Opinion ID: 1832087
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Ineffectiveness in the Guilt Phase

Text: This claim is two-pronged. First, Coney claims that the trial court erred in failing to grant an evidentiary hearing on many of the subissues relating to his claim that trial counsel was ineffective during the guilt phase of the trial. Second, Coney contends that trial counsel was ineffective during the guilt phase in the following ways: (a) failing to object to and otherwise preserve sundry jury selection issues; (b) failing to preclude and impeach testimony concerning Southworth's dying declarations; (c) failing to obtain a pretrial evaluation of Coney by a mental health professional; (d) failing to challenge the State's case (i.e., by failing to call various inmates and prison staff who could have testified concerning the circumstances of the crime, failing to properly handle witnesses, failing to retain an expert on flammable liquids, failing to object to improper prosecutorial argument in closing, and failing to object to certain instructions); and (e) failing to ensure Coney's presence during critical stages of the proceedings. This Court in LeCroy v. Dugger, 727 So.2d 236 (Fla.1998), articulated the following standard of proof for a circuit court to apply when determining whether an evidentiary hearing is required on a rule 3.850 claim: The standard for determining whether an evidentiary hearing is required on an ineffectiveness claim is as follows: A motion for postconviction relief can be denied without an evidentiary hearing when the motion and the record conclusively demonstrate that the movant is entitled to no relief. A defendant may not simply file a motion for postconviction relief containing conclusory allegations that his or her trial counsel was ineffective and then expect to receive an evidentiary hearing. The defendant must allege specific facts that, when considering the totality of the circumstances, are not conclusively rebutted by the record and that demonstrate a deficiency on the part of counsel which is detrimental to the defendant. LeCroy, 727 So.2d at 239 (quoting Kennedy v. State, 547 So.2d 912, 913 (Fla.1989)). This Court subsequently set forth the proper standard of review for an appellate court to apply when reviewing a circuit court's ruling on whether to grant an evidentiary hearing on a rule 3.850 claim: To uphold the trial court's summary denial of claims raised in a 3.850 motion, the claims must be either facially invalid or conclusively refuted by the record. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850(d). Further, where no evidentiary hearing is held below, we must accept the defendant's factual allegations to the extent they are not refuted by the record. Peede v. State, 748 So.2d 253, 257 (Fla. 1999). In the present case, the circuit court addressed the jury selection issue in its written order: The defendant asserts that trial counsel's questioning of jurors during voir dire was incomplete and otherwise inadequate. In particular he criticizes the manner in which the prospective jurors were questioned about their knowledge of the book Maximum Morphonios by Judge Ellen Morphonios. Judge Morphonios had presided over the 1976 case in which Coney was found guilty of raping a twelve-year old girl, and, in Judge Morphonios' book she described the case as one of the worst she had ever seen. The prospective jurors were, in fact, questioned about their knowledge of the book. Only one member of the panel seated as a juror, Walter Moore, stated that he had read the book. He was questioned separately to determine what parts he read and remembered and how the book may have influenced him. Counsel's questions were appropriately phrased to elicit from Mr. Moore what he remembered from the book without describing the very details that may have been prejudicial to the defendant. Nothing Moore said necessitated further questioning or provided a basis to excuse him from serving as a juror. (R. 1048-49, 1082-85, 1090-92) The other points raised by the defendant regarding jury selection lack merit and/or were raised and rejected on direct appeal. As for Coney's claim that counsel was ineffective vis-a-vis Southworth's dying declarations, the circuit court also addressed this issue: The defendant claims that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance at the pre-trial motion hearing regarding the admissibility of the victim's dying declarations. All of the statements were made by the victim immediately after he was burned and before he lapsed into unconsciousness a few hours later. He died the following day. Although the defendant argues that trial counsel should have challenged the admissibility of the statements by offering evidence to impeach the victim, the defendant does not suggest what evidence would be relevant to the victim's attitude toward death or the victim's need to tell the truth when dying. Or what evidence would show that the victim did not accurately observe the facts recounted, all of which would affect the admissibility of dying declarations. See State v. Weir, 569 So.2d 897 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990). Rather, the defendant argues that the victim's statements identifying Mr. Coney as the person who ignited the fire were lies, and that trial counsel should have offered evidence at trial of the victim's positive HIV status to show the victim's motive for inculpating the defendant. He speculates that the victim, believing that Coney gave him AIDS, may have been angry at Coney, and therefore, falsely accused Coney as the murderer. This may be good fiction but it has no relevance to the facts of this case. Here, the victim was dying because he was being burned alive, not because he was dying from AIDS. Common sense dictates he would have wanted to identify his killer. Nor do any of the other matters suggested by the defendant in his criticism of trial counsel bear on the truthfulness of the dying declarations. Neither prong of Strickland has been satisfied. The circuit court then proceeded to address each of Coney's remaining claims of ineffectiveness of guilt phase counsel and concluded as follows: The remaining challenges to trial counsel's performance during the guilt phase are likewise without merit. Trial counsel adequately prepared for the guilt phase, having had his investigator contact sixty-one inmates for information, having called numerous witnesses, including the defendant, at trial, and having appropriately challenged the state's evidence against Mr. Coney. That there may have been more that trial counsel could have done or that new counsel in reviewing the record with hindsight would handle the case differently, does not mean that trial counsel's performance during the guilt phase was deficient. Cherry v. State, 659 So.2d 1069 (Fla.1995); Bryan v. Dugger, 641 So.2d 61 (Fla.1994). Mr. Casabielle's performance at trial fell within the broad range of reasonably competent performance under prevailing professional standards. Maxwell v. Wainwright, 490 So.2d 927 (Fla.1986) at 932. To the extent Coney claims the circuit court erred in failing to grant an evidentiary hearing on the issues relating to this claim, we disagree. Applying the above standard of review to the circuit court's ruling, the court has adequately shown that Coney's claims are either facially invalid or conclusively refuted by the record. To the extent that Coney claims the circuit court erred in ruling that trial counsel was not ineffective in the guilt phase, we also disagree. Applying the Stephens standard of review, set forth above, to the circuit court's ruling on this claim, the court's findings are supported by the record, and its ultimate conclusions on the performance and prejudice prongs comport with the law. We find no error.