Opinion ID: 1571490
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Charging Statutory Aggravators in the Indictment

Text: Lynch presented this same constitutional challenge during his direct appeal. With regard to the State's failure to charge aggravating circumstances in the indictment, we stated: Appellant's first claimthat Florida's death penalty scheme is unconstitutional because it fails to provide notice as to aggravating circumstancesis rejected based on the ruling of Vining v. State, 637 So.2d 921 (Fla.1994). There this Court wrote: The aggravating factors to be considered in determining the propriety of a death sentence are limited to those set out in section 921.141(5), Florida Statutes (1987). Therefore, there is no reason to require the State to notify defendants of the aggravating factors that it intends to prove. Vining, 637 So.2d at 928. Lynch, 841 So.2d at 378; see also Grim v. State, 971 So.2d 85, 103 (Fla.2007) (failure to charge aggravating factors in the indictment does not violate the Florida and United States Constitutions). Further, because Lynch litigated this claim on direct appeal, the instant challenge is procedurally barred. See Grim, 971 So.2d at 103 ([C]laims raised in a habeas petition which petitioner has raised in prior proceedings and which have been previously decided on the merits in those proceedings are procedurally barred in the habeas petition. (quoting Porter v. Crosby, 840 So.2d 981, 984 (Fla.2003))). Accordingly, we deny relief as to this claim.