Rose, 675 So.2d at 571-72. The trial court's findings of mitigation directly refute such a claim. Taylor does not allege that counsel made no attempt to investigate mitigation or that he failed to present something he otherwise uncovered. Importantly, Taylor makes no specific allegation of what mitigation could have been presented that counsel failed to present. Under these circumstances, we conclude Taylor has shown no error in the trial court's holding that Taylor has failed to demonstrate that counsel was deficient. Accordingly, the Court need not address prejudice. See, e.g., Waterhouse, 792 So.2d at 1182.