Opinion ID: 1841380
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Appeal Officer Newland's Penalty-Phase Testimony

Text: At the penalty phase, Officer Newland testified about the details of several of Grim's prior violent felony convictions. Grim asserts that this testimony impermissibly dominated the penalty phase and that appellate counsel should have raised this claim on appeal. Grim's claim is refuted by the record. Newland was one of three witnesses who testified during the penalty phase. Her testimony comprises only eleven pages of the record and only six of those pages concern the details of Grim's prior felonies. While it is true that defense counsel objected to Newland's description of Grim's prior violent felonies, the trial court did not overrule the objection. Rather, defense counsel and the assistant state attorney approached the bench, discussed the issue, and arrived at a mutually satisfactory compromise. As Grim acknowledges in his petition, the facts of prior violent felony convictions may be introduced during the penalty phase. See Carpenter v. State, 785 So.2d 1182, 1208 (Fla.2001) (As a general rule, `[d]etails of prior felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the victim are admissible in the penalty phase of a capital trial.' (quoting Waterhouse v. State, 596 So.2d 1008, 1016 (Fla. 1992))). The purpose for this rule is to engage in a character analysis to determine whether the death penalty is appropriate. Carpenter, 785 So.2d at 1208. While it is also true that these descriptions may not become the feature of the penalty phase, see id., the record reflects that this did not occur in Grim's case. Grim fails to establish that appellate counsel's failure to raise this claim on appeal was either deficient or prejudicial, and we deny this claim. For the foregoing reasons we affirm the trial court's denial of Grim's postconviction motion and deny his petition for writ of habeas corpus. It is so ordered. LEWIS, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, QUINCE, and CANTERO, JJ., concur. BELL, J., recused.