Ventura v. State

• Decision Date: 11 January 1996
• Docket Number: No. 84222,84222
• Citation: 673 So.2d 479
• Parties: 21 Fla. L. Weekly S15, 21 Fla. L. Weekly S190 Peter VENTURA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 479

673 So.2d 479

21 Fla. L. Weekly S15, 21 Fla. L. Weekly S190

Peter VENTURA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 84222.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Jan. 11, 1996.

Rehearing and Clarification Denied April 25, 1996. ^*

Michael J. Minerva, Capital Collateral Representative, and Stephen M. Kissinger, Assistant CCR, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Gypsy Bailey, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Peter Ventura appeals an order entered in the trial court, in which the trial judge dismissed Ventura's motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. This case illustrates the immediate need for an improved procedure for timely requesting and timely furnishing public records in postconviction relief proceedings.

This case has been extensively delayed, primarily due to the failure of governmental entities to provide public records requested pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1993). For the reasons expressed, we find that the dismissal, which was entered before all of the public records were provided, was premature and that Ventura should have been allowed to amend his motion once the requested public records were furnished.

Peter Ventura was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the contract murder of a marina employee. The evidence at trial reflected that Jerry Wright took out an employee's insurance policy on the victim and later approached one Jack McDonald to find someone to kill the victim for the insurance proceeds. McDonald, who was the State's key witness, testified at trial that he arranged for Ventura to carry out the murder. McDonald was not convicted of any crime related to the murder because of speedy trial problems. After Ventura's trial was completed, Wright was convicted and received a sentence of life imprisonment. The facts of this case are set forth in more detail in Ventura v. State, 560 So.2d 217 (Fla.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 951, 111 S.Ct. 372, 112 L.Ed.2d 334 (1990). After the United States Supreme Court denied Ventura's petition for a writ of certiorari, Ventura filed a rule 3.850 motion seeking post-conviction relief. That motion was filed eight months before the expiration of the two-year deadline for filing such a motion, as set forth in rule 3.850. ¹ Ventura argued in his motion that, because a number of agencies had not complied with his requests for public records, he was unable to file a proper rule 3.850 motion. Instead, he simply listed in the motion the eleven claims he intended to raise once the agencies complied with his public records requests. The public records requests were made three months before Ventura filed the rule 3.850 motion.

The trial judge dismissed claims one through six without prejudice ² because they failed to adequately state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The trial judge dismissed claims seven through eleven with prejudice, ³ finding that those claims were procedurally barred because they could or should have been raised on direct appeal. The trial judge then scheduled a hearing to consider Ventura's unfulfilled public records requests. Ventura filed a motion for rehearing, arguing that the rule 3.850 motion should not have been dismissed. At the hearing on the public records request, the trial judge ruled in Ventura's favor and issued an order compelling production of documents to a number of agencies. The order required that the documents be produced within twenty days. The trial judge did not rule on Ventura's motion for rehearing.

The agencies failed to comply with the order compelling production of documents. Four months later, Ventura moved for an order compelling compliance with the previously entered order compelling production. At the hearing on that motion (yet another six months later), a number of the requested materials were finally produced but the State requested additional time to claim exemptions. The trial judge granted the additional time.

Five days before the status hearing set in this cause, Ventura amended his still outstanding motion for rehearing on the original rule 3.850 motion to include factual allegations made possible by the intervening public records disclosure. At the status hearing, the trial judge denied the motion for rehearing on the grounds that no provision existed for amending a motion for rehearing.

Within thirty days of the trial judge's denial of the motion for rehearing, Ventura filed a second rule 3.850 motion. The next day he filed a notice of appeal. The trial judge subsequently struck the second 3.850 motion on the grounds that the trial court lost jurisdiction once the notice of appeal was filed.

In his appeal before this Court, Ventura asserts that the trial judge erroneously dismissed his original 3.850 motion, erroneously denied his amended motion for rehearing on that motion, and erroneously refused to hear the second 3.850 motion. Additionally, he asserts that the state has yet to fully comply with his public records requests. He also sets forth those issues on which he contends he should be afforded an evidentiary hearing. ⁴ For instance, in his brief before this Court, Ventura argues that he was "set-up" by McDonald to take the fall for the murder of the victim in this case. According to Ventura, the public records he has now received reflect that the victim was actually killed by drug dealers after being placed on a drug-related "hit-list." As indicated previously, McDonald was the State's key witness and he testified that he hired Ventura to kill the victim for insurance proceeds. Further, McDonald was not convicted of any crime related to this case due to speedy trial problems. Jerry Wright, who allegedly asked McDonald to hire Ventura, received a sentence of life imprisonment.

This case presents a classic example of the problems inherent in our current process for providing public records to capital post-conviction defendants. Ventura argues that he cannot properly file claims in his rule 3.850 motion until the State fully complies with his public records requests. He therefore contends that the trial judge improperly disposed of his claims. The State argues that Ventura did not request those documents in a timely fashion and that, because he did not adequately state his claims in the rule 3.850 motion or otherwise follow the proper procedure for obtaining relief, the trial judge properly dismissed or denied his claims. In reality, both sides are responsible for the delays in this case. Ventura should have requested the records and moved the trial judge to compel compliance at an earlier date. Likewise, the State should have complied with the public records request in a timely fashion. Clearly, however, Ventura was entitled to receive any requested records for which no legitimate exemptions were filed. This Court has repeatedly found that capital post-conviction defendants are entitled to public records disclosure. Walton v. Dugger, 634 So.2d 1059 (Fla.1993); State v. Kokal, 562 So.2d 324 (Fla.1990); Provenzano v. Dugger, 561 So.2d 541 (Fla.1990). This Court has further determined that a defendant should be allowed to amend a previously filed rule 3.850 motion after requested public records are finally furnished. Muehleman v. Dugger, 623 So.2d 480 (Fla.1993); Walton. Our holdings in those cases directly...