Opinion ID: 1832081
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Evidence Negating Mitigation

Text: Kormondy next argues the State improperly introduced evidence [2] of his flight and capture by a canine unit to rebut the cooperation with authorities mitigator he had offered. During the opening statement at the penalty phase, defense counsel Arnold told the jury that Kormondy would be presenting mitigation in the form of his cooperation with the police after his arrest which led to the arrest and prosecution of Buffkin and Hazen. The State, on the other hand, presented evidence to show that Kormondy's cooperation only came into play after the police arrested him and because he wanted to minimize his participation in the chain of events that led to the murder. In order to chronologically illustrate the circumstances surrounding Kormondy's arrest and to present a complete story of Kormondy's cooperation with the authorities, the State presented the testimony of several law enforcement witnesses. Officers Cotton, Steele, Kilgore, and Rogers testified concerning their involvement in the surveillance, chase, capture, and use of a dog in the arrest of the defendant. Each officer's testimony was extremely limited in scope, and the total testimony consumed only twenty pages of a transcript of approximately 250 pages. In Ellis v. State, 622 So.2d 991 (Fla.1993), this Court said that the State shall be provided a full opportunity to rebut the existence of mitigating factors urged by [the defendant] Ellis and to introduce evidence tending to diminish their weight if they cannot be rebutted. Id. at 1001. We usually allow the State to rebut the mitigation offered by the defense, and we allow the defense to offer evidence to rebut aggravation proposed by the State. See, e.g., Singleton v. State, 783 So.2d 970 (Fla.2001); Teffeteller v. Dugger, 734 So.2d 1009 (Fla.1999). This principle holds true even though the defense may present no witnesses and rely solely on cross-examination to support its proffered mitigation. In such a situation the State has the right to rely on the defense's opening statement of its mitigation as a basis for rebuttal. As we noted in Teffeteller v. State, 495 So.2d 744 (Fla.1986), new penalty phase proceedings present unique problems: One of the problems inherent in holding a resentencing proceeding is that the jury is required to render an advisory sentence of life or death without the benefit of having heard and seen all of the evidence presented during the guilt determination phase.... We note that this evidence [is] not used to relitigate the issue of appellant's guilt, but [is] used only to familiarize the jury with the underlying facts of the case.... We hold that it is within the sound discretion of the trial court during resentencing proceedings to allow the jury to hear or see probative evidence which will aid it in understanding the facts of the case in order that it may render an appropriate advisory sentence. We cannot expect jurors impaneled for capital sentencing proceedings to make wise and reasonable decisions in a vacuum. Id. at 745. Given the circumstances inherent in resentencing, the trial court's decision to allow some factual development in this case was not error. The testimony offered was neither extensive nor cumulative. Without the chronological explanation of Kormondy's capture, the jury would not have been able to understand the circumstances of Kormondy's arrest nor make a reasoned decision concerning his proffered mitigation. Therefore, the trial court did not err in allowing the State to offer evidence that was intended to rebut and diminish mitigating evidence.