Arango v. State

437 So. 2d 1099
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 1, 1983
Docket63562, 63563
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 437 So. 2d 1099 (Arango 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
Arango v. State, 437 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 1983).

Opinion

437 So.2d 1099 (1983)

Carlos Luis ARANGO, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Carlos Luis ARANGO, Petitioner,
v.
Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, Respondent.

Nos. 63562, 63563.

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 1, 1983.

*1101 Sharon B. Jacobs and Steven E. Chaykin of Chaykin, Karlan & Jacobs, Coral Gables, for appellant/petitioner.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Penny Hershoff Brill and Carolyn M. Snurkowski, Asst. Attys. Gen., Miami, for appellee/respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Arango was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in July, 1980. We affirmed the conviction and sentence on direct appeal. Arango v. State, 411 So.2d 172 (Fla.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1140, 102 S.Ct. 2973, 73 L.Ed.2d 1360 (1982). Arango petitions for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he was denied effective assistance of counsel on direct appeal and for a stay of his execution pending final disposition of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. By separate application, he petitions for a stay of execution and extraordinary relief to remedy alleged violations of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) and international law. Arango also appeals the denial of his rule 3.350 motion for post-conviction relief. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(7) & (9), Fla. Const. We deny the petition for writ of habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of counsel and the application for extraordinary relief based on violation of international law, affirm the denial of the rule 3.850 motion, and remand for a hearing on the Brady violation.

HABEAS CORPUS

Petitioner urges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal and, in support, cites nine issues which his counsel failed to raise on appeal:

1. Denial of petitioner's motion to dismiss when state failed to preserve and make available physical evidence which would have proven innocence.
2. Denial of petitioner's motions for mistrial and to voir dire a juror because the judge and juror smiled during petitioner's testimony.
3. Refusal of judge to permit introduction of newspaper clippings in mitigation showing that murder victim was notorious Mafia figure.
4. Improper consideration of a non-statutory aggravating factor not supported by evidence.
5. Indictment violated sixth amendment and due process clause of the fourteenth amendment by not including aggravating factors to be considered.
6. The Florida death penalty statute, facially and as applied, violates the fifth, sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments by failing to channel jury discretion and by permitting irrelevant factors into the sentencing process by jury and judge.
7. The death sentence violated the sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments in that incorrect jury instructions were given and correct jury instructions were refused.
8. Imposition of the death sentence after petitioner rejected a plea bargain *1102 offer of life imprisonment violated the sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments.
9. Petitioner's due process right to a fair and impartial jury was violated in that the jury which recommended the death penalty was composed of jurors who favored the death penalty and who had already rejected his trial defenses as to guilt and formed an unfair and prejudicial mindset.

We find that all of petitioner's arguments are without merit and that only points 1 and 4 require discussion.

Petitioner contends that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his lawyer failed to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to dismiss based on the state's acknowledged failure to preserve a bloody yellow shirt discovered in petitioner's apartment following the murder. Petitioner's position is that the loss of the shirt by the state constituted a Brady violation and had the shirt been presented at trial, it would have corroborated petitioner's statement that the shirt had been left behind by one of three assailants who petitioner avers murdered the victim.

A Brady violation is normally predicated on the defendant's not knowing of the withheld evidence. Where defendant is aware of the evidence before or during trial, the appropriate action is a motion to compel discovery or a motion to dismiss. Petitioner became aware of the loss of the shirt during trial and moved to dismiss based on its loss. Although there is a possibility that admission of the shirt might have helped the defense, we are not persuaded that failure to raise the issue on appeal constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. The facts of the case show that the murder occurred in petitioner's apartment, that the shirt was in a bathroom sink, and that there was evidence that petitioner had, at least partially, changed his clothes and attempted to clean himself prior to the arrival of the police. Under these circumstances, and in view of other evidence that petitioner committed the murder, the trial court's denial of his motion to dismiss predicated upon the state's admitted loss of the shirt is not such that failure to appeal its denial amounts to ineffective counsel.

Petitioner also claims that the trial judge improperly considered a non-statutory aggravating factor which was not supported by any evidence. The basis for this claim is in the trial judge's finding of fact relative to aggravating circumstances:

(H) That the murder of which the defendant has been convicted was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. That the record amply shows that the defendant did beat the victim, Jario-Arango Posada, with a blunt instrument many times about his head and body, causing deep lacerations and tremendous bleeding; that the victim was struck severely between his legs, almost severing his sexual organ; that the defendant placed television remote control wire around the victim's neckchoking him and balled up a towel and stuffed it into his throat, blocking his air passages; that after severe beating and strangulation, two gunshot wound were placed in the victim's head. The record further shows that the defendant acted in a premeditated, senseless and cruel manner that is indicative of the unreasonable, unlawful and violent nature of this defendant in the especially heinous, atrocious murder of Jario-Arango Posada.

Petitioner urges that the last sentence of the quote is a separate non-statutory aggravating circumstance bearing on petitioner's conduct prior to the murder and that failure to raise this issue on appeal constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. We disagree. The sentence bears on the judge's finding that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and contains no error. We have previously affirmed the death sentence on direct appeal based on a finding of a single aggravating circumstance, especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. Arango at 174-75. There was no ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to *1103 raise the issue. See Thomas v. State, 421 So.2d 160 (Fla. 1982).

APPEAL (3.850 MOTION)

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Bluebook (online)
437 So. 2d 1099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arango-v-state-fla-1983.