Opinion ID: 1786306
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Call Expert

Text: Bowles next alleges that counsel were ineffective for failing to call an expert to substantiate his mental mitigators. The postconviction court did not discuss this aspect of Bowles' claim in detail, though it did note: As to any suggestion by Bowles that trial counsel were somehow ineffective by the selection of Dr. McMahon as an expert or that [she] was not a competent psychologist, the Court finds no merit to these claims. Dr. Krop recognized Dr. McMahon as a competent psychologist with more experience than himself in administering neuropsychological tests. Nor does the court find that trial counsel improperly deferred to Dr. McMahon the responsibility to make legal decisions regarding matters of mental health mitigation. Postconviction Order at 11 (citation omitted). We have previously rejected similar claims to those made by Bowles. See Dufour v. State, 905 So.2d 42, 56 (Fla.2005) (There was evidence of clear justification for not utilizing [the consulted expert] as a witness [and] . . . [t]rial counsel was not ineffective simply because after receiving an initial unfavorable report from [one expert] they did not proceed further to seek additional experts for mental mitigation evidence.). Just as in Dufour, counsel consulted with an expert and received an unfavorable report. Based on this result, they chose not to have the expert, Dr. McMahon, testify. It was reasonable to rely on Dr. McMahon's results and not seek an additional expert. Accordingly, Bowles has not demonstrated that his counsel were deficient on this claim.