Anderson v. State

822 So. 2d 1261, 2002 WL 1291013
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJune 13, 2002
DocketSC01-24
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 822 So. 2d 1261 (Anderson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. State, 822 So. 2d 1261, 2002 WL 1291013 (Fla. 2002).

Opinion

822 So.2d 1261 (2002)

Richard Harold ANDERSON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC01-24.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 13, 2002.

*1263 Robert T. Strain, Assistant CCRC, April Haughey, Assistant CCRC, and Elizabeth A. Williams, Staff Counsel, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel-Middle Region, Tampa, FL, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Robert J. Landry, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Richard Harold Anderson appeals an order of the circuit court denying a motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court's denial of relief.

Anderson was convicted for the first-degree murder of Robert Grantham. The facts of this case were set out in detail in this Court's opinion on direct appeal:

Anderson's conviction rested primarily upon the trial testimony of his girlfriend, Connie Beasley. Beasley testified at trial that in 1987 Grantham had offered her $30,000 in exchange for her sexual favors. She rejected Grantham's offer but told Anderson of the proposal. Beasley testified that Anderson believed Grantham was rich and would return from a gambling trip to Las Vegas with a lot of money. Anderson told her to agree to spend one night with Grantham for $10,000. Anderson and Beasley prearranged for her to get Grantham drunk, after which Anderson would rob him. Beasley agreed to implement the plan by meeting Grantham on May 7, 1987, when he returned from Las Vegas. Following drinks and dinner, Beasley lured Grantham to Anderson's apartment. Anderson arrived later, ostensibly to return Beasley's car and to request a ride. Grantham agreed to drive Anderson, and Anderson insisted that Beasley join them. While in the car, Anderson shot Grantham four times and left Grantham's body in a wooded area. He then drove to the Tampa Airport, abandoned the car, and returned with Beasley to the apartment. He cut open Grantham's satchel and found $2,600.
The state also presented the testimony of two of Anderson's business acquaintances. David Barile testified that Anderson had told him the day after the murder that he had shot a man four times and dumped his body in the woods. Larry Moyer testified that Anderson had said on June 2, 1987, that he and his girlfriend "wasted a guy that was supposed to have a million dollars, and he only had $3,000." A firearms expert testified that four discharged .22-caliber cartridge casings found in Grantham's car had been fired from a pistol recovered from the Hillsborough River. Florida Department of Law Enforcement ("FDLE") agents recovered the pistol near the bridge where, according to Beasley, Anderson had thrown it.

Anderson v. State, 574 So.2d 87, 89-90 (Fla.1991).

The jury recommended the death penalty by an eleven-to-one vote. The trial court found two aggravating circumstances,[1] and a single mitigating circumstance,[2]*1264 and imposed the death penalty. See id. at 90. This Court affirmed Anderson's conviction on direct appeal. See id. at 89. The United States Supreme Court denied Anderson's petition for writ of certiorari. See Anderson v. Florida, 502 U.S. 834, 112 S.Ct. 114, 116 L.Ed.2d 83 (1991).

Anderson timely filed his initial rule 3.850 motion, which the trial court summarily denied because the trial court concluded that: (1) Anderson failed to satisfy the oath requirement contained in rule 3.850, and (2) the motion was facially insufficient because Anderson set forth grounds that should have been or were raised on direct appeal and that contained mere conclusions. However, on appeal, this Court reversed the summary denial and remanded the case to the trial court for completion of public records requests and allowed Anderson to amend his postconviction motion based upon information generated from the public records production. See Anderson v. State, 627 So.2d 1170, 1171-72 (Fla.1993).

Upon remand, Anderson filed two amended motions, and on his third amended motion raised thirteen claims.[3] Following a Huff[4] hearing, the trial court summarily denied all claims other than the claim that the state attorneys' office knowingly presented perjured testimony to the grand jury. Following an evidentiary hearing on this claim, the trial court entered an order denying relief on all of Anderson's claims. Anderson now appeals the trial court's denial of postconviction relief, raising six claims for this Court's review.[5]

The first issue presented by Anderson's appeal is whether the trial court erred in denying relief after an evidentiary hearing as to the issue of Beasley's perjured testimony before the grand jury. This issue was raised on direct appeal, wherein this Court stated:

*1265 Anderson contends in his first point that the trial court erred when it failed to dismiss the indictment because the indictment was based upon Beasley's perjured testimony before the grand jury. During her trial testimony, Beasley admitted that her grand jury testimony differed from her trial testimony. When she appeared before the grand jury on July 15, 1987, she minimized her role in the killing and said that Grantham had been killed outside of her presence. She told the grand jury that Anderson and Grantham went for a ride while she remained in Anderson's apartment. When Anderson returned alone, he had blood all over the front of his shirt and on his hands, and his eyes were wild. She charged that Anderson admitted killing Grantham and threatened to kill her unless she helped him take Grantham's car to Tampa Airport.
After testifying before the grand jury, Beasley told a different story to FDLE agents. She told the agents on July 16 that Anderson walked into the apartment while Grantham was trying to rape her. Anderson pulled Grantham away, told her to get dressed, and forced Grantham into the car at gunpoint. Beasley also stated that she told agents that she saw Anderson shoot Grantham four times.
On July 24, Beasley negotiated a plea to third-degree murder with a maximum sentence of three years. Beasley told the prosecutor that she was present when Anderson shot and killed Grantham in accordance with a prearranged plan. She told the same story at trial. Anderson argues that because the state knew prior to trial that Beasley's grand jury testimony was perjured and did nothing to correct the testimony, the indictment should have been dismissed.
. . . .
We agree with the authorities cited by Anderson that due process is violated if a prosecutor permits a defendant to be tried upon an indictment which he or she knows is based on perjured, material testimony without informing the court, opposing counsel, and the grand jury. This policy is predicated on the belief that deliberate deception of the court and jury by the presentation of evidence known by the prosecutor to be false "involve[s] a corruption of the truthseeking function of the trial process," United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 104, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976), and is "incompatible with `rudimentary demands of justice.'" Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 153, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972) (citation omitted).

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822 So. 2d 1261, 2002 WL 1291013, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-state-fla-2002.