Opinion ID: 1784402
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prior Attempted Armed Robbery Conviction

Text: Davis presents various claims with regard to the introduction of evidence and use of the attempted armed robbery he committed in Illinois in 1980 at the age of sixteen to support the prior violent felony aggravator. Specifically, Davis asserts that: (1) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the prior violent felony aggravator by allowing the State to present an inadmissible juvenile adjudication as an aggravator; (2) the prosecutor improperly argued and presented testimony regarding the juvenile adjudication during the penalty phase to support the prior violent felony aggravator; (3) the trial court improperly used Davis's juvenile adjudication to form the basis of the prior violent felony aggravator; (4) the State suppressed information regarding this prior conviction; and (5) appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to present this issue on direct appeal. It must be noted that Davis's 1980 Illinois attempted armed robbery conviction was considered a juvenile adjudication during the penalty phase, but the trial judge concluded in his sentencing order that the attempted armed robbery was in fact an adult conviction based on evidence presented at the sentencing hearing. Based on our review of the record on appeal, we conclude that Davis's attempted armed robbery conviction was an adult conviction. As a result of this criminal episode, Davis was sentenced as an adult to probation which was merely supervised by the Illinois juvenile system. Supervision by the juvenile system does not change the fact that Davis was convicted and sentenced as an adult for this crime. Because Davis's attempted armed robbery was in fact an adult conviction, presenting it for consideration as a prior violent felony aggravator was not error. Accordingly, the substance of Davis's claims relating to his attempted armed robbery conviction are meritless and cannot serve as a basis for an ineffective assistance of trial or appellate counsel claim. See Rutherford, 774 So.2d at 643 (holding that [i]f a legal issue `would in all probability have been found to be without merit' had counsel raised the issue on direct appeal, the failure of appellate counsel to raise the meritless issue will not render appellate counsel's performance ineffective) (quoting Williamson, 651 So.2d at 86). This claim has no merit. Davis also claims that the State committed Brady and Giglio violations by suppressing information and deliberately deceiving the court and jurors by arguing that the prior attempted armed robbery was an adult conviction. In Davis's Brady claim he alleges that a memo by the State's investigator was not turned over to his trial counsel. This memo contained the following language: Regarding the previous robbery conviction that DAVIS had in Pekin, Illinois, all records have been destroyed according to Detective Soloman because DAVIS was a juvenile at the time. Additionally, a handwritten note from the prosecutor's file contained the following language: Juvenile Parole violation-83. Even if we were to assume that Davis has adequately established that this information was in the possession of the State and that it was not disclosed to the defense, Davis has failed to establish any prejudice by its nondisclosure. As we previously stated, the trial court properly determined that this prior conviction was in fact an adult conviction. Therefore, Davis has not established that if the above information had been disclosed there is a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different. Our confidence has not been undermined. See Strickler, 527 U.S. at 280, 119 S.Ct. 1936 (quoting Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375). Davis has failed to establish a viable Brady claim with regard to this issue. Similarly, we also conclude that the trial court properly denied Davis's Giglio claim with regard to the prior attempted armed robbery conviction. Davis has failed to establish that the State knew that any of the testimony that it presented was false. During the penalty phase, the State conceded that based on the information available, the offense at issue was not an adult conviction. However, the State argued, based on the then-operative rule, that juvenile offenses could be used to support the prior violent felony aggravator. During the sentencing hearing, the State supplemented the record with testimony of its investigator to present newly discovered evidence that the previous adjudication was not a juvenile adjudication but was in fact an adult conviction. This change in position by the State does not establish that the testimony that was presented by the State at the penalty phase was known by it to be false. If anything, the above events indicate that the State was in fact abiding by the dictates of Giglio. After discovering evidence that would indicate that the prior offense was an adult conviction, which was inconsistent with the evidence presented at the penalty phase, the State acted appropriately to correct the record. See Tompkins v. State, 872 So.2d 230, 237 n. 9 (Fla.2003) (Under Giglio, a prosecutor has a duty to correct testimony he or she knows to be false.). Therefore, we conclude that this claim should also be denied.