Opinion ID: 1129333
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Newly Discovered Evidence Claim

Text: In his next issue, Smith contends that the circuit court erred in denying his claim that newly discovered impeachment evidence establishes his innocence and he is entitled to a new trial. For a conviction to be set aside based on a claim of newly discovered evidence, two requirements must be met. First, to qualify as newly discovered, the evidence must not have been known at the time of trial by the court, the party, or counsel, and it must appear that the defendant or his counsel could not have known [of it] by the use of diligence. Jones v. State, 591 So.2d 911, 916 (Fla. 1991) (quoting Hallman v. State, 371 So.2d 482, 485 (Fla.1979)). Second, the nature of the evidence must be such that on retrial it would probably produce an acquittal. Id. at 915. Smith alleged in his postconviction motion that in 2000ten years after his retrialhis counsel discovered Charles Hill, who would testify that Johnson, Smith's codefendant, admitted killing the cab driver. At the evidentiary hearing, Hill testified that two years after the first trial, he and Johnson were twice in the same prison. On both occasions, Johnson confessed that he, not Smith, was the triggerman. Hill also testified that he and appellant Smith had been friends since before the 1983 murder, that they shared a longtime group of friends, that he repeatedly visited Smith in the Pinellas County jail over the years preceding the postconviction hearing, and that he was an intermediary between Smith and the mother of Smith's child. The circuit court denied relief, finding that (a) Smith failed to show Hill's testimony could not have been discovered earlier through due diligence, (b) Hill's testimony was unworthy of belief, (c) Hill never explained why he waited until he was contacted by postconviction counsel fifteen years later to report the confession, (d) Johnson testified at the evidentiary hearing that he never came into contact with Hill in 1985 and never claimed to be the killer, and (e) the evidence showed that Hill and Johnson were at the same correctional facility for about five hours on one occasion and less than a day on the other, and this evidence contradicted Hill's testimony that they were together for a week on each occasion. Finally, the court determined that even if Hill were credible, Hill's testimony was insufficient to probably produce an acquittal. Each of the court's factual findings is supported by the record. In addition, the court found Hill's testimony not credible. This Court does not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court on issues of fact when competent, substantial evidence supports the circuit court's factual findings or on issues of witness credibility. Windom v. State, 886 So.2d 915, 921 (Fla.2004) (So long as its decisions are supported by competent, substantial evidence, this Court will not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court on questions of fact and, likewise, on the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given to the evidence by the trial court.). Accordingly, we affirm the circuit court's denial of Smith's newly discovered evidence claim.