Opinion ID: 1611973
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: emanuel's previous representation by state attorney black

Text: In Lightbourne's second claim on appeal, he asserts that his due process and equal protection rights were violated because Assistant State Attorney Reginald Black, who represented the State in several of Lightbourne's postconviction proceedings, previously had represented Emanuel in an unrelated case. Specifically, Lightbourne claims that during Black's representation of Emanuel, Emanuel told Black about Emanuel's involvement in Lightbourne's case. We conclude that this claim is procedurally barred. Lightbourne raised this issue in his last postconviction motion. Although the Court acknowledged the issue in its 1999 opinion, see Lightbourne, 742 So.2d at 245, it did not address the issue. However, Lightbourne did not seek rehearing based upon this Court's failure to address this issue. Therefore, because Lightbourne did not seek rehearing on this issue, we conclude that Lightbourne has abandoned this claim. See Garcia v. State, 816 So.2d 554, 569 (Fla.2002). [8] Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of postconviction relief. It is so ordered. ANSTEAD, C.J., WELLS, PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, and CANTERO, JJ., and SHAW, Senior Justice, concur. PARIENTE, J., concurs specially with an opinion, in which SHAW, Senior Justice, concurs. PARIENTE, J., concurring specially. I concur with the majority, but write separately to highlight that in this case the multiple postconviction proceedings primarily resulted from the jailhouse informants' recantations of their testimony. I recognize that in some instances the State may have no alternative but to present the testimony of these informants in order to secure a conviction. However, our experience with postconviction motions in death penalty proceedings has demonstrated that these jailhouse informants (so-called jailhouse snitches) are often unreliable and untrustworthy. Most importantly, just as the jailhouse snitches may be willing to stretch the truth in their own self-interest at the time of trial at the behest of the State, following trial they may be just as willing to recant at the behest of the defendant. [9] Overall, because of the substantial risk of recantation, the State's reliance on jailhouse informants to obtain convictions has the potential for impacting both the finality of convictions and the integrity of the judicial process. In this case, there was substantial independent evidence to support the finding of guilt and the imposition of the death sentence without the testimony of the informants. While I certainly understand that the State is presented with difficult tactical choices at trial, I urge the State to consider the potential long-term impact effects on the finality of the conviction when deciding whether to present the testimony of jailhouse snitches. [10] In this case, the recantations of the jailhouse informants have resulted in nearly twenty years of postconviction proceedings that have cast a cloud over Lightbourne's death sentence.