Opinion ID: 3049318
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jury Instructions and Questions at First Trial

Text: The state trial court instructed the jury on the elements of the aggravated battery claim and on the lesser included offense of simple battery. On aggravated battery, the state court told the jury that to find Digsby guilty, they had to find (1) that Digsby intentionally touched or struck Willey against his will or intentionally caused bodily harm to Willey; and (2) in committing the battery, Digsby 6 intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm to Willey or used a deadly weapon. The state court also instructed the jury that if it found Digsby committed the aggravated battery and “that during the commission of the crime [Digsby] carried, displayed, used[,] threatened to use or attempted to use a firearm, you should find him guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm.” The state court further explained that if the jury found Digsby committed the aggravated battery but did not use the firearm, then it should convict him only of the aggravated battery. The state court also instructed the jury on justification and self-defense. The state court explained that it would be a defense to aggravated battery “if the injury to George Wiley [sic] resulted from the justifiable use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm. A person is justified in using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another.” The state court also instructed the jury that Digsby could not use deadly force if he “initially provoked the use of force against himself unless the force asserted toward the defendant was so great that he reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and had exhausted every reasonable means to escape the use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm to [Willey].” 7 The state court further explained that the jury should evaluate Digbsy’s selfdefense claim in light of all of the circumstances of his fight with Willey, and instructed the jury that “the appearance of danger must have been so real that a reasonably cautious and prudent person” in the same circumstances would have believed he had to use deadly force to escape the danger. The court instructed the jury on the lesser included offense of battery and on the elements of possession of marijuana, which was Count 3. The court also instructed the jurors on the verdict form, which included three options for Count 1. The first option was to convict Digsby of aggravated battery. If the jury did that, it then had to answer three separate questions: (1) whether Digsby possessed a firearm during the battery; (2) whether Digbsy discharged the firearm during the battery; and (3) whether great bodily harm was inflicted upon Willey during the commission of the battery. The second option was to convict Digsby of the lesser included offense of battery. The third option was to acquit him of the charges under Count 1. During deliberations, the jury asked the state trial court to answer two questions: “Is the person that started the fight the only one guilty of battery or are both participants in the fight considered guilty of battery?” and “[i]s self defense battery?” As to the first question, the state court told the jury that Digsby was the 8 only person charged with a crime, and that the jury could find him guilty of the lesser included offense of battery. As to the second question, the court told the jury that if Digsby acted rightfully in self-defense, that would be a defense to the aggravated battery charge and the jury could accordingly return a not guilty verdict. The jury found Digsby not guilty on the aggravated battery charge but convicted him on the drug charge. The state court sentenced Digsby to eleven months and fifteen days’ imprisonment on the drug conviction. D. Motion to Bar Trial on Felon in Possession Charge After his acquittal on the aggravated battery charge, Digsby filed a motion to dismiss Count 2, the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charge, on collateral estoppel and double jeopardy grounds. Specifically, Digsby’s motion asserted that the state was collaterally estopped from prosecuting Count 2 because the jury in the first trial must have believed his self-defense argument when it acquitted him. Digsby’s self-defense argument was founded on his contention that Willey had initially possessed the gun and pulled it on Digsby during the fight. The state court summarily denied Digsby’s motion to dismiss. A trial was held on Count 2, the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. E. Evidence at Trial on Count 2 At Digsby’s trial on the gun charge, Deputy William Arnold again testified. 9 Arnold stated that, while on patrol, he encountered Digsby after seeing Digsby and Willey in an argument. Arnold put handcuffs on Digsby “[t]hree or four seconds” after making contact with him, and Arnold found a pistol in Digsby’s back right pocket after putting the handcuffs on him. Digsby did not voluntarily give Arnold the gun. However, Digsby could not have given Arnold the gun because Arnold handcuffed Digsby immediately. Digsby also testified at his gun trial. Digsby first asserted that he had the gun in his pocket because he “took it from Mr. Wiley [sic] and placed it in my back pocket. [Willey] was trying to shoot me with it.” Digsby knew Willey because Willey had stolen his Jeep; Digsby also said that law enforcement had told him it could not help him find the Jeep. Digsby got information from an acquaintance about the whereabouts of his Jeep, and said that he found it at the corner of Mobile Highway and Green Street. When Digsby approached Willey to ask him why Willey stole his Jeep, Willey pushed Digsby, so Digsby slapped Willey. Willey nearly fell down. As Willey came back up, Digsby saw a pistol in Willey’s hand and reached for it. When Digbsy reached for the pistol, “it [shot and] hit [Willey’s] leg,” and Willey lost his grip on the gun; Digsby then pulled the gun out of Willey’s hand and put it in his back pocket. Around that time the police officer came up and handcuffed 10 Digsby. Digbsy also testified that he felt it was necessary to take the gun from Willey because Digsby felt like his life or safety was threatened. Digsby did not have time to think about his convicted felon status between the time he put the gun in his pocket and the police officer’s arrival. On cross-examination, Digsby admitted that he did not know Swindell, and that Swindell had a clear view of the confrontation between Digsby and Willey. Digsby denied having the gun with him when he went to confront Willey, and also denied pulling the gun to shoot Willey. Digsby reaffirmed his earlier testimony that he did not have time to voluntarily give the gun to the police officer, and said that when the officer showed up, Willey was on the ground and Digsby was backing away from Willey. Digsby said that when he put the gun in his pocket, it did not cross his mind that he was a convicted felon. Digsby’s brother Roger (“Roger”) also testified. Roger stated that he was with Digsby when Digsby was arrested. When investigators from the State Attorney’s office interviewed Roger, he lied and said he had not been with Digsby. Roger discussed the matter with Digsby’s defense attorney, and decided to tell the truth after talking to his sister. Roger left the scene of the crime because he did not want to get in any trouble. On cross-examination, Roger said he did not see that Digsby possessed a 11 gun on the evening in question. Roger first spotted the Jeep while Digsby was driving their car at the corner of Green Street and Mobile Highway. Roger never saw a gun that evening, and after Roger heard a gun discharge, Digsby told him to leave. The rest of Roger’s testimony essentially confirmed Digsby’s testimony about the nature of the confrontation. Roger asserted that when Digsby approached Willey, Willey shoved Digsby, starting the fight. Swindell also testified at Digsby’s gun trial. Swindell testified that, at the time of the confrontation between Digsby and Willey, he was on a pay phone at the corner of Mobile Highway and Green Street. When Swindell and his companion had been on the phone for a time, “[t]he fellow that was shot,” i.e., Willey, arrived “[i]n that Jeep . . . .” The phone booth was no more than ten feet from the Jeep. After Willey drove up, another car approached with two people inside (Digsby and Roger), and both got out. The two men got out of the car and confronted Willey about stealing the Jeep; this confrontation took place “[r]ight in front” of the phone booth. After the confrontation over the Jeep, a fight ensued, with Digsby throwing the first punch. Digsby had a gun in his back right pocket before the fight broke out. Willey never possessed a gun during the fight, and Digsby was the only person with a gun. Willey also never had any weapons on him that would have justified his being shot. The only shot that Swindell heard fired was one fired 12 point-blank into Willey’s abdomen. The state court instructed the jury on the elements of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The state court told the jurors that to convict Digsby, they had to determine (1) that he was previously convicted of a felony and (2) that after the conviction, Digsby had knowingly owned a firearm or had one in his care, custody, possession or control. The state court instructed the jury that it should acquit Digsby if it found that he possessed the gun out of necessity, and gave the required elements for a necessity defense. The jury found Digsby guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The state court sentenced Digsby to ten years’ imprisonment with three years’ mandatory minimum sentence. After the gun conviction, Digsby through counsel filed a notice of appeal and a “Statement of Judicial Acts to be Reviewed,” pursuant to Rule 9.140(d) of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. Digsby’s statement identified the denial of his motion to dismiss, along with the state trial court’s refusal to give a proffered jury instruction, as the issues on appeal. However, Digsby’s appellate counsel did not raise either of these issues, instead arguing only that the trial court erred in permitting evidence that Digsby was previously convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The state appellate court affirmed Digsby’s gun conviction without a written opinion. Digsby v. State, 925 So. 2d 313 (Fla. Dist. 13 Ct. App. 2006). Digsby then filed a state post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, which was denied “on the merits” by the First District Court of Appeal of Florida without written opinion. Digsby v. McDonough, 965 So. 2d 831 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007). Digsby subsequently filed a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel, which the First District Court of Appeal also expressly denied “on the merits,” also without written opinion. Digsby v. McDonough, 969 So. 2d 1195 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007).3 F. Federal § 2254 Petition On December 27, 2007, Digsby filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in federal court. Digsby’s § 2254 petition argued that he was denied effective assistance of appellate counsel in the gun case because of counsel’s failure to raise the issues of double jeopardy and collateral estoppel on direct appeal in state court. On December 15, 2008, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation (the “Report”), which concluded that Digsby’s petition should be denied with prejudice. Specifically, the Report stated that a rational jury in the aggravated battery case did not have to support its verdict with a finding that Willey possessed the gun when the fight began. Instead, the jury 3 The State does not argue that Digsby failed to exhaust his claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. 14 could have found that Digsby had the gun when the fight started and the gun went off accidentally during the struggle. If Digsby did have the gun when the fight began, he was guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Thus, Digsby’s collateral estoppel claim would have been rejected on direct appeal, and Digsby’s appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to present it. On February 9, 2009, the district court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report and denied Digsby’s § 2254 petition. This Court granted a Certificate of Appealability on this issue: Whether the district court erred by finding that appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise on direct appeal the issue of whether collateral estoppel barred the state from prosecuting a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, after the appellant was acquitted of aggravated battery with great bodily harm and discharging a firearm?