Opinion ID: 1832087
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Raise Preserved Errors

Text: The gist of Coney's claim on this point is that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to raise on appeal the following guilt phase issues that were preserved by objection at trial: (a) the admission of gruesome photos; (b) the reliability of McBee's testimony concerning the lacquer thinner that was used to set Southworth afire, and the admission of sundry items connected to the crime (e.g., a shoe box, soda cans, a lock and keys, and a butt can); and (c) the testimony of various witnesses. Further, Coney claims that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to raise on appeal the following penalty phase issues that were preserved by objection at trial: (a) the validity of the HAC instruction; and (b) the admission of gruesome photos. We disagree. This Court in Rutherford v. Moore, 774 So.2d 637 (Fla.2000), articulated the following two-pronged standard of proof for a court to apply when analyzing a claim of ineffectiveness of appellate counsel: When analyzing the merits of [an ineffective assistance of appellate counsel] claim, [t]he criteria for proving ineffective assistance of appellate counsel parallel the Strickland standard for ineffective trial counsel. Thus, this Court's ability to grant habeas relief on the basis of appellate counsel's ineffectiveness is limited to those situations where the petitioner establishes first, that appellate counsel's performance was deficient because the alleged omissions are of such magnitude as to constitute a serious error or substantial deficiency falling measurably outside the range of professionally acceptable performance and second, that the petitioner was prejudiced because appellate counsel's deficiency compromised the appellate process to such a degree as to undermine confidence in the correctness of the result. Rutherford, 774 So.2d at 643 (footnote and citation omitted). In the present case, appellate counsel submitted a comprehensive 100 page brief to this Court, the maximum permitted under the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. The brief raised ten major allegations of error and several subissues. Counsel prevailed on the following points: the trial court erred in allowing juror challenges to be exercised during a bench conference when Coney was not present; [20] the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony concerning one of Coney's prior violent felonies; [21] and the trial court erred in finding that the aggravating circumstance of creating a great risk of death to many persons had been established. [22] In his present petition, Coney has not shown that any of his current claims are more viable than the claims raised by appellate counsel. Specifically, we reject Coney's guilt phase claims on this point for the following reasons. (a) Coney claims that appellate counsel should have sought to exclude gruesome photos. Trial counsel, however, objected to the admission of several photos based on relevancy, not gruesomeness. This issue thus was not preserved for appellate review. (b) Coney claims that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to carry forward trial counsel's objections to the testimony of police lab technician McBee concerning a sample of lacquer thinner that was obtained from the prison auto body shop. [23] Coney also claims that appellate counsel failed to carry forward trial counsel's objections concerning the shoe box, soda cans, and butt can. Coney, however, fails to show how the trial court erred in ruling on these matters. And (c) Coney claims that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to carry forward various other guilt phase objections of trial counsel, but Coney again fails to show how the trial court erred in responding to those objections. Similarly, we reject Coney's penalty phase claims on this point. [24] (a) Coney claims that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to carry forward trial counsel's objection concerning the constitutionality of the HAC instruction. The record, however, shows that the objection was based on the sufficiency of the evidence, not the constitutionality of the instruction. (b) Coney claims that the trial court, over objection, allowed gruesome autopsy photos to be admitted. Coney, however, does not say which photos were impermissible and does not show how the court abused its discretion in admitting the photos. In sum, Coney has failed to show that appellate counsel rendered deficient performance under Strickland by failing to raise these issues on appeal; nor has Coney shown how he was prejudiced by appellate counsel's performance. We reject this claim.