Opinion ID: 78417
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Trial Court Error in Rejecting the Statutory Mitigator of Extreme Mental or Emotional Disturbance

Text: Philmore contends in his final argument that the trial court ignored Dr. Frank Wood's testimony during the penalty phase, which purportedly establishes the statutory mitigator of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Philmore bases his argument on the sentencing order, which made no mention of Dr. Wood and focused instead on the state's impeachment of Dr. Berland. According to Philmore, the trial court ignored the school records, physical exam, and brain imaging scan results that Dr. Wood relied upon to establish Philmore's brain damage. Philmore submits that the trial court's failure to consider this evidence violated Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 114, 102 S.Ct. 869, 876-77, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982), in which the Supreme Court held that a sentencing court may not refuse to consider, as a matter of law, any relevant mitigating evidence. Philmore acknowledges that the Florida Supreme Court denied habeas relief on this claim because it was not raised on direct appeal, yet he maintains that this was due to ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The Florida Supreme Court found that Philmore's claim that the trial court erred in failing to consider Dr. Wood's testimony was procedurally barred. See Philmore, 937 So.2d at 588. Although Philmore's attorney argued on direct appeal that the trial court erred in rejecting the statutory mitigator of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance, appellate counsel did not raise a separate claim that the trial court erred in failing to consider Dr. Wood's testimony. See id. Thus, the claim was procedurally barred because it could have been raised on direct appeal. See id. The Florida Supreme Court also rejected Philmore's attempt to raise the issue as a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. See id. The trial court thoroughly considered whether to apply the statutory mitigator of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance, and the Florida Supreme Court previously concluded on direct appeal that the trial court's rejection of this mitigator was supported by competent, substantial evidence. Id. Philmore's habeas claim was merely an additional argument in support of the claim previously raised on direct appeal. Id. Accordingly, the Florida Supreme Court concluded that Philmore's claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel lacked merit. See id. Florida law bars claims in a state post-conviction proceeding that could have been raised on direct appeal. See Muhammad v. Sec'y, Dep't of Corr., 554 F.3d 949, 956-57 (11th Cir.2009). [A] habeas petitioner who has failed to meet the State's procedural requirements for presenting his federal claims has deprived the state courts of an opportunity to address those claims in the first instance. Edwards v. Carpenter, 529 U.S. 446, 451, 120 S.Ct. 1587, 1591, 146 L.Ed.2d 518 (2000) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Accordingly, before a federal habeas court may consider the merits of a procedurally defaulted claim, a petitioner must demonstrate cause for the default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation of federal law, or demonstrate that failure to consider the claims will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Muhammad, 554 F.3d at 957 (quotation marks and citation omitted). An attorney's constitutional ineffectiveness in failing to preserve a claim for review in state court may constitute cause to excuse a procedural default. Edwards, 529 U.S. at 451, 120 S.Ct. at 1591; accord Payne v. Allen, 539 F.3d 1297, 1314 (11th Cir.2008) (Thus, to determine cause and prejudice, we must ascertain whether Payne has shown ineffective appellate counsel in not timely raising his ineffective-trial-counsel claims.). Here, the Florida Supreme Court correctly determined that Philmore's habeas claim was procedurally defaulted because Philmore could have but did not specifically raise it on direct appeal. See Philmore, 937 So.2d at 588. To excuse his procedural default, Philmore asserts that his appellate counsel, Patrick C. Rastatter, was ineffective in not raising the claim on direct appeal. Claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel are governed by the same standards applied to trial counsel under Strickland. See Heath v. Jones, 941 F.2d 1126, 1130 (11th Cir. 1991). In assessing an appellate attorney's performance, we are mindful that the Sixth Amendment does not require appellate advocates to raise every non-frivolous issue. Id. at 1130-31. Rather, an effective attorney will weed out weaker arguments, even though they may have merit. See id. at 1131. In order to establish prejudice, we must first review the merits of the omitted claim. See id. at 1132. Counsel's performance will be deemed prejudicial if we find that the neglected claim would have a reasonable probability of success on appeal. Id. The omitted claim in this case was closely related to the claim raised by Philmore's appellate counsel on direct appeal. Counsel asserted on direct appeal that [t]he trial court erred in failing to find that the capital felony was committed while [Philmore] was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance. R1-13, Accordion Folder 5, Exh. A-31, Initial Brief of Appellant at 91. In support of this argument, appellate counsel recounted Dr. Wood's review of Philmore's brain imaging scan and school records, and Dr. Wood's opinion that Philmore's brain injury caused his abnormal behavior. Appellate counsel then argued that the sentencing court erroneously dismissed the expert mental health findings of both Dr. Wood and Dr. Berland in rejecting the mitigating circumstance of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance. This argument is very similar to the omitted claim now raised in the instant habeas petition  that the trial court erroneously ignored Dr. Wood's testimony in rejecting the mitigating circumstance of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Both claims focus on the same underlying issue, the applicability of the statutory mitigator of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance. In light of its determination on direct appeal that this statutory mitigator did not apply, the Florida Supreme Court correctly concluded that Philmore did not receive ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The omitted claim relies on the same facts and challenges the identical trial court decision that was affirmed on direct appeal. Appellate counsel's failure to challenge that decision under a different legal theory cannot be considered deficient performance, especially given that counsel raised eleven other enumerations of error in a one-hundred page brief. Compare Heath, 941 F.2d at 1131 (concluding that appellate counsel in death penalty case was deficient in raising only one issue in a six-page argument). Nor can Philmore establish any prejudice from his attorney's omission since the Florida Supreme Court already concluded that the trial court's rejection of this statutory mitigator is supported by competent substantial evidence. Philmore, 820 So.2d at 937. Accordingly, the Florida Supreme Court reasonably rejected Philmore's claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. As Philmore has failed to show cause and prejudice to excuse his procedural default, we may not review the merits of his defaulted claim. See Edwards, 529 U.S. at 451, 120 S.Ct. at 1591. No exception to this rule applies here as Philmore does not assert that our failure to review his claim will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. See id. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of habeas relief on this issue.