Opinion ID: 1802709
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Officer Cardona

Text: Additionally, Jimenez asserts that (1) counsel was ineffective due to the failure to present Officer Cardona as a witness during the trial and (2) the State presented false evidence that Officer Cardona had identified Jimenez as a known burglar in violation of Giglio. Trial counsel failed to call Officer Cardona, who allegedly would have restated the following testimony that she had previously given during a deposition: (1) she did not recognize Jimenez on the night of the murder as a known burglar and did not make such a statement to other police officers; (2) a white van was parked adjacent to the apartment building when she arrived at the crime scene on the night of the murder; (3) Merriweather, who was a janitor for the apartment complex, failed to notify her that Jimenez was the man that he allegedly saw descend from the second-floor balcony despite the fact that Jimenez, Merriweather, and she were all in the same vicinity at the apartment complex after she finished interviewing the occupants of the white van; and (4) the clothing worn by Jimenez when she observed him at the apartment complex immediately after the murder of Minas was different than the clothing described by the other witnesses. This testimony allegedly would have supported the deposition testimony of Officer Corland that Merriweather stated to him that, at approximately 8:15 p.m. on the night of the murder, he had observed a male drop from a second-floor balcony at the apartment complex onto a van and subsequently onto the ground. This subclaim is procedurally barred because it is based entirely upon the pretrial deposition of Officer Cardona, not newly discovered evidence. Therefore, Jimenez could have asserted this subclaim during the amended rule 3.850 proceeding. Even without this procedural bar, the subclaim is without merit. Trial counsel was not deficient for the failure to present Officer Cardona as a witness. First, Officer Cardona would have merely testified that there was a white van in the parking lot when she arrived at approximately 8:27 p.m. The record conclusively establishes that she would not have been able to provide any testimony with regard to whether the van was present when the male dropped from the second-floor balcony. This was the crucial time, rather than when the police arrived, to possibly impeach Merriweather's testimony during the trial that no van was present to aid the male when he dropped from the second-floor balcony. Moreover, during the trial, both Officer Sidd and Officer Corland testified that the van was there when the police arrived. Thus, the testimony of Officer Cardona with regard to the white van would have been merely cumulative, and trial counsel was not deficient for the failure to present cumulative evidence. Second, trial counsel was not deficient for the failure to present the testimony of Officer Cardona that she did not recognize Jimenez on the night of the murder as a known burglar and that she never made such a statement to other officers. Jimenez asserts that this would establish that police fabricated this statement from Officer Cardona to conceal the fact that it was the influence of Calderon which led to the investigation being focused on Jimenez for the murder of Minas. However, presentation of this testimony would have opened the door to evidence with regard to Jimenez's involvement in the death of Debas. Thus, trial counsel was not ineffective for the failure to offer this testimony. Third, trial counsel was not ineffective for the failure to present the testimony of Officer Cardona that Merriweather failed to notify her that Jimenez was the man that he allegedly saw descend from the second-floor balcony. This testimony from Officer Cardona would not have impeached Merriweather. During the trial, Merriweather acknowledged that he saw a uniformed officer walk past him at the apartment complex after the murder but he did not speak to any uniformed officer at that time. Thus, counsel was not deficient for the failure to present this cumulative evidence from Officer Cardona. Jimenez also asserts that the State committed a Giglio violation when evidence was presented that Officer Cardona knew Jimenez as a burglar. Even without the previously discussed procedural bar, this alleged Giglio violation is without merit. Here, the record conclusively refutes that there was any testimony presented during the trial that Officer Cardona knew Jimenez as a burglar. Thus, the first prong of Giglio is not met because the State did not present false testimony on this matter.