Lynch v. State
| Citation | 2 So.3d 47 |
| Decision Date | 06 November 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. SC07-1246.,No. SC06-2233.,SC06-2233.,SC07-1246. |
| Parties | Richard LYNCH, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Richard Lynch, Petitioner, v. Walter A. McNeil, etc., Respondent. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Florida |
Bill Jennings, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Marie-Louise Samuels Parmer, Nathaniel Plucker and Maria DeLiberato, Assistant CCR Counsel, Middle Region, Tampa, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Barbara C. Davis, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Appellee/Respondent.
Richard Lynch appeals an amended order of the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit denying his postconviction motion to vacate his convictions and corresponding sentences of death and life imprisonment. Lynch also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We possess jurisdiction to resolve these claims. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. As explained in our analysis, we affirm the amended order of the postconviction court and deny each of Lynch's claims. Furthermore, we deny Lynch's habeas petition.
On October 19, 2000, Richard Lynch pled guilty to two counts of first-degree premeditated murder,1 one count of armed burglary of a dwelling, and one count of armed kidnapping.2 See Lynch v. State, 841 So.2d 362, 365-66 (Fla.2003). These charges arose from the March 5, 1999, deaths of Roseanna Morgan, a woman with whom Lynch had engaged in a "long affair," and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Leah Caday. Id. at 366. The trial court imposed death sentences for both murders and life imprisonment for the burglary and kidnapping charges. See id. at 368. On direct appeal, we detailed the facts surrounding the murders:
The testimony elicited ... included a tape of a telephone call that appellant made to the "911" emergency assistance service while still in the apartment where the murders occurred. On that tape, Lynch is heard admitting to the 911 operator that he shot two people at 534 Rosecliff Circle. He said he initially traveled to the apartment only to attempt to have Morgan pay a credit card debt, but resorted to shooting her in the leg and in the back of the head. He told the 911 operator that he had three handguns with him and that he shot Morgan in the back of the head to "put her out of her misery." Appellant also admitted to firing at the police when they first arrived on the scene.
As to Caday, appellant informed the 911 operator that he had held Caday at gunpoint while waiting for Morgan to return home. He related that she was terrified during the process prior to the shootings and asked him why he was doing this to her. Appellant admitted that he shot Caday, and said Appellant told the operator he planned to kill himself.
During the course of these events on March 5, 1999, appellant telephoned his wife three times from the apartment. His wife testified that during the first call she could hear a woman screaming in the background. Appellant's wife further testified that the screaming woman sounded "very, very upset." When Lynch called a second time, he admitted to having just shot someone.
Prior to being escorted from the apartment by police, Lynch also talked to a police negotiator. The negotiator testified that Lynch told her that during the thirty to forty minutes he held Caday hostage prior to the shootings, Caday was terrified, he displayed the handgun to her, she was aware of the weapon, and appeared to be frightened. He confided in the negotiator that Caday had complied with his requests only out of fear. Finally, appellant described the events leading to Morgan's death by admitting that he had confronted her at the door to the apartment, shot her in the leg, pulled her into the apartment, and then shot her again in the back of the head.
Several of Morgan's neighbors in the apartment complex also testified as to the events of March 5, 1999. Morgan's neighbor across the hall testified that she looked out of the peephole in her door after hearing the initial shots and saw Lynch dragging Morgan by the hands into Morgan's apartment. She further testified that Lynch knocked on the door to Morgan's apartment and said, "Hurry up, open the door, your mom is hurt." The neighbor testified that Morgan was screaming and was bloody from her waist down. Morgan's neighbor further testified that the door was opened, then after entering with Morgan, Lynch closed the door and approximately five minutes later she heard the sound of three more gunshots. A second neighbor in the apartment complex also testified that approximately five to seven minutes after she heard the initial gunshots, she heard three more.
Id. at 366-67 (footnote omitted).
In imposing death sentences for the murders, the trial court found three aggravating factors as to the murder of Morgan: (1) the murder was cold, calculated and premeditated (CCP) (great weight); (2) Lynch had previously been convicted of a prior violent felony (the murder of Caday) (moderate weight); and (3) the murder was committed while Lynch was engaged in one or more other felonies (little weight).3 See id. at 368. As to the murder of Caday, the trial court also found three aggravating factors: (1) the murder was heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC) (great weight); (2) Lynch had previously been convicted of a prior violent felony (the murder of Morgan) (great weight); and (3) the murder was committed while Lynch was engaged in one or more other felonies (moderate weight). See id. With regard to mitigation, the trial judge found one statutory mitigator and eight nonstatutory mitigators:
The statutory mitigating factor found was that Lynch had no significant history of prior criminal activity (moderate weight). The eight nonstatutory mitigators were: (1) the crime was committed while defendant was under the influence of a mental or emotional disturbance [but the disturbance was not extreme] (moderate weight); (2) the defendant's capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired [but not severely impaired] (moderate weight); (3) the defendant suffered from a mental illness at the time of the offense (little weight); (4) the defendant was emotionally and physically abused as a child (little weight); (5) the defendant had a history of alcohol abuse (little weight); (6) the defendant had adjusted well to incarceration (little weight); (7) the defendant cooperated with police (moderate weight); (8) the defendant's expression of remorse, the fact that he has been a good father to his children, and his intent to maintain his relationship with his children (little weight).
On direct appeal, Lynch raised the following issues: (1) the trial court erred in finding the HAC aggravator as to the murder of Caday and the CCP aggravator as to the murder of Morgan; (2) the sentencing order was unclear with regard to the findings of the mental-health mitigators, and this Court was required either to construe the findings as statutory mitigators or remand to the trial court for clarification; (3) the death sentences were disproportionate; and (4) Florida's death-penalty scheme is unconstitutional on its face and as applied. See id. at 368-379. We denied relief as to all claims and affirmed Lynch's convictions and sentences. See id. at 379. The United States Supreme Court denied Lynch's petition for writ of certiorari on October 6, 2003. See Lynch v. Florida, 540 U.S. 867, 124 S.Ct. 189, 157 L.Ed.2d 123 (2003).
On July 27, 2004, Lynch filed a rule 3.851 motion for postconviction relief with the circuit court raising the following issues and sub-issues: (1) Guilt-phase ineffective assistance of counsel—(a) failure to move to dismiss count three of the indictment (armed burglary of a dwelling), (b) failure to advise Lynch of potential defenses to the charged offenses, (c) failure to advise Lynch that his guilty plea automatically established certain aggravators (contemporaneous violent felonies—murder, kidnapping, and armed burglary), (d) failure to advise Lynch of mitigation prior to entering a guilty plea due to a failure to investigate, (e) failure to suppress evidence seized from Lynch's home, (f) failure to consult a firearms expert concerning the Glock G30 .45-caliber, semi-automatic pistol's "hair trigger" and lack of a manual safety, (g) failure to investigate the relationship of Greg Morgan (the estranged husband and stepfather of the victims), Roseanna Morgan, and Leah Caday as to each other and as to Lynch (Lynch withdrew this claim before the postconviction hearing), (h) failure to advise Lynch of the confidential-marital communications privilege and its relevance to Lynch's murder-suicide letter and his phone conversations with his wife, Virginia Lynch, (i) failure to ensure an adequate factual basis as to the charged offenses; (2) Penalty-phase ineffective assistance of counsel—(a) failure to advise Lynch concerning his waiver of a penalty-phase jury, (b) failure to conduct an appropriate mitigation investigation and failure to present potentially dispositive mitigation, (c) failure to ensure a competent, appropriate mental-health evaluation, (d) failure to suppress evidence seized from Lynch's home, (e) failure to present an accidental-discharge defense and failure to adequately cross-examine the State's firearms expert (Nanette Rudolph), (f) failure to investigate the relationship of Greg Morgan, Roseanna Morgan, and Leah Caday as to each other and as to Lynch (Lynch withdrew this claim before the postconviction hearing), (g) failure to file a motion to suppress the murder-suicide letter and Lynch's phone conversations with his wife based upon the confidential-marital communications privilege, (h) failure to...
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