Gaskin v. State

• Decision Date: 01 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 90,119.,90,119.
• Citation: 737 So.2d 509
• Parties: Louis B. GASKIN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

737 So.2d 509

Louis B. GASKIN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 90,119.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 1, 1999.

Rehearing Denied August 30, 1999.

Terri L. Backhus, Chief Assistant CCR, Amy Settlemire, Assistant CCR, and Linda McDermott, Staff Attorney, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tampa, Florida, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Sara D. Baggett, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, Florida, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Louis Gaskin appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court's order as to most issues, but remand this case to the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing on Gaskin's ineffective assistance of counsel claims as discussed herein.

MATERIAL FACTS

The facts of this case are set forth in Gaskin v. State, 591 So.2d 917 (Fla.1991). In 1991, Gaskin was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder (two counts of premeditated and two counts of felony murder) involving two victims, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of armed robbery and two counts of burglary. As for the murder convictions, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of eight to four. The trial court followed the jury's recommendation, finding four aggravating circumstances¹ and two mitigating circumstances.² This Court affirmed Gaskin's convictions and sentence but vacated two of the adjudications for first-degree murder, one for each victim, leaving in place two convictions for first-degree murder. See Gaskin v. State, 591 So.2d 917 (Fla.1991).

Gaskin petitioned the United States Supreme Court for writ of certiorari on the grounds the jury instruction for the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravator was unconstitutionally vague. The Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case to this Court for further consideration in light of Espinosa v. Florida, 505 U.S. 1079, 112 S.Ct. 2926, 120 L.Ed.2d 854 (1992) (holding that it is reversible error for the judge or jury to weigh an invalid aggravating circumstance). On remand, this Court found that Gaskin had failed to preserve the vagueness challenge for appellate review, and even if it had been preserved, any error in giving the instruction was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Gaskin v. State, 615 So.2d 679, 680 (Fla.1993).

On March 23, 1995, Gaskin filed an initial motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. He subsequently amended that motion on October 12, 1995, still within the statutory time limit.³ After a Huff⁴ hearing, the trial court summarily denied the motion without holding an evidentiary hearing. This appeal followed.

APPEAL

Gaskin raises twenty-one issues on appeal,⁵ many of which may be disposed of summarily because they are procedurally barred,⁶ facially without merit,⁷ not cognizable in 3.850 postconviction proceedings,⁸ or moot in light of our decision today.⁹ Gaskin's' remaining claims, however, warrant discussion, and we will address them in turn.

INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

In his postconviction motion Gaskin raised several claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.¹⁰ He asserted that counsel rendered ineffective assistance during the penalty phase by failing to present important mitigating evidence by failing to provide Dr. Harry Krop, the mental health expert, with sufficient background information to properly assess Gaskin's mental condition, by failing to specifically address aggravating and mitigating factors in his closing argument to the jury, and by failing to request a limiting instruction on the doubling of aggravating circumstances. Gaskin contends the trial court should have held an evidentiary hearing on these claims. We agree.

In this case, we find that Gaskin met his burden in establishing a factual basis for an evidentiary hearing on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on counsel's alleged failure to investigate and present important mitigating evidence and to properly advocate in Gaskin's behalf.¹¹ During the penalty phase of the trial, counsel presented limited evidence in mitigation. Indeed, the only evidence for the defense during the penalty phase of the trial consisted of brief testimony from two witnesses: Gaskin's cousin and his aunt. The total sum of their testimony was that Gaskin was well-liked by everyone growing up, he worked hard at a lumber mill where he was employed and seemed to enjoy his job, and there was nothing about Gaskin's past or background that would have caused him to act violently or commit murder.

In contrast to the limited mitigating evidence actually presented by trial counsel, Gaskin has presented an extensive litany of important facts in his motion for postconviction relief which paint an entirely different picture of Gaskin's family background and mental condition than the meager picture presented at trial. These facts include: (1) that his mother was an unwed teenager; (2) that he was raised by his elderly great-grandparents who abused Gaskin and forced him to eat off the floor; (3) that at the age of thirteen, Gaskin would hide under the bed and had to be physically pulled out, one time during which he was foaming at the mouth; (4) that Gaskin was exposed to incestuous sexual activity at a young age; (5) that as a teenager, Gaskin was arrested for stealing a bicycle and exhibited suicidal tendencies by playing with dangerous snakes and playing Russian Roulette with a loaded revolver; (6) that he failed the third and sixth grades and dropped out of school after the eighth grade; (7) that Gaskin suffers from longstanding, severe mental health disorders including organic brain damage, schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia. Gaskin contends that because of these mental illnesses, he experiences auditory hallucinations and episodes of derealization and depersonalization, and was unable to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law at the time of the murders. According to Gaskin's petition, this important evidence was available at the time of Gaskin's trial yet none of it was presented to the jury.¹²

Gaskin also contends that counsel failed to provide Dr. Krop with requested background information and counsel completely failed to address mitigating and aggravating circumstances during his closing argument. The record reflects that Dr. Krop stated in deposition that he could not even make a diagnosis because he did not possess sufficient information on Gaskin at that time. Specifically, Dr. Krop indicated that he had requested, but never received, background information such as school records, medical records, and deposition testimony.

As to defense counsel's ineffectiveness in closing argument, it is alleged that counsel limited his brief appeal to the jury that Gaskin's life should be spared because the times have changed for the worse since World War II, that legal killing results in the "dehumanization of humanity," and that the jury should strive for a more peaceful society by recommending life. Absolutely no mention was made concerning the aggravating or mitigating circumstances upon which the trial court instructed the jury that it must rely in making a penalty phase recommendation to the court. This limited advocacy on behalf of Gaskin before the jury further supports appellant's claim and the need for an evidentiary hearing.¹³See Wilson v. Wainwright, 474 So.2d 1162 (Fla.1985).

Under rule 3.850, a postconviction defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing unless the motion and record conclusively show that the defendant is entitled to no relief. See Fla. R. Crim P. 3.850(d); Rivera v. State, 717 So.2d 477 (Fla.1998); Valle, 705 So.2d at 1333; Roberts v. State, 568 So.2d 1255, 1256 (Fla. 1990). The movant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel if he alleges specific "facts which are not conclusively rebutted by the record and which demonstrate a deficiency in performance that prejudiced the defendant." Id. at 1259.¹⁴ See Mendyk v. State, 592 So.2d 1076, 1079 (Fla. 1992); Kennedy v. State, 547 So.2d 912, 913 (Fla.1989). Upon review of a trial court's summary denial of postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing, we must accept all allegations in the motion as true to the extent they are not conclusively rebutted by the record. Valle, 705 So.2d at 1333.

While the postconviction defendant has the burden of pleading a sufficient factual basis for relief, an evidentiary hearing is presumed necessary absent a conclusive demonstration that the defendant is entitled to no relief. In essence, the burden is upon the State to demonstrate that the motion is legally flawed or that the record conclusively demonstrates no entitlement to relief. The rule was never intended to become a hindrance to obtaining a hearing or to permit the trial court to resolve disputed issues in a summary fashion. To the contrary, the "rule was promulgated to establish an effective procedure in the courts best equipped to adjudicate the rights of those originally tried in those courts." Roy v. Wainwright, 151 So.2d 825, 828 (Fla.1963).¹⁵ Its purpose was to provide a simplified but "complete and efficacious postconviction remedy to correct convictions on any grounds which subject them to collateral attack." Id.¹⁶ It is especially important that initial motions in capital cases predicated upon a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel be carefully reviewed to determine the need for a hearing.¹⁷Cf. Rivera, 717 So.2d at 487 (reversing for evidentiary hearing on claim of ineffective assistance of counsel where defendant alleged extensive evidence of mitigation in 3.850 motion compared to limited mitigation actually presented...