Opinion ID: 1770827
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Racial Motivation for Death Penalty

Text: Next, Freeman alleges defense counsel was ineffective for failing to argue the State's pursuit of the death penalty in the Epps and Collier cases was based upon improper racial considerations. He claims the prosecutor rejected Freeman's offer to plead guilty in both cases if the death penalty were dropped because the State needed to get the numbers up on cases seeking the death penalty where white defendants had killed black victims. There is no evidence in the record to refute this allegation; therefore, it must be taken as true and the merits should be addressed in an evidentiary hearing. See, e.g., Maharaj, 684 So.2d at 728; Anderson, 627 So.2d at 1171; Hoffman, 571 So.2d at 450 Holland, 503 So.2d at 1253; Lemon, 498 So.2d at 923. The State argues this claim is legally insufficient because the decision to seek the death penalty is within the ambit of the prosecutor's discretion. See State v. Bloom, 497 So.2d 2, 3 (Fla.1986). However, in Bloom, this Court stated: While recognizing a court's latitude and discretion during post-trial disposition, Jogan reiterated the state has absolute discretion at pre-trial. In considering similar circumstances, federal courts have held: [T]he decision of whether or not to prosecute in any given instance must be left to the discretion of the prosecutor. This discretion has been curbed by the judiciary only in those instances where impermissible motives may be attributed to the prosecution, such as bad faith, race, religion, or a desire to prevent the exercise of the defendant's constitutional rights. United States v. Smith, 523 F.2d 771, 782 (5th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 817, 97 S.Ct. 59, 50 L.Ed.2d 76 (1976) (citations omitted). We apply these principles and hold that article II, section 3, of the Florida Constitution prohibits the judiciary from interfering with this kind of discretionary executive function of a prosecutor. Id. (emphasis added). Thus, this Court has stated that prosecutorial discretion will not be interfered with unless there are improper motives. Likewise, in McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 107 S.Ct. 1756, 95 L.Ed.2d 262 (1987), the Supreme Court held that studies showing disproportionate impact of death sentences on black defendants as compared to white defendants were not sufficient to find the state's administration of the death penalty violated a black defendant's right to equal protection. However, the Court went on to say, [T]o prevail under the Equal Protection Clause, McCleskey must prove that the decision-makers in his case acted with discriminatory purpose. Id. at 292, 107 S.Ct. 1756. The claim being made here is distinguishable from cases which have alleged a discriminatory impact proves there was a discriminatory purpose. In this case there is an allegation that the prosecutor made a statement that his motives in pursuing the death penalty were based upon race. Since this claim is legally sufficient and not conclusively rebutted by the record, an evidentiary hearing should have been held to determine if the State pursued the death penalty for an improper racial motive and if the State acted with a discriminatory purpose. We note that this case is a rare exception limited to its facts.