Hall v. State

Decision Date05 October 1982
Docket NumberNos. 62696,62697,s. 62696
Citation420 So.2d 872
PartiesFreddie Lee HALL, Appellant/Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee/Respondent.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Howard H. Babb, Jr., Public Defender and Jerry T. Lockett, Asst. Public Defender, Fifth Judicial Circuit, Tavares, for appellant/petitioner.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Robert J. Landry, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee/respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Freddie Lee Hall appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his conviction and sentence, applies to this Court for a stay of execution, and petitions for a writ of habeas corpus. We affirm the trial court's denial and deny the petition for habeas corpus and application for stay of execution.

A jury convicted Hall of the first-degree murder of Karol Hurst and recommended that he be sentenced to death. The trial court followed that recommendation, and this Court affirmed both Hall's conviction and death sentence. Hall v. State, 403 So.2d 1321 (Fla.1981).

On September 9, 1982 the governor signed Hall's death warrant, effective for the week of October 1 through 8, and the department of corrections scheduled his execution for October 6. The trial court, in response to Hall's claims that he had sought, but could not find, legal counsel, appointed the public defender to represent Hall for purposes of post-conviction relief. The trial court conducted a hearing on Hall's motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his judgment and sentence on September 30 and issued an order denying both that motion and Hall's application for a stay of execution on the following day. This detailed and conscientiously prepared order addresses each of the points raised and finds no merit to Hall's contentions.

Before this Court, Hall claims that the trial court improperly denied the motion to vacate and that the denial of his motion for a continuance on September 30 violates due process of law and access to the courts. In a separate petition for writ of habeas corpus, Hall claims ineffective assistance of counsel at the appellate level. We, like the trial court, find no merit to Hall's attacks on his conviction and sentence.

The majority of issues raised in the motion to vacate were raised on appeal. Most of the remaining issues could have been raised there. They are, therefore, not matters which will support a collateral attack. Adams v. State, 380 So.2d 423 (Fla.1980); Sullivan v. State, 372 So.2d 938 (Fla.1979). Several of the points raised, however, merit discussion.

Hall claims that he was not present during some of the jury selection and that his absence abrogated his fundamental constitutional rights. Francis v. State, 413 So.2d 1175 (Fla.1982). The trial court found Francis distinguishable from the instant case. We agree. Hall was not present at the roll call of prospective jurors or at the general qualification of prospective jurors. He was, however, present at all critical stages of the proceedings and available to consult with his counsel.

Regarding sentencing errors, Hall claims that because we reduced his sentence for a later-in-time crime to second-degree murder, Hall v. State, 403 So.2d 1319 (Fla.1981), that crime could not be used to show the aggravating circumstance of prior criminal history. We recently considered this point in denying a stay of execution for Hall's codefendant, Mack Ruffin. Ruffin v State, 420 So.2d 591, Case No. 62,631 (Fla. Sept. 29, 1982). As pointed out by the trial court, the reduced conviction still meets the criteria for finding past criminal history in aggravation. Additionally, Hall had also been convicted previously of an unrelated assault with intent to commit rape. The trial court is correct in concluding that, had we found that the reduction in the degree of homicide affected the death penalty in the instant case, we would have said so in our prior opinion.

Citing Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982), Hall claims that the death penalty cannot be imposed because he did not actually and intentionally kill the victim. In Enmund the Supreme Court held that Florida's death penalty statute cannot be applied to one who did not kill, attempt to kill, intend to kill, or intend that lethal force be used. We agree with the...

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  • Riley v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Delaware
    • 9 d1 Julho d1 1984
    ...it out, according to the only eyewitness testimony. Riley's presence at the killing distinguishes this case from Enmund. Hall v. State, Fla.Supr., 420 So.2d 872 (1982) (distinguishing Enmund, at 874); Ruffin v. State, Fla.Supr., 397 So.2d 277, 282, cert. denied, 454 U.S. 882, 102 S.Ct. 368,......
  • Hall v. Wainwright
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • 16 d3 Maio d3 1984
    ...the trial court with numerous other points regarding his sentencing. As did the trial court, we find no merit to them." Hall v. State, 420 So.2d 872, 874 (Fla.1982). Earlier in the opinion, however, the court had stated: "[t]he majority of issues raised in the motion to vacate were raised o......
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    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 24 d3 Dezembro d3 1986
    ...is not, however, entitled to a perfect trial, free from all possible error. Stang v. State, 421 So.2d 147, 149 (Fla.1982); Hall v. State, 420 So.2d 872, 874 (Fla.1982); Hoffman v. State, 397 So.2d 288, 290 (Fla.1981); Lackos v. State, 339 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla.1976). The criminal discovery ru......
  • In re Henry, 14–12623
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • 17 d2 Junho d2 2014
    ...a state postconviction motion that was denied by the state trial court, and the Supreme Court of Florida affirmed. Hall v. State, 420 So.2d 872 (Fla.1982) (per curiam). He then sought and was eventually denied federal habeas corpus relief in 1986. See Hall v. Wainwright, 805 F.2d 945 (11th ......
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