Opinion ID: 528434
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Caldwell Violations Occurring Throughout the State Proceedings (Claim 8)

Text: 59 Bertolotti argues that the prosecutor and judge impermissibly diminished the jury's sense of responsibility for the awesomeness of its task, in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985). The Florida Supreme Court found this claim procedurally barred because it was not raised on direct appeal; alternatively, the Florida court refused to address the merits of Bertolotti's Caldwell claim because Florida maintains that Caldwell is inapplicable to its statutory scheme, in which the trial judge imposes the death sentence. Bertolotti v. State, 534 So.2d at 387 n. 2. 60 Although we question the strength of Bertolotti's claim, 15 the doctrine of procedural bar prevents us from addressing the merits. In Dugger v. Adams, the Supreme Court recently held that Florida petitioners generally do not have cause for failing to object to Caldwell-type errors during pre-Caldwell trials, because Florida has long recognized that a defendant must object if the judge misinstructs jurors on applicable state law. --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 1211, 1215-16, 103 L.Ed.2d 435 (1989). Similarly, Florida has long held that the defense must object to improper prosecutorial remarks. E.g., Rogers v. State, 158 Fla. 582, 30 So.2d 625, 628-29 (1947). As Bertolotti suggests no other manner of satisfying the cause-and-prejudice test of Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), we conclude that Florida's decision constitutes an adequate and independent ground for decision. 61 3. Improper Denial of Motion for a Change of Venue and Improper Limitation of Bertolotti's Right to Voir Dire the Jury Venire (Claim 11) 62 News stories about the murder of Carol Miller Ward were carried on television and printed in the newspapers following discovery of the crime and following Bertolotti's arrest and confession; a local television station also carried a report on Bertolotti's impending trial shortly before jury selection began. Prior to jury selection, counsel moved for a change of venue and for individual voir dire. At a hearing on March 19, 1984, the trial judge granted Bertolotti's motion for individual voir dire, 16 but, concluding that Bertolotti had not demonstrated prejudice, denied the motion for change of venue. The judge informed defense counsel that should difficulty in obtaining an impartial jury appear to be the case during voir dire, ... you are entitled to raise the issue at that time. On March 26, prior to voir dire, counsel renewed the motion for a change of venue. At a subsequent hearing in open court, the trial judge reviewed video tapes of televised news reports that aired in September and October 1983 and March 1984, but again denied Bertolotti's motion for a change of venue without prejudice to reconsider should voir dire show that the venire was biased. Jury selection began later that day. 63 Of fifty prospective jurors called, individual voir dire revealed that thirteen were sufficiently biased to be excused for cause; of that number, six were excused because of a preconceived notion of Bertolotti's guilt. In response to questions posed by the judge and by the attorneys, the remaining thirty-seven jurors indicated that they could determine Bertolotti's guilt or innocence based upon the evidence adduced at trial and not upon any preconception. The attorneys selected a panel of twelve jurors and two alternate jurors; of this number, three had no knowledge of the murder, nine had some knowledge of the murder, and two knew of the existence of Bertolotti's confession. Counsel did not move for a change of venue after voir dire commenced. 64 The individual voir dire conducted by Bertolotti's lawyers insured that Bertolotti was tried by an impartial jury under the sixth and fourteenth amendments; accordingly, Bertolotti has not demonstrated that he was actually prejudiced by the trial judge's denial of his motion for a change of venue. Importantly, if jurors can lay aside preconceptions and base their verdict on the evidence adduced at trial, they need not be completely unaware of the facts of a given case. Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 799-800, 95 S.Ct. 2031, 2036, 44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975). Perhaps recognizing the difficulty in proving actual prejudice on the basis of the voir dire transcript, Bertolotti submits that his case is of that rare breed which does exceed the extremely high threshold test of presumed prejudice requiring a change of venue. Coleman v. Kemp, 778 F.2d 1487, 1489 (11th Cir.1985), reh. in banc den., 782 F.2d 896 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1164, 106 S.Ct. 2289, 90 L.Ed.2d 730 (1986). We disagree. 65 The record contains two news articles that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel in October of 1983, five months before the trial. The articles, one of which appeared on the front page of the Sentinel, detail facts surrounding the murder and Bertolotti's subsequent arrest, and also recount Bertolotti's prior criminal record. Beyond this evidence, the record contains affidavits of Bertolotti and two public defenders in which the affiants state that extensive publicity surrounded the murder investigation. The record does not contain the video tapes viewed by the trial judge; the judge indicated, however, that the tapes contained references to statements attributed to Bertolotti. The record is devoid of circulation figures for the newspaper and audience-share figures for the televised newscasts. 66 This showing is plainly inadequate to establish a claim of presumed prejudice under our decisions. 17 In Bundy, the petitioner produced much more evidence of pretrial publicity than Bertolotti now presents. 850 F.2d at 1425. Six months prior to jury selection in the proceeding under attack in Bundy, a public television station had broadcast half-hour summaries of another of the defendant's trials; the commercial television stations likewise provided extensive coverage of the earlier trial and the defendant also presented several newspaper accounts from the local newspaper. As in the instant case, the articles and broadcasts were factual in nature and did not include editorial commentary on the defendant's guilt. An opinion poll suggested that ninety-eight percent of the county residents were familiar with the name Bundy, fifty-eight percent knew that the defendant had been involved in the earlier case, and thirty-one percent believed that the defendant's earlier conviction strongly indicated that he was guilty in the case under collateral attack. We rejected this evidence, noting that prejudice is not presumed simply because the defendant's criminal record is well publicized. Id., 850 F.2d at 1425 (citing Murphy v. Florida ). Following our decision in Bundy, we conclude that Bertolotti has not shown that he was constitutionally entitled to a change of venue. See also Cummings v. Dugger, 862 F.2d 1504, 1511-12 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 3169, 104 L.Ed.2d 1031 (1989); Marsden v. Moore, 847 F.2d 1536, 1543 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 534, 102 L.Ed.2d 566 (1988).