Opinion ID: 1828411
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cross-Examination of Dr. Berlin

Text: In his first habeas claim, Owen asserts that his appellate counsel should have challenged on direct appeal whether the trial court erred in permitting the State to cross-examine Dr. Berlin, a defense expert, as to his view on the death penalty during the guilt phase. We find that even if the trial court erred in allowing the State to question Dr. Berlin regarding his personal beliefs on the death penalty, any error was harmless. In Power v. State, 605 So.2d 856, 863 (Fla.1992), the Court held that any error in limiting the defendant's attempt to rehabilitate a defense expert witness who was questioned about his personal bias against the death penalty was harmless because the impeaching evidence did not damage the expert's testimony that was confined to the defendant's lack of future dangerousness and only marginally relevant to other issues. Here too, the State's questioning was not damaging to Dr. Berlin's testimony about Owen's sanity. Dr. Berlin's answer did not indicate that he held so strong of a viewpoint on the death penalty as to be actually biased. Dr. Berlin handled the question professionally, and the prosecutor did not dwell on the issue. Moreover, three other mental health experts testified at the guilt phase about Owen's sanity. Upon reviewing the record, it seems unlikely that knowledge of Dr. Berlin's view on the death penalty improperly influenced the jury's deliberation about Owen's defense. The issue would have been found to be without merit on direct appeal.