Opinion ID: 2752896
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Postconviction

Text: 2 The Florida Supreme Court agreed with Mr. Tanzi that the trial court had impermissibly doubled the “in the course of a felony” aggravator by finding that Mr. Tanzi had committed the murder during the course of a kidnapping and sexual battery as two separate aggravators. Tanzi I, 964 So. 2d at 116–18. But the court concluded the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 117 (“[I]t is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that even without a second murder in the course of a felony aggravator, the trial court would have found that the aggravating factors present in this case substantially outweighed the mitigating evidence.”). 7 Case: 13-12421 Date Filed: 11/19/2014 Page: 8 of 34 Mr. Tanzi filed a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. The state trial court summarily denied several claims, including Mr. Tanzi’s Brady claim, Tanzi II, 94 So. 3d at 494, but granted him an evidentiary hearing on his penalty phase ineffective assistance of counsel claim, id. at 488. After the evidentiary hearing, the state trial court issued a written opinion denying Mr. Tanzi relief on the merits. Then, in a detailed opinion, the Florida Supreme Court considered and rejected Mr. Tanzi’s penalty ineffective assistance of counsel and Brady claims on the merits. See id. at 490–94. We will elaborate on the state trial court’s factfinding and Florida Supreme Court’s reasons supporting its decision below. Mr. Tanzi timely filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus raising a number of claims, which the District Court denied in a comprehensive written order. As set out above, Mr. Tanzi was granted a COA to appeal two of the claims rejected by the District Court.