Porter v. State

• Decision Date: 28 March 1995
• Docket Number: 85404,Nos. 85410,s. 85410
• Citation: 653 So.2d 374
• Parties: 20 Fla. L. Weekly S152 Raleigh PORTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Raleigh PORTER, Petitioner, v. Harry K. SINGLETARY, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 374

653 So.2d 374

20 Fla. L. Weekly S152

Raleigh PORTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Raleigh PORTER, Petitioner, v. Harry K. SINGLETARY, Respondent.

Nos. 85410, 85404.

Supreme Court of Florida.

March 28, 1995.

Martin J. McClain, Chief Asst. CCR and Todd G. Scher, Asst. CCR, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tallahassee, for appellant/petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Robert J. Landry, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee/respondent.

CORRECTED OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Raleigh Porter, a prisoner on death row, appeals the trial court's denial of his second motion for postconviction relief and a stay of execution. Porter also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus and/or a motion to reopen direct appeal. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. We affirm the trial court's denial of relief and deny the habeas petition and motion to reopen direct appeal.

Porter was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. The jury recommended life, but the trial court sentenced him to death. On appeal, this court affirmed the convictions but remanded for resentencing due to a Gardner ¹ violation. Porter v. State, 400 So.2d 5 (Fla.1981). On remand, the trial court again imposed the death penalty, and this Court affirmed. Porter v. State, 429 So.2d 293 (Fla.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 202, 78 L.Ed.2d 176 (1983).

The governor signed Porter's first death warrant in September 1985, and Porter filed a 3.850 motion raising eleven issues, including the claim that trial counsel had a conflict of interest. The trial court denied relief, and this Court affirmed. Porter v. State, 478 So.2d 33 (Fla.1985).

Porter subsequently sought federal habeas relief. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied Porter's petition without an evidentiary hearing. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed in part but granted a stay of execution and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the issues of whether trial counsel had an actual conflict of interest and whether resentencing counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. Porter v. Wainwright, 805 F.2d 930 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 482 U.S. 918, 107 S.Ct. 3195, 96 L.Ed.2d 682 (1987), and cert. denied, 482 U.S. 919, 107 S.Ct. 3196, 96 L.Ed.2d 683 (1987). The court also found several of Porter's claims, including a claim that the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravator impermissibly channels the sentencer's discretion and thereby renders the death penalty arbitrary and capricious, were procedurally barred from federal habeas review pursuant to Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977). Porter, 805 F.2d at 942.

After the federal district court held an evidentiary hearing on the conflict of interest and ineffective assistance of counsel issues in October 1988, Porter filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in this Court. We denied relief. Porter v. Dugger, 559 So.2d 201 (Fla.1990). The federal district court then denied Porter's federal petition for habeas corpus. Porter v. Dugger, 805 F.Supp. 941 (M.D.Fla.1992). On remand from the Eleventh Circuit, the federal district court also considered and rejected several new issues raised by Porter. Id. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the federal district court's denial of relief. Porter v. Singletary, 14 F.3d 554 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 532, 130 L.Ed.2d 435 (1994). 3.850 Motion

On March 1, 1995, Governor Chiles signed Porter's second death warrant. Porter filed an application for a stay of execution and an emergency 3.850 motion in the trial court raising the following claims: (1) Porter was denied adversarial testing at the guilt and sentencing phases of his trial because Stephan Widmeyer, Porter's trial counsel, was burdened by an actual conflict of interest, in that he represented State witness Larry Schapp or State witness Matha Lee Thomas while representing Porter; (2) Porter was denied adversarial testing at the guilt and sentencing phases of his trial because critical exculpatory impeachment evidence establishing a deal between Thomas and the State was not disclosed to defense counsel; (3) no adversarial testing occurred because Wayne Woodward, who represented Porter at resentencing, prosecuted Porter for buying/receiving stolen property in 1976 and thus was burdened by a conflict of interest; and (4) newly discovered evidence establishing Porter's good conduct in prison and his rehabilitation requires the trial court to impose a life sentence because it constitutes mitigating evidence which, had it been presented at the time of sentencing, would have precluded an override of the jury's life sentence. After hearing and considering argument of counsel, the trial court, on March 23, 1995, entered an order stating:

a. Defendant's motion brought pursuant to Rule 3.850 is barred by the one year time limitation imposed by Rule 3.850(b) in all cases in which a death sentence has been imposed. The Court further finds that the Defendant has failed to comply with Rule 3.850(b)(1) in that the Defendant has failed to demonstrate that the facts on which the claim is predicated were unknown to him or to his attorney and could not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence.

b. The Court also finds that this is a second or successive motion which is barred by the express provisions of Rule 3.850(f).

We affirm.

Because the present motion is successive and was filed after the expiration of the time limits set forth in rule 3.850, Porter's claims supporting the imposition of a life sentence must be based on the existence of newly discovered evidence. We find the issues raised in Porter's 3.850 motion as well as the new issue Porter asserts in this appeal are procedurally barred because the evidence upon which they are based does not qualify as newly discovered. Rule 3.850 expressly provides:

No other motion shall be filed or considered pursuant to this rule if filed ... more that 1 year after the judgment and sentence become final in a capital case in which a death sentence has been imposed unless it alleges that

(1) the facts on which the claim is predicated were unknown to the movant or the movant's attorney and could not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence....

See also Scott v. Dugger, 604 So.2d 465, 468 (Fla.1992) (quoting Hallman v. State, 371 So.2d 482, 485 (Fla.1979)); Jones v. State, 591 So.2d 911, 915-16 (Fla.1991).

We begin by addressing an issue raised in this appeal which was not presented to the judge in this motion. Porter claims that the original trial judge's statement in a newspaper interview, the contents of which were published on March 23, 1995, indicating that the trial judge had already decided to sentence Porter to death before receiving the jury's advisory sentence, establishes that Porter's life recommendation was overruled by a judge who was biased in favor of the death penalty. However, even accepting the assertion about the judge's statement in the interview as true, any claim based upon that statement is procedurally barred. Information upon which Porter claims bias of the trial judge has long been available to Porter. In fact, Porter has raised the issue of judicial bias on several prior occasions. ² The record clearly demonstrates that on November 30, 1978, the trial judge entered a judgment and sentence stating that Porter was to be executed for both Count I and Count II although the jury did not recommend a sentence for each count until December 1, 1978. The newspaper article says nothing more than what was already in the original 1978 sentencing order. The 1978 sentence has since been reversed. Porter's present attack is based upon the 1981 sentencing order, but we find nothing demonstrating that the newspaper article pertains to the 1981 sentencing.

With regard to the first claim Porter raised in his 3.850 motion to the trial court, Porter asserts that a recent affidavit of Widmeyer, Porter's trial counsel, provides newly discovered evidence on the issue of whether Widmeyer had an actual conflict of interest in representing both Porter and Schapp on separate and distinct charges. According to Widmeyer's affidavit, he has no independent recollection of representing Schapp. Only after reviewing court records from the Circuit Court of Charlotte County was Widmeyer able to state that he had represented Schapp on a charge of driving while intoxicated beginning in July 1978. This charge resulted in a hearing on August 24, 1978, in which Schapp entered a negotiated settlement of the charges with the State. Widmeyer's affidavit further states that on August 22, 1978, he conducted an intake interview at the Charlotte County Jail with Porter, who had been arrested and charged with capital murder earlier that day.

We agree with the trial court that the court records upon which the Widmeyer affidavit is based and, in turn, upon which Porter's claim is based do not qualify as newly discovered evidence pursuant to rule 3.850. These court records pertain to a key adverse witness whose testimony was the subject of this Court's original reversal in this case. Additionally, the State points out that Schapp's deposition reveals a potential connection between Schapp and Widmeyer. ³ Of course, the deposition as well as the court records which reveal Widmeyer's representation of Schapp are public records and have been continually available in Charlotte County throughout all post-conviction proceedings. We therefore conclude that Widmeyer's representation of Schapp was information available to Porter upon diligent search and thus cannot serve as a basis for relief.

Moreover, even if we accepted the assertions in respect to Widmeyer's representation of Schapp as being based upon newly discovered evidence, we find that Porter failed to effectively allege or demonstrate that an actual...