King v. State
| Decision Date | 02 December 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 61406,61406 |
| Citation | 407 So.2d 904 |
| Parties | Amos Lee KING, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Baya Harrison, III of Fuller, Johnson & Harrison, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Michael J. Kotler, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a final order of the Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in and for Pinellas County, dated November 13, 1981, denying King's motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. King also requests a stay of his execution which is scheduled for December 8, 1981.
King was convicted of first-degree murder, involuntary sexual battery, robbery, arson, and attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. This Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence last year. King v. State, 390 So.2d 315 (Fla.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 989, 101 S.Ct. 1529, 67 L.Ed.2d 825 (1981).
Being unsuccessful in his application for clemency, King filed a 3.850 motion. King argued that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. On appeal he contends that the trial judge erroneously found to the contrary and that the trial judge improperly prejudged his motion.
King's trial counsel, Thomas Cole, a former assistant public defender, is deceased. He had been assisted at the trial by another assistant public defender, Anthony Rondolino. To support his 3.850 motion, King called as witnesses Rondolino, Patrick Doherty, another attorney, and two acquaintances. Testimony showed that King's trial attorney had been deeply engrossed in another case while preparing King's case. Most of the preparation of King's case occurred between the time of a mistrial of the other case and a subsequent trial of that case. Eleven days intervened between the end of that case and King's trial.
Cole had obtained two continuances of King's case. It is argued that Cole was ineffective because the continuances led to the consolidation for trial of King's murder trial with all other charges arising from the events of the night of the murder. * Rondolino testified that he considered Cole to be ineffective because of Cole's statement that he was not prepared to proceed when the court allowed the consolidation. He also testified to Cole's involvement in the other case and that Cole was "exhausted."
The trial judge allowed a proffer of, but did not consider, the testimony of attorney Doherty, who concluded that Cole was ineffective. We have reviewed this testimony and have considered it. Doherty was critical of Cole's investigation of the state's witnesses and the quality of the physical evidence. He questions the timeliness of filing motions to suppress and the taking of depositions. One omission strongly urged is the failure to call an FBI agent as a witness to establish that no negroid hairs were found on or about the victim, her apparel, or bedclothes....
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King v. Strickland, 82-5306
...989, 101 S.Ct. 1529, 67 L.Ed.2d 825 (1981). The Florida courts also denied collateral relief after an evidentiary hearing. King v. State, 407 So.2d 904 (Fla.1981). The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida then denied King's petition for federal habeas corpus relie......
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King v. State, No. SC02-01
...This Court affirmed the trial court's denial of the 3.850 motion and denied King's request for a stay of execution. See King v. State, 407 So.2d 904, 905 (Fla.1981). While King's postconviction relief appeal was pending before this Court, King petitioned for federal habeas corpus relief. Th......
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King v. Dugger, 73360
...King's first death warrant, the trial court denied King's motion for postconviction relief, which this Court affirmed. King v. State, 407 So.2d 904 (Fla.1981). A federal court, however, ordered that King be resentenced. King v. Strickland, 714 F.2d 1481 (11th Cir.1983), vacated for reconsid......
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King v. State, 68631
...of trial counsel. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the motion, and this Court affirmed that denial. King v. State, 407 So.2d 904 (Fla.1981). King then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court, and, on appeal, the eleventh circuit found that King's tria......