Opinion ID: 1826001
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Concession of Aggravating Circumstances Through Guilty Pleas

Text: Stephens contends that his lead counsel was ineffective for advising Stephens to plead guilty to eight counts of the indictment. Stephens claims that these guilty pleas resulted in a concession to the murder in the course of a felony aggravator. The United States Supreme Court in Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 59, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985), held that when a defendant challenges his guilty pleas based on ineffective assistance of counsel, under the prejudice prong of Strickland, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. We acknowledged this standard in Grosvenor v. State, 874 So.2d 1176, 1181-82 (Fla.2004), and held that to determine whether a reasonable probability exists that the defendant would have insisted on going to trial, a court should examine the totality of the circumstances surrounding the plea, including such factors as whether a particular defense was likely to succeed at trial, the colloquy between the defendant and the trial court at the time of the plea, and the difference between the sentence imposed under the plea and the maximum possible sentence the defendant faced at trial. Stephens provided no support in his postconviction motion or at the evidentiary hearing to show that, but for counsel's errors, he would have not pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. He also fails to demonstrate that his guilty pleas were entered into without his permission, that counsel failed to discuss the consequences of his pleas or that he was forced to enter the guilty pleas. Further, during the plea colloquy between Stephens and the trial court, Stephens stated that he authorized his counsel to enter the guilty pleas, he understood that by entering the pleas, he was waiving certain constitutional rights, he had enough time to discuss his case and decision to enter guilty pleas with his attorney, that no one was making him enter the guilty pleas, and that he was not under the influence of any drug, medication, substance, or condition that would affect his ability to think and understand the consequences of his decisions. Stephens also does not demonstrate that there was any defense to the charges for which he pled guilty that was likely to succeed at trial. Penalty phase counsel testified at the evidentiary hearing that he was present when lead counsel discussed the charges with Stephens. He testified that lead counsel's strategy was to gain credibility with the jury and that this strategy worked because entering guilty pleas on certain charges resulted in an acquittal of some of the charges for which Stephens pled not guilty. During the penalty phase, counsel even stated during his closing arguments that the fact that Stephens pled guilty to a number of charges should be seen as mitigation. In fact, in its sentencing order, the trial court found in mitigation that Stephens entered pleas to some counts of the indictment. Counsel is not deemed ineffective for using a strategy that benefited Stephens. See Nixon v. State, 932 So.2d 1009 (Fla. 2006). Stephens fails to show that counsel was deficient under Strickland. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of relief on this claim.