Opinion ID: 1759912
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proposed mitigation rejected as unproven

Text: Douglas first asserts that the trial court erred in finding that Douglas failed to establish several of his proposed mitigators: specifically, that he loves his children, is a good father to his children, supports his children, is an upbeat, positive person, has an outgoing and friendly personality, is always respectful to his elders, and has been a good brother and son. We conclude that there is competent, substantial evidence to support the trial court's rejection of these mitigators as unproven. See Blanco, 706 So.2d at 10. Although there is testimony from a number of witnesses that Douglas exhibits all of these qualities, this testimony is not substantiated either by Douglas's actions or by the testimony of those who have firsthand knowledge of the respective quality. For example, several witnesses testified that Douglas loves his children, is a good father, and supports his children. However, on cross-examination many of these witnesses could not verify how many children Douglas had. Nor did any of the witnesses know whether Douglas paid child support on a regular basis. In addition, none of the four mothers of Douglas's four children testified that Douglas was a good father, spent quality time with his children or provided any financial or emotional support. In rejecting these proposed mitigators as unproven, the trial court stated in part: The Defendant, at the age of twenty-five (25) had four (4) children with four (4) different women. Although the Defendant occasionally visited with some of his children, there is no evidence that he did anything worthwhile or beneficial for any of his children on a regular basis. We conclude that there is no error in the trial court's finding that the proposed mitigators regarding Douglas's role as a father were not supported by the greater weight of the evidence. Several witnesses who are Douglas's elders also testified that Douglas had always been respectful to them. However, as noted by the trial court, this does not establish Douglas's proposed mitigating circumstance that he is and always has been respectful of his elders. Thus, we conclude that the trial court did not err in rejecting this mitigator as unproven. Next, despite several family members' testimony that Douglas has been a good son and brother, the trial court found this proposed mitigation unproven, reasoning: The Defendant's mother testified that the Defendant at one time chose to sell drugs rather than work in order to buy shoes and that he got into the streets and drugs and partying with girls. In addition, he did not maintain steady employment. This behavior does not support the conclusion that the Defendant was concerned with his mother's [and siblings'] welfare. This evidence of Douglas's conduct, which contradicts the testimony that he has been a good son and sibling, provides competent, substantial evidence to support the trial court's rejection of this mitigating circumstance. See Taylor v. State, 855 So.2d 1, 30 (Fla.2003) (Although Taylor introduced testimony of family and friends that he was a nonviolent person, the trial judge was free to weigh the testimony of the individuals [against Taylor's previous armed robbery conviction] and still reject the mitigating circumstance.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 1605, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004). However, even if we were to conclude that the trial court erred in rejecting this mitigation, this error would be harmless given the other mitigating evidence considered and weighed by the trial court and the minimal amount of additional mitigation these factors would have provided. See id. (concluding that any error in the trial court's rejection of mitigation that tended to show that the defendant had some redeeming qualities was harmless given the minimal amount of mitigation the factor would have provided). The last mitigating circumstances the trial court rejected as unproven are that Douglas is a positive, upbeat person and has an outgoing, friendly personality. The trial court found that these character traits are entirely inconsistent with the Defendant's behavior that was displayed on December 25, 1999, and December 26, 1999. Douglas argues that the fact that he committed a homicide does not negate the positive character traits established by the evidence. We agree. However, as with the trial court's rejection of Douglas's proposed mitigation that he is a good son and brother, we conclude that any error in the trial court's rejection of these mitigating circumstances is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.