Opinion ID: 1770827
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Automatic Aggravating Circumstances

Text: Freeman next contends defense counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the application of certain aggravating factors, specifically the during the commission of an enumerated felony and for pecuniary gain aggravators, were improper because he was convicted of felony murder, where the underlying felony was the same felony that created the statutory aggravators. Defense counsel challenged the application of automatic aggravators in a pretrial motion, but he did not object at the time the instructions were actually given. Freeman has not established a prima facie case that defense counsel's failure to object to the aggravators, after having the pretrial motion denied, was incompetent performance. Moreover, this Court has held there is no merit to the argument that an underlying felony cannot be used as an aggravating factor. See Blanco v. State, 702 So.2d 1250 (Fla.1997). Therefore, Freeman cannot demonstrate that the outcome of his trial was affected by defense counsel's failure to object to these aggravating factors. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052. This claim was properly summarily denied.