Opinion ID: 528434
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: error at the guilt phase

Text: 67 Bertolotti argues that the verdict of guilty may have been based on an impermissible ground and thus must be reversed. This claim is styled both as a claim on the merits, and as a claim asserting ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. See Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U.S. 387, 396, 105 S.Ct. 830, 836, 83 L.Ed.2d 821 (1985) (defendant entitled to effective assistance of counsel on as-of-right appeal). Because appellate counsel failed to raise this claim on Bertolotti's direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court imposed a procedural bar. Bertolotti v. Dugger, 514 So.2d at 1096. The Florida court reached the merits of the ineffectiveness claim, holding that appellate counsel was not incompetent for failing to raise the claim on direct appeal, because trial counsel had failed to preserve the claim at trial; essentially, appellate counsel was not ineffective because trial counsel's error barred the claim. Id. at 1097. 68 This is not the case of a meritorious claim hung in a procedural tangle. Bertolotti argues that insufficient evidence was adduced to convict him of sexual battery and burglary, and that therefore, a verdict of felony murder must be void because it may have been predicated upon either of those two felonies. Bertolotti's basis for this claim is the following statement in the trial court's sentencing order: 69 The capital felony was committed while the Defendant was engaged, ... in the commission of a robbery. The Defendant in his voluntary statement admitted that he robbed the victim of approximately thirty dollars at knifepoint. There is strong evidence that the capital crime was committed while the Defendant was also engaged in a burglary and rape, but those factors were not proven beyond every reasonable doubt. Aggravating factor found as to robbery only. 70 (Emphasis in original). The trial judge did not, by this finding, hold that the state produced insufficient evidence to convict Bertolotti of the substantive crimes of burglary or sexual abuse. Rather, the trial judge decided that he would not take the crimes into consideration as aggravating factors justifying imposition of the death penalty. As the judge stated, strong evidence did support the state's allegation that Bertolotti committed burglary and sexual abuse: the state offered testimony that the victim was afraid of strangers and would not likely have invited a stranger into the home; the victim's body was discovered partially nude, and exhibited signs of sexual intercourse. Although a lawyer might argue that the trial judge's use of the term reasonable doubt signified that the state had not produced sufficient evidence to convict the defendant, when the term is considered in context it is clear that the judge did not intend to make an insufficiency finding applicable to the guilt phase of the trial. Bertolotti's claim on the merits is quite tenuous; counsel clearly cannot be held ineffective for deciding not to advance the claim on appeal.
71 The jury returned a general verdict of guilty upon a charge of premeditated murder and felony murder. Bertolotti argues that even if all the jurors agreed that he was guilty, they may not have agreed on a theory of guilt: thus, six jurors may have thought that Bertolotti was guilty of felony murder but not premeditated murder, and vice versa. The Florida Supreme Court found this claim to be procedurally barred because trial counsel made no request for a special verdict, nor did he object to the use of the general verdict form. Bertolotti v. Dugger, 514 So.2d at 1097. Assuming that this claim arises under the fourteenth amendment, we respect Florida's adequate and independent ground of decision; additionally, because the claim was procedurally barred, appellate counsel cannot be faulted for declining to raise it on direct appeal. Francois v. Wainwright, 741 F.2d 1275, 1285 (11th Cir.1984). 72
73 Bertolotti characterizes this as a claim affecting the reliability of his sentencing, but it is clear that evidence of certain prior criminal activity is admissible during the sentencing phase of a capital trial. Fla. Stat. Ann. Sec. 921.141(5)(b); Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 886, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 2747, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983). We will thus consider whether this claim has merit in the context of the guilt phase of Bertolotti's trial. During direct examination, Bertolotti's girlfriend, a prosecution witness, testified as follows: 74 I just about had him talked into going [to the police] with me, and he asked me if he could have one more day of freedom because he knew he was going to prison again.... 75 Defense counsel immediately moved for a mistrial, which the judge denied; the prosecutor explained that the statement was inadvertent and that the witness had been warned not to mention Bertolotti's criminal record. The prosecutor indicated that he would not oppose a cautionary instruction; defense counsel objected, arguing that a cautionary instruction would do more harm than good. The trial judge acceded to the defense request. The error was harmless beyond any reasonable doubt in light of the overpowering evidence of guilt adduced in this case; we doubt there is any possibility that the jury would have been less prone to convict Bertolotti had they not suspected him of earlier criminal involvement.