Pittman v. State

• Citation: 90 So.3d 794
• Decision Date: 07 June 2012
• Docket Number: Nos. SC08–146,SC08–2486.,s. SC08–146
• Parties: David Joseph PITTMAN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. David Joseph Pittman, Petitioner, v. Edwin G. Buss, etc., Respondent.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Florida

90 So.3d 794

David Joseph PITTMAN, Appellant,

v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.

David Joseph Pittman, Petitioner,

v.Edwin G. Buss, etc., Respondent.

Nos. SC08–146, SC08–2486.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 30, 2011.

Rehearing Denied June 7, 2012.

Martin McClain of McClain and McDermott, P.A., Wilton Manors, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Katherine V. Blanco, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Appellee/Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

David Joseph Pittman appeals the postconviction court's order denying his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 to vacate his first-degree murder convictions and sentences of death, and he petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. Seeart. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. We affirm the denial of rule 3.850 relief and deny the habeas petition.

I. BACKGROUND

In this first-degree murder case in which a sentence of death was imposed, Pittman appeals the denial of his first rule 3.850 motion, after an evidentiary hearing. The facts of the underlying crimes are set forth in the Court's opinion on direct appeal:

The record reflects that, shortly after 3 a.m. on May 15, 1990, a newspaper deliveryman in Mulberry, Florida, reported to law enforcement authorities that he had just seen a burst of flame on the horizon. When the authorities investigated they found the home of Clarence and Barbara Knowles fully engulfed in fire. After the fire was extinguished, the police entered the house and discovered the bodies of Clarence and Barbara, as well as the body of their twenty-year-old daughter, Bonnie. Although all of the bodies were burned in the fire, a medical examiner determined that the cause of death in each instance was massive bleeding from multiple stab wounds. In addition, the medical examiner testified that Bonnie Knowles' throat had been cut. A subsequent investigation revealed that the fire was the result of arson, that the phone line to the house had been cut, and that Bonnie Knowles' brown Toyota was missing.

A construction worker testified that, when he arrived at work at 6:30 a.m. on the morning of the fire, he noticed a brown Toyota in a ditch on the side of the road near his job site. Other testimony revealed that the location of the Toyota was about one-half mile from the Knowles residence. The worker also observed a homemade wrecker, which he later identified as belonging to Pittman, pull up to the Toyota and, shortly thereafter, saw a cloud of smoke coming from that direction. Another witness who lived near the construction site also saw the smoke and observed a man running away from a burning car. This witness later identified Pittman from a photo-pack as the man she saw that morning. Investigators determined that the car fire, like the earlier house fire, was the work of an arsonist.

At the time of the murders, another of the Knowles' daughters, Marie, was in the process of divorcing Pittman. The divorce was not amicable and the State introduced testimony that Pittman had made several threats against Marie and her family. The State also produced evidence that Pittman had recently learned that Bonnie Knowles had tried to press criminal charges against him for an alleged rape that had occurred five years earlier.

Carl Hughes, a jailhouse informant, testified that Pittman told him that he had gone to the Knowles' house on the evening of the murders to speak with Bonnie Knowles about the problems he was having with her family. Bonnie let Pittman in the house and, when she refused his sexual advances, he killed her to stop her cries for help. Pittman then admitted to killing Barbara Knowles in the hallway outside Bonnie's bedroom and to killing Clarence in the living room as Clarence tried to use the phone. Pittman also told Hughes that he burned the house, stole the Toyota and abandoned it on the side of the road, and later returned to the Toyota and burned it as well.

The record further reflects that Pittman feared that the police suspected his involvement in the murders, and, at the prompting of his mother, Pittman turned himself in to the police on the day after the murders.

In response to the prosecution's case, the defense presented testimony critical of the police investigation and attempted to establish that Marie, Pittman's former wife, and her new husband had a motive to commit the murders. Pittman testified in his own defense and stated that he had nothing to do with the crimes charged. He also denied that he had told anyone he had committed the murders. The jury found Pittman guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of arson, and one count of grand theft, and found him not guilty of burglary.

In the penalty phase, the State established that Pittman was convicted of aggravated assault in 1985. In mitigation, Pittman presented the testimony of his mother that he was a difficult child to deal with and that she had disciplined him severely. A clinical psychologist testified that Pittman's father was a paranoid schizophrenic; that as a child Pittman suffered from a severe attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity; and that Pittman has organic personality syndrome, which causes paranoia and an unstable mood. After hearing this testimony, the jury recommended the death penalty for each murder conviction by a vote of 9 to 3. In his sentencing order, the judge found two aggravating circumstances for each murder: (1) previous conviction of another capital or violent felony, and (2) the murders were heinous, atrocious, or cruel. The judge then expressly rejected the mitigating factors of Pittman's being under the influence of extreme mental and emotional disturbance [ ¹] and concluded that the aggravating factors outweighed the proven mitigating factors. The judge imposed the death penalty for each murder.

Pittman v. State, 646 So.2d 167, 168–69 (Fla.1994). On direct appeal, Pittman raised ten issues.² The Court affirmed the convictions and sentences.

Pittman filed a rule 3.850 motion in 1997 and then filed an amended motion in 2001. After holding a Huff³ hearing in March 2002, the postconviction court ruled that an evidentiary hearing was required on claims 1, 2, 3 and 7,⁴ and the court summarily denied the remaining claims. Pittman then filed a further amended motion in 2005, and the court, after holding a second Huff hearing in January 2006, again ruled that an evidentiary hearing was required on claims 1, 2, 3 and 7. The court held the evidentiary hearing on May 8–11, 2006.⁵ The court also held a limited evidentiary hearing on a sub-claim on February 15, 2007.⁶ Pittman subsequently filed an additional amendment in March 2007, raising two lethal injection claims, and the court held a third Huff hearing in April 2007. The court ruled that an evidentiary hearing was not required on the new claims. Pittman then filed an additional amendment in June 2007, raising a newly discovered evidence claim with respect to witness Chastity Eagan. The court held a fourth Huff hearing in June 2007 and ruled that an evidentiary hearing was required on this claim. The court held the evidentiary hearing on July 27, 2007.⁷ Several months later, on November 5, 2007, the court entered an order denying postconviction relief. Pittman filed the present appeal, raising nine guilt phase issues and three penalty phase issues. ⁸

He also filed the present habeas petition, raising six issues.⁹

II. APPEAL OF RULE 3.850 MOTION

A. Brady Claim Concerning Carl Hughes

In this claim, Pittman asserts that the postconviction court erred in denying his Brady claim with respect to inmate Carl Hughes. The United States Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), held that a prosecutor must disclose material information that is favorable to the defense. To establish a Brady violation, a defendant must show the following: (1) the State suppressed evidence, either exculpatory or impeaching, that was favorable to the defense; (2) the State did so either willfully or inadvertently; and (3) the defendant was prejudiced. Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281–82, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999). To satisfy the prejudice prong, the defendant must demonstrate a reasonable probability that had the suppressed evidence been disclosed the jury would have reached a different verdict. Id. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient “to undermine confidence in the verdict.” Id. at 290, 119 S.Ct. 1936 (quoting Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 435, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995)). A court's decision with respect to a Brady claim is a mixed question of law and fact, and a reviewing court will defer to the lower court's factual findings if they are supported by competent, substantial evidence, but will review the court's application of law to facts de novo, Mordenti v. State, 894 So.2d 161, 168 (Fla.2004); Way v. State, 760 So.2d 903, 913 (Fla.2000), and the reviewing court will review the cumulative effect of the suppressed evidence de novo. Mordenti, 894 So.2d at 168.

In this claim, Pittman asserts that the State failed to disclose certain evidence with respect to inmate Carl Hughes, including the following: (1) certain facts concerning Hughes' ex-wife, Kathleen Anders; (2) Assistant State Attorney (ASA) Pickard's letter dated October 11, 1990, to Detective Cosper; (3) Cosper's handwritten notes of a July 6, 1990, interview with Hughes; and (4) Hughes' presentence investigation report. Pittman asserts that the postconviction court erred in denying relief on this claim. This issue was addressed at length at the evidentiary hearing below, and the postconviction court ruled as follows:

The Defendant alleges that Carl Hughes, who testified against Mr. Pittman at the trial, was placed with Mr. Pittman so that he could assist the State. The defense argues that Mr. Hughes acted as a State agent and that the State's action in placing Mr....