Puiatti v. Secretary, Dept. of Corrections
| Decision Date | 14 August 2009 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 8:92-CV-539-T-17EAK. |
| Citation | 651 F.Supp.2d 1286 |
| Parties | Carl PUIATTI, Petitioner, v. SECRETARY, DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
Edward Soto, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP, Miami, FL, Steven A. Reiss, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York, NY, for Petitioner.
Robert Joseph Landry, Office of the Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Respondent.
This cause is before the Court on Petitioner Puiatti's amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Dkt. 88). Puiatti, an inmate at Union Correctional Institution, challenges his conviction and sentence to death for first degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery, arising out of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pasco County, Florida, in case no. 83-1383. After a careful review of the record, this Court finds that Puiatti's petition must be granted as to the penalty phase of his trial, and denied as to the guilt phase of his trial.
On August 16, 1983, Petitioner Carl Puiatti and his co-defendant, Robert Glock, were charged by indictment with first degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery. Puiatti and Glock were tried jointly by jury. The jury returned a verdict of guilty for both defendants. In a joint penalty phase, the jury recommended death for each by a vote of 11-1. On May 16, 1984, the state trial court judge sentenced Puiatti and Glock to death.
On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Puiatti's conviction and sentence. Puiatti v. State, 495 So.2d 128 (Fla.1986). Puiatti filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United State Supreme Court. On April 27, 1987, 481 U.S. 1027, 107 S.Ct. 1950, 95 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987), the Supreme Court vacated the Florida Supreme Court's decision, and remanded to the Florida Supreme Court for reconsideration in light of Cruz v. New York, 481 U.S. 186, 107 S.Ct. 1714, 95 L.Ed.2d 162 (1987). On rehearing, the Florida Supreme Court reaffirmed the state trial court's decision and sentence. Puiatti v. State, 521 So.2d 1106 (Fla.1988). Puiatti applied for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court denied Puiatti's application. Puiatti v. Florida, 488 U.S. 871, 109 S.Ct. 184, 102 L.Ed.2d 153 (1988).
Puiatti then filed a Rule 3.850 motion, which was summarily denied by the state trial court. Puiatti appealed, and simultaneously filed a state petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Florida Supreme Court. In a consolidated opinion, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the Rule 3.850 motion, and denied Puiatti's application for habeas corpus relief. Puiatti v. Dugger, 589 So.2d 231 (Fla. 1991).
Puiatti sought relief with this Court by filing a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for writ of habeas corpus on April 23, 1992. Subsequently, this Court granted a stay and abey motion to allow Puiatti to exhaust remedies and pursue new claims in state court. Pursuant to the stay and abey motion, this Court administratively closed the case.
On January 30, 2003, Puiatti filed a Rule 3.851 motion to vacate sentence in state court, pursuant to Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002) and Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), alleging that he was mentally retarded. The state trial court denied Puiatti's motion on May 30, 2003. Puiatti appealed, and on November 12, 2004, the Florida Supreme Court issued an order treating the appeal as a motion to relinquish jurisdiction to the state trial court on the issue of mental retardation. See, Fla. R.Crim. Pro. 3.203. The Florida Supreme Court granted the motion to relinquish jurisdiction, and relinquished jurisdiction to the state trial court on the issue of mental retardation.
While the question of mental retardation was pending in the state trial court, Puiatti withdrew his claim of mental retardation. After reviewing expert reports and considering Puiatti's withdrawal of his claim, the state trial court issued an order on April 18, 2005, ruling that Puiatti was not mentally retarded. On June 8, 2005, this Court entered its order on the issue of mental retardation, ruling that Puiatti was not entitled to relief under Ring and Atkins.
On July 19, 2005, Puiatti filed another Rule 3.851 motion to vacate sentence in the state trial court, claiming that new law required the state trial court to consider the motion. The state trial court disagreed, and denied Puiatti's motion on September 7, 2005. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of relief. Puiatti v. State, 939 So.2d 1060 (Fla.2006).
On May 15, 2008, this Court reopened the case, dismissing the original petition without prejudice to Puiatti's filing an amended petition. On November 24.2008, Puiatti filed an amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus and a memorandum of law in support (filed November 21, 2008). The response was filed on April 17, 2009. Puiatti filed a reply on July 15, 2009.
The Florida Supreme Court set out the facts in Puiatti v. State, 495 So.2d 128 (Fla.1986). In essence, the Florida Supreme Court stated:
The trial record reflects that on August 16, 1983, the female victim, Mrs. Sharilyn Ritchie, arrived at a Bradenton shopping mall. As she exited her automobile, Puiatti and Glock confronted her, forced her back inside the car, and drove away with her. They took $50 from her purse and coerced her into cashing a $100 check at her bank. They drove the victim to an orange grove outside Dade City in Pasco County, where they took Mrs. Ritchie's wedding ring and abandoned her in the orange grove. After driving a short distance, Puiatti and Glock determined that Mrs. Ritchie should be killed, and they returned. Puiatti then shot her twice. Puiatti and Glock drove away, but, when they saw she was still standing, they drove by Mrs. Ritchie again and dock shot her. When she did not fall, Puiatti and Glock made a third pass with the automobile; dock shot her another time, and Mrs. Ritchie collapsed.
Four days later, a New Jersey state trooper stopped Puiatti and dock in Mrs. Ritchie's vehicle in New Jersey, because the license plate was improperly displayed. When neither Puiatti nor Glock could present a valid driver's license, the officer requested the car's registration. Puiatti opened the glove box, and the trooper saw a handgun. The officer seized that handgun, searched the vehicle, and uncovered another handgun. He then arrested both men for possession of handguns without permits. The police later identified the handgun from the glove box as the murder weapon.
The next day Puiatti and dock individually confessed to the kidnapping, robbery, and killing. These initial confessions varied only to the extent that each blamed the other as being the instigator of the murder and each offered a different sequence as to who fired the shots at the victim. Both Puiatti and dock admitted he shot the victim. Three days later, on August 24, 1983, Puiatti and dock made a joint statement in which they resolved the inconsistencies in their prior individual statements: they agreed that Glock initially suggested shooting the victim; that Puiatti fired the first shots; and that Glock fired the final shots.
Before trial, both Puiatti and Glock moved to sever their trials on the ground that the State intended to introduce each defendant's individual confession. The state trial court denied the motions. At trial, neither Puiatti nor Glock testified on his own behalf, and the three confessions— the two individual confessions and the joint confession—were admitted into evidence. Each defendant objected only to the introduction of the individual confessions. The state trial court overruled Puiatti's and dock's objections, but, before admitting each individual statement, the state trial court instructed the jury to disregard each defendant's individual confession to the extent that it tended to implicate the other defendant.
The jury found each defendant guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery. In the joint penalty phase, Puiatti did not rely on the mitigating factor of no significant prior criminal history, but offered psychiatric testimony to support the assertion that he was under dock's substantial domination at the time of the crimes, dock argued that his lack of significant prior criminal history and psychiatric evidence suggesting that he would not have participated in the crime but for his association with Puiatti constituted mitigating factors. The jury, by an 11-to-1 vote, recommended the death penalty for both Puiatti and Glock.
The state trial court judge, after weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, sentenced Puiatti and dock to death. The state trial court judge found no mitigating circumstances and that the state had proven three aggravating factors: (1) the murder was committed to avoid arrest [section 921.141(5)(e), Florida Statutes (1983)]; (2) the murder was committed for pecuniary gain [section 921.141(5)(f), Florida Statutes (1983)]; and (3) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification [section 921.141(5)(i), Florida Statutes (1983)].
The instant petition presents the following grounds for relief:
Ground One: The trial court's refusal to sever Puiatti's penalty phase from that of his co-defendant deprived him of an individualized sentencing determination in violation of the Fifth, Sixth. Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Ground Two: Puiatti was denied the effective assistance of counsel during the guilt phase of his trial in violation of the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Ground Three: Puiatti was denied effective...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Puiatti v. Mcneil
...district court denied Puiatti's § 2254 claims as to his convictions but vacated his death sentence. Puiatti v. Sec'y, Dep't of Corr., 651 F.Supp.2d 1286 (M.D.Fla.2009) (" Puiatti IV"). The district court concluded that the state trial court's refusal to sever the penalty phase violated Puia......