Opinion ID: 1959116
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Jury Instruction: HAC Aggravating Circumstance

Text: The next major issue presented by Floyd is the propriety of the trial judge's decision to instruct the jury on the heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC) aggravating circumstance. [32] Floyd objected to the giving of the HAC instruction, thus preserving the issue for review. Floyd first asserts that the trial judge erred in relying primarily on evidence adduced during the guilt phase for his decision to instruct the jury on the HAC aggravator. We disagree. See Brown v. State, 721 So.2d 274, 277-78 (Fla.1998) (trial judge relied primarily on evidence adduced during the guilt phase for decision to instruct on HAC aggravator). The heart of Floyd's assertions regarding the jury instruction on the HAC aggravator is that competent, substantial evidence did not support the trial judge's decision to give the HAC instruction. Therefore, Floyd claims, the jury was inflamed by the instruction to the point that it thought every murder was heinous, atrocious, or cruel regardless of the circumstances and thereby felt compelled to recommend a sentence of death. Again, we disagree. First, we note that competent, substantial evidence existed which supported the trial judge's decision to utilize the HAC instruction. After Floyd had argued with her, Ms. Goss roused her sleeping grandchildren and sent them out into the night to Jeanette Figuero's home for safety and help, with instructions to call the police. Floyd chased her to both the front and back of the house, causing Ms. Goss to run outside in only her nightgown, even without undergarments. Floyd then pursued her further as he made chase and fired two shots at her, which were off target, before firing the third and fatal shot. The third shot killed Ms. Goss instantaneously. The victim's fear, emotional strain, and terror during the events leading up to this murder may have been properly considered in determining whether the HAC aggravator existed, despite the nearly instantaneous nature of the victim's death. See Pooler v. State, 704 So.2d 1375, 1378 (Fla.1997). Also, [t]he victim's mental state may be evaluated for purposes of [a determination of the existence of the HAC aggravator] in accordance with a common-sense inference from the circumstances. Id. at 1378. Moreover, where competent, substantial evidence supports the trial judge's decision to do so, it is not error to instruct the jury on the HAC aggravator. See Cave v. State, 727 So.2d 227, 229 (Fla.1998) (no error where competent, substantial evidence supported both the instruction on the HAC aggravator and the trial judge's ultimate finding of HAC); Brown v. State, 721 So.2d at 277 n. 7 (no error in instructing jury on HAC aggravator where competent, substantial evidence also supported finding of HAC). It is not illogical to conclude that Ms. Goss was in a significant state of emotional strain and terror as she ran, barely clad, outside her home in an attempt to elude a killer who not only chased her with a deadly weapon but also fired and missed with multiple shots before mortally wounding her by severing her brain stem with the third shot. Thus, we find no error in the trial judge's decision to instruct on the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating circumstance. [33]