Reed v. State
| Decision Date | 15 November 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. SC17-896,SC17-896 |
| Citation | 259 So.3d 718 |
| Parties | Grover B. REED, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
259 So.3d 718
Grover B. REED, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. SC17-896
Supreme Court of Florida.
November 15, 2018
Martin J. McClain of McClain & McDermott, P.A., Wilton Manors, Florida, for Appellant
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Charmaine Millsaps, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellee
PER CURIAM.
We have for review Grover B. Reed's appeal of the postconviction court's order denying Reed's motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851.1 Because we conclude that the judge who heard this motion should have recused herself, we reverse the postconviction court's order and remand for a different trial judge to consider Reed's postconviction motion.
FACTS AND BACKGROUND
Reed was sentenced to death following a jury's recommendation for death by a vote of eleven to one. Reed v. State , 560 So.2d 203, 204 (Fla. 1990). His sentence of death became final in 1990. Reed v. Florida , 498 U.S. 882, 111 S.Ct. 230, 112 L.Ed.2d 184 (1990). In the nearly thirty years since, Reed has engaged in extensive postconviction litigation in both state and federal courts but has not received any relief from his convictions or death sentence. See Reed v. State , 116 So.3d 260, 262-63 (Fla. 2013) (explaining procedural history).
On January 12, 2017, Reed filed the successive postconviction motion at issue in this case seeking relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida , ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 616, 193 L.Ed.2d 504 (2016), and our decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst ), 202 So.3d 40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied , ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 2161, 198 L.Ed.2d 246 (2017). The postconviction court, specifically Judge Linda McCallum, summarily denied Reed's motion.
After receiving Judge McCallum's order denying his motion, Reed filed a motion to disqualify Judge McCallum.2 Reed's motion stated in pertinent part:
Judge McCallum was employed by the Duval County State Attorney's Office from 1986 until her appointment as a county judge in 1994. During her tenure with the State Attorney's Office, Judge McCallum handled capital prosecutions and was part of the team of capital attorneys. In at least one case during that time, she represented the State at a
capital trial and penalty phase that resulted in a death sentence. Thomas Moore, the defendant in that case, is currently still on death row.
Mr. Reed was tried and convicted in late 1986. A death sentence was imposed in January of 1987. Postconviction proceedings involving capital prosecutors from the State Attorney's Office were ongoing in the early 1990's. Throughout this time period Judge McCallum was employed by the State Attorney's Office, handling capital prosecutions, and working with the attorneys who prosecuted Mr. Reed and represented the State in collateral proceedings. As part of the capital team during her tenure with the State Attorney's Office, each capital prosecutor including Judge McCallum had input in the decision making in each other's cases .
... While Mr. Reed's [successive postconviction] motion sought specifically to vacate his death sentence, a finding that he was entitled to collateral relief would mean that in the capital cases that Judge McCallum prosecuted between 1986 and 1994 that resulted in the imposition of a death sentence, relief would likely have to also be granted. A ruling in Mr. Reed's case would impact the death sentences that Judge McCallum successfully sought and which have yet to be carried out. As a result, Judge McCallum's ruling on Mr. Reed's motion would impact the death sentences that she was successful in obtaining and which are still intact and have yet to be carried out.
(Emphasis added.)
On March 22, 2017, Judge McCallum denied Reed's motion to disqualify as legally insufficient. Acknowledging Reed's allegation that she "was an Assistant State Attorney working on capital cases at the time of his postconviction proceedings," Judge McCallum concluded that Reed's allegations were "speculative" and "cursory" and neither "allege[d] any specific instances of prejudice or bias of the Court" nor "an...
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