Arango v. Wainwright

563 F. Supp. 1181, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17112
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMay 6, 1983
DocketNo. 83-1077-CIV-EPS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 563 F. Supp. 1181 (Arango v. Wainwright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arango v. Wainwright, 563 F. Supp. 1181, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17112 (S.D. Fla. 1983).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, VACATING STAY OF EXECUTION AND MEMORANDUM OPINION

SPELLMAN, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE came before the Court on Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed on behalf of Petitioner, LUIS CARLOS ARANGO a/k/a CARLOS LUIS ARANGO (Arango) pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section 2254. Arango raised several constitutional grounds for relief. However, this Court finds no merit in Arango’s petition and, therefore, it is dismissed. Moreover, in light of this decision dismissing the petition for writ of habeas corpus, the stay of execution heretofore entered on April 27, 1983 is vacated.

I. BACKGROUND

Arango was convicted in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, in and for Dade County, Florida, of first degree murder and possession of a controlled substance. Petitioner was sentenced to death by electrocution on the first degree murder conviction, and to a term of five (5) years imprisonment in the state penitentiary on the conviction for possession of cocaine, this latter sentence to run concurrently.

On direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, Arango raised the following issues: that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence obtained as the result of an unlawful, warrantless entry into his apartment; that the trial Court’s instruction to the jury at the penalty phase unconstitutionally shifted to him the burden of proving that the mitigating eircumstances outweighed the aggravating circumstances; that the trial court’s instruction of the “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” aggravating circumstances was inadequate and the trial court refused to give instructions properly defining these terms; that the trial court erred in allowing the prosecution to introduce the irrelevant and inflamatory testimony of the medical examiner to prove the applicability of the terms heinous, atrocious or cruel; that the death penalty was a disproportionate punishment; and that the trial court improperly excused a venireman for cause over defendant’s objection in violation of Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). The Florida Supreme Court affirmed both the convictions and the sentence. Arango v. State, 411 So.2d 172 (Fla.1982), and the United States Supreme Court declined to review that decision. Arango v. Florida, 457 U.S. 1140, 102 S.Ct. 2973, 73 L.Ed.2d 1360 (1982).

During the pendency of Petitioner’s direct appeal, Arango joined with numerous other death row inmates in filing an application for extraordinary relief and petition for habeas corpus based on the allegation that the Florida Supreme Court had a practice of reviewing ex parte, non-record information concerning capital defendants, mental health and personal background. The Supreme Court of Florida denied relief, Brown v. Wainwright, 454 U.S. 1000, 102 S.Ct. 542, 70 L.Ed.2d 407 (1981).1

Governor Graham signed Arango’s death warrant on April 6, 1983. Pursuant to this warrant, the execution was to be scheduled “some day of the week beginning noon, Friday, the 29th day of April, 1983, and ending noon, Friday, the 6th day of May, 1983....”

[1184]*1184On April 27, 1983, a Petition fo^ Writ of Habeas Corpus, Application for Stay of Execution and Motion for Continuance was filed on behalf of Arango in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida.2 This Court immediately held a hearing. Counsel for Arango indicated to this Court that although the execution is scheduled for 7:00 a.m., May 3, 1983, the Superintendent of Prisons has the authority to execute Arango at any time subsequent to April 29,1983. Counsel further indicated that an application for stay of execution was denied by the Florida Supreme Court.

Because of this Court’s concern over the possibility of the Superintendent of Prisons exercising his authority before all the issues in this Petition could be addressed, this Court granted the application for stay of execution until 6:59 a.m., May 3,1983. This stay was in no way intended to interfere with any pending state court matters and to this Court’s knowledge it does not. However, this Court further indicated that, if it becomes necessary, upon the filing of any additional petition for writ of habeas corpus subsequent to oral argument before the Florida Supreme Court on May 2, 1983, an immediate hearing would be convened.

On April 30, 1983, this Court conducted a full hearing on all the issues raised in Arango’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus including an evidentiary hearing on the issue that has come to be known as the Ford v. Strickland issue, infra, (see also Brown v. Wainwright, supra). All the issues that were presented to this Court for review had been presented to the Florida Supreme Court either on direct appeal or by petition for writ of habeas corpus. Therefore, this Court found and the State stipulated, that Arango had exhausted all of his state court remedies for the purpose of the present petition for writ of habeas corpus and regardless of the petition for writ of habeas corpus and appeal pending before the Florida Supreme Court, this Court was not presented with a mixed habeas corpus petition. See Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982).

As heretofore noted, this Court finds no merit to Arango’s Petition. Arango raised basically six (6) constitutional errors in the State court. These alleged constitutional errors were fully and fairly reviewed by this Court and found to contain no merit.

II. ANALYSIS

A. THE BROWN ISSUE: NON-RECORD MATERIAL BEFORE THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

Arango raised as the first ground of this Petition that his constitutional rights were violated when the Florida Supreme Court requested, received and reviewed information which was not part of the trial record or the record on appeal of his case or thfe cases of his fellow death row inmates. In regard to this contention, Arango requested this Court to conduct an evidentiary hearing. Over the objection of the Attorney General, this Court granted the evidentiary hearing and the exhibits attached to Arango’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus were accepted into evidence. These exhibits consist of the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in Brown v. Wainwright and other various exhibits such as the appendices to the Petition and other exhibits referencing the Clerk of the Florida Supreme Court’s requesting and receiving non-record material.

Arango next requested to take the testimony of the Clerk and staff of the Florida Supreme Court regarding two areas: (1) the possibility that the requested records had not been destroyed as asserted in the Brown petition and (2) whether with regard to Arango a request for non-record material [1185]*1185was made regardless of no material being received. The Court denied the above request.

As to whether the requested records had been destroyed, the Court notes that Arango was a member of that group of prisoners who originally joined Brown in challenging the constitutionality of their sentences to death.

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