Opinion ID: 1651278
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Penalty-Phase Instructions About Jury's Role in Sentencing

Text: Next, Stewart asserts that the standard penalty-phase jury instructions used in his case minimized the role of the jury in Florida's capital sentencing process in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985), and that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the instructions on appeal. Again, Stewart's substantive challenge to the jury instructions is procedurally barred because it could have been raised on direct appeal. See, e.g., Grim, 971 So.2d at 103. Moreover, Stewart concedes that we have repeatedly held that Florida's standard jury instructions do not violate Caldwell. See, e.g., Lebron v. State, 982 So.2d 649, 666 (Fla.2008). Stewart offers no reason why we should depart from precedent. Accordingly, his constitutional challenge is without merit, and appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise such an argument on appeal. See Smithers, 18 So.3d at 473.