Valle v. State

• Decision Date: 23 August 2011
• Docket Number: No. SC11–1387.,SC11–1387.
• Citation: 70 So.3d 530
• Parties: Manuel VALLE, Appellant,v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

70 So.3d 530

Manuel VALLE, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC11–1387.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Aug. 23, 2011.

[70 So.3d 534]

Neal A. Dupree, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, and Suzanne Keffer, Chief Assistant CCR Counsel, Paul Kalil, Assistant CCR Counsel, and M. Chance Meyer, Staff Attorney, Region South, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Appellant.Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Sandra S. Jaggard, Assistant Attorney General, Miami, FL, for Appellee.PER CURIAM.

Manuel Valle, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the denial of his amended successive motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. On June 30, 2011, the Governor signed a death warrant for Valle, and he was scheduled to be executed on August 2, 2011. Valle subsequently sought postconviction relief in the circuit court, raising numerous claims, including an Eighth Amendment challenge to the Florida Department of Correction's (DOC) June 8, 2011, lethal injection protocol, which replaced the first drug in its three-drug sequence, sodium thiopental, with another drug, pentobarbital sodium (pentobarbital). Under this claim, Valle primarily argued that due to “serious concerns” regarding the efficacy of pentobarbital to render an inmate unconscious, the DOC's use of that drug in the protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. After the circuit court summarily denied relief on his claims, this Court granted Valle's motion for a stay of execution, in part, until September 1, 2011, and temporarily relinquished jurisdiction for the narrow purpose of holding an evidentiary hearing on Valle's claim regarding the efficacy of pentobarbital as an anesthetic in the amount prescribed by Florida's protocol. Following an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court again denied relief. For the reasons set forth below, we now affirm the circuit court's orders and vacate the temporary stay of execution.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1978, Valle was charged with the first-degree murder of police officer Louis Pena, the attempted first-degree murder of police officer Gary Spell, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon arising from an April 2, 1978, shooting in Coral Gables, Florida. Since the date of the crime, Valle's case has had a complex procedural

[70 So.3d 535]

history.¹ Despite this history, the facts of Valle's case have never been disputed and were set forth in Valle v. State ( Valle IV ), 581 So.2d 40 (Fla.1991), following the appeal from his third and final penalty phase:

On April 2, 1978, Officer Louis Pena of the Coral Gables Police Department was on patrol when he stopped [Valle] and a companion for a traffic violation. The events that followed were witnessed by Officer Gary Spell, also of the Coral Gables Police Department. Officer Spell testified that when he arrived at the scene, [Valle] was sitting in the patrol car with Officer Pena. Shortly thereafter, Spell heard Pena use his radio to run a license check on the car [Valle] was driving. According to Spell, [Valle] then walked back to his car and reached into it, approached Officer Pena and fired a single shot at him, which resulted in his death. [Valle] also fired two shots at Spell and then fled. He was picked up two days later in Deerfield Beach. Following his jury trial, [Valle was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Pena. He] was also found guilty of the attempted first-degree murder of Spell and after a non-jury trial, he was found guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.Id. at 43 (quoting Valle II, 474 So.2d at 798). This Court affirmed Valle's convictions in 1985. Valle II, 474 So.2d at 806.²

In 1988, Valle was resentenced. The jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of eight to four. Valle IV, 581 So.2d at 43. The sentencing court found that the evidence established the following aggravating circumstances: (1) Valle had been previously convicted of another violent felony; (2) the murder was of a law enforcement officer; (3) the murder was for the purpose of preventing lawful arrest; (4) the murder was committed to hinder the enforcement of laws; and (5) the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated. Id. The sentencing court merged factors (2), (3), and (4) together, treating them as a single aggravating factor. Id. The court found no evidence of statutory mitigation and concluded that either the evidence did not establish nonstatutory mitigation or the nonstatutory mitigation was outweighed by the aggravating factors. Valle V, 705 So.2d at 1333 n. 1. This Court affirmed Valle's sentence of death in 1991. Valle IV, 581 So.2d at 49.

In December 1993, Valle filed an amended motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The circuit court summarily denied the motion without holding an evidentiary

[70 So.3d 536]

hearing, and Valle appealed. Valle V, 705 So.2d at 1333. This Court affirmed in part, but reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on two of Valle's ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Id. at 1333–34.³ After conducting the requisite evidentiary hearing on remand, the circuit court denied Valle's remaining rule 3.850 claims, and this Court affirmed. Valle v. State ( Valle VI ), 778 So.2d 960, 964, 967 (Fla.2001).

In December 2001, Valle petitioned this Court for a writ of habeas corpus based on the alleged ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. This Court denied the petition. See Valle v. Moore ( Valle VII ), 837 So.2d 905 (Fla.2002). In February 2003, Valle filed a successive habeas petition in this Court, raising a claim under Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), which this Court summarily denied. See Valle v. Crosby, 859 So.2d 516 (Fla.2003) (unpublished table decision). He petitioned to the United State Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, which was also denied. See Valle v. Crosby, 541 U.S. 962, 124 S.Ct. 1720, 158 L.Ed.2d 405 (2004).

Valle later filed an amended federal habeas petition, raising claims previously addressed by this Court. See Valle v. Crosby ( Valle VIII ), No. 03–20387CIV, 2005 WL 3273754 (S.D.Fla. Sept. 13, 2005). The federal district court denied his petition, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. See Valle v. Sec'y for the Dep't of Corr. ( Valle IX ), 459 F.3d 1206 (11th Cir.2006), reh'g en banc denied, 478 F.3d 1326 (11th Cir.2007). Thereafter, Valle sought review of the Eleventh Circuit's affirmance by the Supreme Court through a petition for writ of certiorari, which was denied on October 1, 2007. See Valle v. McDonough, 552 U.S. 920, 128 S.Ct. 282, 169 L.Ed.2d 206 (2007).

On June 30, 2011, Governor Rick Scott signed a death warrant, and Valle's execution was set for August 2, 2011. Twenty-two days prior, on June 8, 2011, the DOC had promulgated a revised lethal injection procedure, replacing the first drug in its three-drug protocol, sodium thiopental, with another barbiturate, pentobarbital.⁴ The DOC's recent substitution of the drug comes more than three years after this Court upheld the August 2007 three-drug protocol against a constitutional challenge in Lightbourne v. McCollum, 969 So.2d 326 (Fla.2007), and after a majority of the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a similar protocol in Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35, 128 S.Ct. 1520, 170 L.Ed.2d 420 (2008).⁵ The parties agree that aside from substituting pentobarbital for sodium thiopental, the DOC's lethal injection protocol has remained unaltered.

In response to the signing of the death warrant, Valle filed a successive amended motion for postconviction relief, raising six claims.⁶ Among other issues, he argued

[70 So.3d 537]

that due to “serious concerns” regarding the efficacy of pentobarbital to render an inmate unconscious, the DOC's use of that drug in the protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in contravention of the Eighth Amendment. After the State filed its response, the circuit court held an initial hearing pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851(h)(6) on July 11, 2011, to determine whether an evidentiary hearing would be held. At the conclusion of the hearing, the circuit court summarily denied all of Valle's claims, and Valle appealed the summary denial to this Court.⁷ A majority of the Court determined that Valle's claim as to the use of pentobarbital as an anesthetic in the amount prescribed by Florida's protocol warranted an evidentiary hearing. Chief Justice Canady dissented, with whom Justices Lewis and Polston joined. This Court therefore granted a stay of execution until September 1, 2011, and temporarily relinquished jurisdiction for the purpose of holding an evidentiary hearing on that discrete issue alone. The Court also directed the DOC to produce correspondence and documents it had received from the manufacturer of pentobarbital, Lundbeck, Inc., concerning the drug's use in executions, including those materials addressing any safety and efficacy issues.

Pursuant to this Court's order, the circuit court conducted an evidentiary hearing on July 28 and August 2, 2011, during which Valle presented the testimony of Dr. David Waisel, an anesthesiologist, and federal public defender Matt Schulz, who witnessed the June 16, 2011, execution of his client, Eddie Powell, in Alabama. Valle also offered into evidence several letters, which were written by Lundbeck to the DOC and Governor Scott regarding the company's opposition to the use of its drug in executions. In rebuttal, the State presented the testimony of Dr. Mark Dershwitz, an anesthesiologist, and John Harper and Dr. Jacqueline Martin, both of whom witnessed the June 23, 2011, execution of Roy Blankenship in Georgia.

[70 So.3d 538]

Following the presentation of this evidence, the circuit court entered its order denying Valle's claim that the substitution of...