Holland v. Florida

• Decision Date: 29 December 2014
• Docket Number: No. 12–12404.,12–12404.
• Citation: 775 F.3d 1294
• Parties: Albert HOLLAND, Jr., Petitioner–Appellant, Cross Appellee, v. State of FLORIDA, Respondent–Appellee, Cross Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

775 F.3d 1294

Albert HOLLAND, Jr., Petitioner–Appellant, Cross Appellee

v.State of FLORIDA, Respondent–Appellee, Cross Appellant.

No. 12–12404.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

Dec. 29, 2014.

Opinion

MARCUS, Circuit Judge:

A Florida court convicted Albert Holland of murder and sentenced him to death for the fatal shooting of police officer Scott Winters. The district court issued a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that Holland's right to represent himself was violated. To obtain a writ under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) (2012), Holland must show that the Florida Supreme Court's denial of his claim was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court law. He does not. Consistent with Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), the Florida Supreme Court reasonably determined that, because of his serious mental disabilities

, Holland did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his right to counsel. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's grant of habeas relief.

Holland appeals three other claims the district court rejected. We too find they lack merit. Holland argues that the Florida Supreme Court unreasonably applied harmless error analysis to the admission of both an inaudible videotape and a mental health expert's opinion about whether a firearm had been hidden. We conclude that both errors were harmless because they did not have a “substantial and injurious effect or influence” on the jury's verdict. Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 637, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993) (quotation omitted). As the record amply reveals, the interrogating officer testified to the contents of the videotape and an investigating officer made similar comments about the gun's location. Holland also claims that he received ineffective assistance because his trial counsel failed to object to a number of improper statements made by the prosecution during closing arguments. The district court found federal relief was procedurally barred because Holland did not exhaust this claim in state court. While we conclude that exhaustion does not bar Holland's claim, we affirm because the Florida Supreme Court's determinations that counsel performed adequately and that Holland suffered no prejudice were reasonable. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Finally, Holland says that his custodial confession should have been suppressed because he talked to police after he asked for a lawyer. In denying relief because Holland initiated the conversation with the detective, the Florida Supreme Court did not unreasonably apply Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981).

Accordingly, we remand to the district court with instructions to reinstate Holland's conviction and sentence.

I.

A.

The facts relevant for this appeal begin with the observation that Holland suffered a serious brain injury

in October 1979, when another inmate in a federal prison knocked him unconscious. The beating left Holland with a slowly resolving concussion, facial fractures, and three weeks of post-traumatic amnesia. In the early 1980s, Holland was arrested and charged with robbery in Washington, D.C. Holland's attorney described him as “clearly a homeless individual, and disheveled, and incoherent, and not able to interact with me in any way, shape, or meaningful form, at all.” “In the early meetings, ... he would have nothing to say, but would rock in a chair with his hands folded. I remember, distinctly, that he would drool.” The United States prosecutor agreed with defense counsel that Holland was not legally culpable because he had been insane. The court found Holland was not guilty of the robbery by reason of insanity, based on testimony from a doctor that Holland suffered from a mental defect or disease that interfered totally with his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or conform his behavior to the requirements of law. He was placed in Saint Elizabeth's Hospital, and he saw at least six doctors during his time there. At Saint Elizabeth's, doctors first diagnosed him with “schizophrenia

, undifferentiated type, and Organic Amnestic Syndrome,” which indicates a significant memory impairment. A second evaluation discontinued the Organic Amnestic Syndrome diagnosis but did not alter the schizophrenia diagnosis. Still, some of Holland's doctors suggested that he suffered less from schizophrenia and more from “organic psychosis ” tied to his brain injury. At Saint Elizabeth's, Holland was treated with Thorazine, an antipsychotic, and Cogentin to deal with side effects. Holland escaped from Saint Elizabeth's, and thereafter was charged with a new robbery. With the agreement of an attorney for the United States, a different judge found Holland not guilty by reason of insanity a second time and again sent him to Saint Elizabeth's. He absconded from the hospital yet again in May 1986.

Four years later, after smoking a rock of crack cocaine, Holland attacked and brutally beat Thelma Johnson in Pompano Beach, Florida, on July 29, 1990. Holland ran off when a witness intervened, leaving the victim semi-conscious and with severe head injuries

. Police searched for the assailant and K–9 patrol officer Scott Winters of the Pompano Beach Police Department found Holland. Witnesses saw the two struggling. Holland grabbed Winters's gun and fatally shot him in the groin and lower stomach. See Holland v. State (Holland II), 773 So.2d 1065, 1068 (Fla.2000) (per curiam).

Holland was first tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in 1991. During that trial, Holland's disruptive behavior led to his removal from the courtroom. On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court reversed his conviction because admission of testimony about a psychiatric examination of Holland violated his right to counsel and his right against self-incrimination. See Holland v. State (Holland I), 636 So.2d 1289 (1994) (per curiam).

On remand, the trial court appointed Kenneth Delegal to represent Holland in the second trial. After about a year, this representation terminated when Delegal was confined to a mental health facility. Delegal eventually was arrested on drug and domestic violence charges and died of a drug overdose during Holland's retrial. The trial court then appointed James Lewis, who shared office space with Delegal, to assume representation of Holland because Lewis had some familiarity with the case. Evan Baron, appointed alongside Delegal to serve as penalty phase counsel, continued to represent Holland as well.

Before the second trial began, at a September 15, 1995, hearing, Lewis told the court Holland had refused to see or speak to him. Holland expressed severe suspicion of Lewis, his lawyer: “it's like he's sneaking around like a little mouse.” Holland in turn informed the court that he believed Lewis and jail authorities had taped a visit between Holland and his father through a sprinkler head. Indeed, Holland thought Lewis was using his father to convince him to keep Lewis as his attorney. Holland did not believe that his father's trip was cut short by an approaching hurricane, and “if [Lewis] will lie about something, little petty like that, he's going to do some other things on the bigger issue.” Holland told the court that, when he tried to call his father, “the lady wouldn't let me call ... because everybody works together.”

Holland's paranoid suspicions went deeper. Holland also told the trial court, “They're trying to get something on me.... Seems like I'm always being taped.” “I got microphones in my cell, too. But if I'm going to try to find them, I got to tear the light off the wall.” Holland worried about surveillance because “I talk to invisible people ... [b]ut it may be dealing with my case.” When assured by the court that he was not being taped in his cell or during visits with his father or attorney, Holland responded, “betrayal will lurk.” He continued, “everybody at the bar where all the lawyers drink at know about my case. Everybody knows everything. My strategy, anything that's going to be going on.”

Also before the second trial began, Holland's counsel, Lewis, filed a motion alleging Holland was incompetent to stand trial. At a hearing conducted on October 9, 1995, Lewis explained that Holland had indicated he was having suicidal tendencies and had asked to see a psychiatrist or “possibly be prescribed some type of psychotropic medication.” The trial court authorized three mental health experts to examine Holland for competence to stand trial and directed that a psychiatrist evaluate Holland to determine whether he needed psychotropic medication.

On December 14, 1995, the trial court followed up with a hearing to determine Holland's competency to stand trial. Two mental health experts who interviewed Holland testified that he was competent, while a third said he met the criteria for competency but believed the ultimate conclusion was for the finder of fact. One psychologist specializing in clinical neuropsychology, Dr. Lee Bukstel, told the trial court about Holland's treatment for schizophrenia

at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital. Bukstel also said that a jail psychiatrist had recently diagnosed Holland with an unspecified psychotic disorder and anti-social personality disorder. That psychiatrist prescribed Haldol, an anti-psychotic, though Bukstel said Holland had refused to take it. Another mental health expert testified at the competency hearing that Haldol calms patients with emotional problems, but that people often act out when they stop taking medication. According to Bukstel, Holland appeared psychologically stable, though he noted that Holland's statements to the court about secret tape-recording showed unrealistic suspicions and paranoia. Bukstel explained that Holland complained of “pain and tension” in his head and “burning in [his] mind.” Holland reported depression, anxiety, nervousness, crying, agitation, decreased...