Opinion ID: 1561466
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alleged Ex Parte Communication

Text: Hurst next contends that that an improper ex parte conversation occurred during his trial when Judge Tarbuck asked prosecutor Rimmer if Lee-Lee Smith would be charged in connection with the Popeye's crimes. This claim arose after Rimmer testified at the initial evidentiary hearing, I never even really made a decision to [charge Smith] until the case was over and Judge Tarbuck called me up to the bench and asked me why Lee-Lee had not been charged. Rimmer could not recall exactly when the conversation occurred, and testified that it could have occurred before or after the penalty phase. Hurst was allowed to depose Judge Tarbuck, who stated that he did not recall witness Lee-Lee Smith and did not recall any conversation with the prosecutor about Smith being charged. Rimmer was also deposed on the issue approximately a year after his evidentiary hearing testimony and testified that he thought the conversation with Judge Tarbuck probably occurred after the verdict, at the conclusion of Hurst's guilt phase case, and confirmed that Hurst's defense counsel was not present at the conversation. The postconviction court, with a different circuit judge now presiding, denied the claim of improper ex parte communication without a further evidentiary hearing and concluded: Defendant has failed to establish that he was deprived of a neutral, detached judge. The Court finds that the communication in question was limited to matters concerning Lee-Lee Smith and had no bearing on the judge's treatment of Defendant either during trial or during sentencing. Defendant is not entitled to relief as to this claim. We agree that the conversation was not an improper substantive ex parte communication about the merits of Hurst's case and that it in no way prejudiced Hurst or deprived him of a neutral, detached judge. Canon 3 B(7) of the Code of Judicial Conduct provides in pertinent part that [a] judge shall not initiate, permit, or consider ex parte communications, or consider other communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties concerning a pending or impending proceeding. We have recognized that there is nothing `more dangerous and destructive of the impartiality of the judiciary than a one-sided communication between a judge and a single litigant.' Randolph v. State, 853 So.2d 1051, 1057 (Fla.2003) (quoting Spencer v. State, 615 So.2d 688, 691 (Fla. 1993)). Without question, an ex parte communication in a capital case in which the trial court delegates the job of evaluating sentencing factors and preparation of the sentencing order to the prosecution is improper and will require reversal. See, e.g., State v. Riechmann, 777 So.2d 342, 351 (Fla.2000). That is not what occurred here. Even where an improper communication occurs, reversal is not automatic. In Randolph, we found that an improper ex parte communication took place between the judge and the prosecutor, who were discussing the wording of the sentencing order, but agreed with the postconviction court that a new trial was not necessary because Randolph's right to a neutral judge was not violated by the improper ex parte communication in this case. Randolph, 853 So.2d at 1057. We have also considered the importance of the nature of the contact between the judge and the prosecutor in evaluating whether an ex parte communication is improper. See id. at 1058; Card v. State, 652 So.2d 344, 346 (Fla.1995) (noting that the postconviction court should consider the nature of the contact between the trial judge and the prosecutor). In the instant case, the nature of the contact was solely related to whether Smith would be charged in a separate prosecutiona matter not directly involving Hurst or the charges against him. If anything, the exchange indicates concern about Smith's culpability in the crime, a concern that is not prejudicial to Hurst or inconsistent with Judge Tarbuck's neutrality in Hurst's case. In evaluating a claim of improper ex parte communication in Tompkins v. State, 872 So.2d 230 (Fla. 2003), we explained: Tompkins is not entitled to a new penalty phase because he has not demonstrated that he was denied his right to a neutral, detached judge or that Judge Coe failed to independently weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Id. at 245. Similarly, In this case, no claim has been made, and we see no evidence in the record, that the ex parte communication concerning Smith deprived Hurst of a neutral, detached judge. Because there is no basis to conclude that Hurst was deprived of a neutral, detached judge or that any of the trial judge's rulings or decisions were prejudicially affected by the communication, relief is denied on this claim.