Mordenti v. State, No. SC02-1159 | SC02-2643.
Decision Date | 16 December 2004 |
Docket Number | No. SC02-1159 | SC02-2643. |
Citation | 894 So.2d 161 |
Parties | Michael MORDENTI, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Michael Mordenti, Petitioner, v. James V. Crosby, Jr., Respondent. |
Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Martin J. McClain of McClain and McDermott, Wilton Manors, FL and Heidi Brewer, Tallahassee, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL and Robert J. Landry, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Appellee/Respondent.
Michael Mordenti appeals the denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Mordenti also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we reverse the trial court's order denying Mordenti's postconviction motion and remand to the trial court for a new trial.
Mordenti was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and the first-degree murder of Thelma Royston. The jury, by a vote of eleven to one, recommended the death penalty. Following that recommendation, the trial court sentenced Mordenti to thirty years in prison on the conspiracy to commit murder charge and imposed a sentence of death for the first-degree murder charge. The facts pertaining to the murder of Thelma Royston were fully detailed in our direct appeal opinion:
Mordenti v. State, 630 So.2d 1080, 1082-83 (Fla.1994).
In sentencing Mordenti to death, the trial judge found two aggravating circumstances — that the murder had been committed for financial gain and was cold, calculated, and premeditated. See id. at 1083. In mitigation, the trial judge found the following factors: (1) Mordenti was fifty at the time of the crime; (2) Mordenti had no significant history of prior criminal activity; (3) Mordenti's father died while Mordenti was young and he was abandoned by his mother; (4) Mordenti was a good stepson to his stepparents; (5) Mordenti supported the woman who lived with him and her two children; (6) Mordenti was a thoughtful friend and employer and was fair in business dealings; (7) Mordenti received an honorable discharge from the Coast Guard; and (8) Mordenti behaved appropriately in court during the trial. See id.
On direct appeal, this Court affirmed Mordenti's convictions and sentences. See id. at 1082. On September 2, 1995, Mordenti filed a motion for postconviction relief in the trial court. See Mordenti v. State, 711 So.2d 30, 31 (Fla.1998)
. On September 30, 1996, the trial court issued an order summarily denying Mordenti's postconviction motion without holding an evidentiary hearing and without providing Mordenti's counsel an opportunity to be heard. See id. at 31. This Court reversed the summary denial of Mordenti's postconviction motion and directed the trial court to hold a Huff2 hearing. See id. at 33. On October 19, 2000, the trial court held a Huff hearing, where it granted an evidentiary hearing on four claims and denied the remaining claims.
After the evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied relief on the four remaining claims. Mordenti now appeals the trial court's denial of postconviction relief, presenting the following claims for review: (1) whether the lower court erred in denying his claims that the State committed Giglio3 violations; (2) whether the lower court erred in denying his claims that the State committed Brady4 violations; (3) whether guilt phase counsel was ineffective;5 (4) whether the trial court erred in permitting the testimony of Senior Legal Assistant with the Attorney General's Office, Paula Montlary, who was a former employee of trial defense counsel Richard Watts; (5) whether counsel at the penalty and sentencing phase was ineffective;6 and (6) whether the trial court erred in summarily denying five claims presented in his postconviction motion.7 We conclude that the resolution of claim (2) is dispositive. Moreover, our conclusion to remand this case for a new trial is supported by our cumulative analysis, which addresses several of Mordenti's purported Brady and Giglio violations. Accordingly, claims (3), (4), (5), and (6), as well as Mordenti's habeas claims, are rendered moot in light of this opinion. See Clark v. State, 690 So.2d 1280, 1282 n. 4 (Fla.1997)
.
Mordenti was convicted primarily on the testimony of one woman, Gail Mordenti Milligan. No physical evidence was produced linking Mordenti to the murder, and Gail was the only witness who was able to place Mordenti at the scene of the murder. There...
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