Rivera v. State

• Decision Date: 11 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. SC01-2523, No. SC02-1788.
• Citation: 859 So.2d 495
• Parties: Michael RIVERA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Michael Rivera, Petitioner, v. James V. Crosby, etc., et al., Respondents.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

859 So.2d 495

Michael RIVERA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Michael Rivera, Petitioner, v. James V. Crosby, etc., et al., Respondents.

Nos. SC01-2523, SC02-1788.

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 11, 2003.

Rehearing Denied October 31, 2003.

Martin J. McClain, Special Assistant CCRC, and Suzanne Myers, Assistant CCRC, Office of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel—South, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Celia A. Terenzio, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellee/Respondents.

PER CURIAM.

Michael Rivera, a prisoner under the sentence of death, appeals an order entered by the trial court denying his postconviction motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. Rivera also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.; art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. These cases have been consolidated. For the reasons set out herein, we affirm the trial court's denial of postconviction relief and deny habeas relief.

PROCEEDINGS TO DATE

At trial, Michael Rivera (Rivera) was convicted of the first-degree murder of eleven-year-old Staci Lynn Jazvac.¹ After the penalty phase, wherein aggravating and mitigating evidence was presented, the jury unanimously recommended a death sentence. See Rivera v. State, 561 So.2d 536, 538 (Fla.1990)

. The trial court imposed a death sentence, finding the existence of four aggravating circumstances (prior violent felony; murder committed during commission of an enumerated felony; heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC); and cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP)) and one statutory mitigating circumstance (defendant under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance). Id. at 538 n.n.4-5. The trial court did not find any nonstatutory mitigating factors in this case. Id. at 538. On direct appeal, this Court affirmed Rivera's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence, but found that the record did not support the trial court's finding of the CCP aggravator. Id. at 540. Although this Court invalidated the CCP aggravator, we concluded: "On this record, we are persuaded that the one mitigating factor weighed against the magnitude of the aggravating factors would render the same result in the trial court below, absent the single invalidated aggravating circumstance." Id. at 541.

Subsequently, Rivera filed a postconviction motion raising twenty claims. See Rivera v. State, 717 So.2d 477, 480 (Fla. 1998)

. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing on some claims, but summarily denied others. Id. at 479-80. On appeal of the trial court's denial of relief, this Court affirmed the trial court's denial of postconviction relief on all but one issue. Id. at 485. This Court remanded the case to the trial court, instructing it to hold an evidentiary hearing on the sole issue of alleged penalty phase ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC), stating: "Considering the volume and extent of [the 21] alleged mitigators in comparison to the limited mitigation actually presented at trial, we agree with Rivera that he warrants an evidentiary hearing on his claim of penalty phase ineffective assistance of counsel." Id.

On April 26 and 27, 1999, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing regarding the penalty phase IAC claim and subsequently entered an order denying relief. In its order, the trial court found that the penalty phase attorney's performance was not deficient and that, even assuming some deficiency had been established, in light of the mitigation evidence presented at the postconviction evidentiary hearing, prejudice had not been established. In other words, the defendant was not deprived of a reliable penalty phase proceeding.

Rivera now appeals and claims error in the trial court's denial of postconviction relief on the penalty phase IAC claim after remand, and also claims the trial court denied him due process in a number of evidentiary rulings at the hearing.

APPEAL

As summarized by this Court in a previous opinion, Rivera argued in his postconviction motion that penalty phase counsel should have investigated and presented the following evidence of mitigation:

(1) dissociative disorder; (2) psychosexual disorder; (3) history of hospitalization for mental disorders; (4) sexual abuse as a child; (5) expressions of remorse; (6) a substantially impaired capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law; (7) childhood trauma; (8) developmental age; (9) long-term personality disorder; (10) acceptable behavior at trial; (11) reduction in sentence by trial judge in prior case of sexual battery; (12) under influence of drugs at time of offense; (13) non-applicability of the aggravators; (14) drug abuse problem; (15) character testimony from family members; (16) psychotic depression and feelings of rage against himself because of strong pedophilic urges; (17) no drug or alcohol treatment program; (18) substantial domination by alternate personality; (19) artistic ability; (20) capable of kindness; and (21) family loves him.

Rivera, 717 So.2d at 484-85. Our review of the evidentiary hearing transcript and the record in this case leads us to conclude that many of the issues now raised on appeal may be disposed of without extensive discussion because they are either procedurally barred² or without merit.³ The remaining issues, however, largely concerning trial counsel's failure to present more detailed penalty phase evidence of Rivera's drug use, are discussed in turn.

INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

In order to prove a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must establish two elements:

First, the defendant must show that counsel's performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the "counsel" guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction or death sentence resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). To establish prejudice, "[t]he defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. We have held that for a defendant to prevail in an IAC claim, there must be a demonstration that "counsel's errors deprived [defendant] of a reliable penalty phase proceeding." Hildwin v. Dugger, 654 So.2d 107, 110 (Fla. 1995).

This Court has characterized IAC claims as presenting a mixed question of law and fact subject to plenary review based on the Strickland test. See Stephens v. State, 748 So.2d 1028, 1032 (Fla. 1999)

(citing Rose v. State, 675 So.2d 567, 571 (Fla.1996)). "The appellate court must defer to the trial court's findings on factual issues but must review the court's ultimate conclusions on the deficiency and prejudice prongs de novo." Bruno v. State, 807 So.2d 55, 62 (Fla.2001).

This Court has long held that trial counsel has a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation into the defendant's background for possible mitigating evidence. See Rose v. State, 675 So.2d 567, 571 (Fla. 1996)

. We have explained that "[t]he failure to investigate and present available mitigating evidence is a relevant concern along with the reasons for not doing so." Id. (citing Hildwin). The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has succinctly explained the test to ascertain whether counsel's failure to investigate and present mitigating evidence was deficient:

First, it must be determined whether a reasonable investigation should have uncovered such mitigating evidence. If so, then a determination must be made whether the failure to put this evidence before the jury was a tactical choice by trial counsel. If so, such a choice must be given a strong presumption of correctness, and the inquiry is generally at an end. If, however, the failure to present the mitigating evidence was an oversight, and not a tactical decision, then a harmlessness review must be made to determine if there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Thus, it must be determined that defendant suffered actual prejudice due to the ineffectiveness of his trial counsel before relief will be granted.

Middleton v. Dugger, 849 F.2d 491, 493 (11th Cir.1988) (citation omitted). We have repeatedly applied this same test and do so again today.

HISTORY OF DRUG USE

Rivera alleged that counsel was ineffective during the penalty phase of his trial for failing to investigate and present mitigating evidence of a history of drug use, including Rivera's drug use around the time of the murder. Rivera argues that his history of drug use would support a finding of the statutory mitigator that at the time of the murder he had a substantially impaired capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. After the evidentiary hearing, the trial court rejected this claim and concluded: "Defense counsel ... made a strong effort to present to the jury the mitigating factor that the Defendant was not able to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, presenting evidence of the Defendant's drug usage and his cognitive decline."

In support of Rivera's IAC claim that trial counsel should have put on more evidence of his drug use...