Opinion ID: 1598027
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Ineffective AssistanceInsufficiency of the Indictment

Text: In his next claim, Heath contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during the guilt phase based on a failure to challenge the indictment as insufficient because it did not allege the aggravating circumstances upon which the State intended to rely, in violation of the Supreme Court's decisions in Ring and Blakely. However, we have held that Ring does not apply retroactively. See Johnson v. State, 904 So.2d 400, 405 (Fla.2005) ( Ring does not apply retroactively in Florida to defendants whose convictions already were final when that decision was rendered.). Since Heath's conviction became final in 1995, these decisions do not apply to him. Moreover, this Court has held that capital defendants are not entitled to notice of every aggravator in the indictment because the aggravators are clearly listed in the statutes. England v. State, 940 So.2d 389, 407 (Fla.2006) (citing Lynch v. State, 841 So.2d 362, 378 (Fla.2003)). Thus trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise this meritless claim. See Vining, 827 So.2d at 213.