Blanco v. State

963 So. 2d 173, 2007 WL 1074942
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedApril 12, 2007
DocketSC03-1328
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 963 So. 2d 173 (Blanco 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
Blanco v. State, 963 So. 2d 173, 2007 WL 1074942 (Fla. 2007).

Opinion

963 So.2d 173 (2007)

Omar BLANCO, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC03-1328.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 12, 2007.
Rehearing Denied August 8, 2007.

*174 Ira W. Still, III, Coral Springs, FL, for Appellant.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL and Leslie T. Campbell, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Omar Blanco, a prisoner sentenced to death, appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, *175 § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we affirm the denial of Blanco's motion.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 14, 1982, at about 11 p.m., Blanco entered the home of John Ryan. Ryan's niece, fourteen-year-old Thalia Vezos, was in bed reading when she saw Blanco standing in the hallway holding a gun and carrying a brown purse under his arm. Blanco entered her room, told Thalia to stay quiet, and then cut the telephone wires in her room. As Blanco left Thalia's room into the hallway, he immediately encountered John Ryan. A struggle ensued during which Blanco shot Ryan. Ryan fell on top of Thalia, who lay in her bed. Before fleeing, Blanco shot Ryan six more times.

Having seen the intruder for several minutes both in her room and in the adjacent hallway, Thalia provided police with a description of the assailant. A neighbor also informed police that he saw a man wearing a gray jogging suit leave the property. Shortly before midnight, an officer spotted Blanco riding a bicycle about one to one-and-a-half miles from the home. The officer determined that Blanco matched the description provided by Thalia and the neighbor. Blanco was taken to the Vezos home, where the neighbor identified Blanco "as having the same profile and jogging suit" as the person he saw. A brown men's purse containing Blanco's ID papers and Thalia's watch was found near Thalia's bedroom. The following morning Thalia identified Blanco in a lineup.

Blanco was tried and convicted of armed burglary and sentenced to death for the murder of John Ryan. On direct appeal, we affirmed the convictions and sentences. Blanco v. State, 452 So.2d 520 (Fla.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1181, 105 S.Ct. 940, 83 L.Ed.2d 953 (1985).[1] We also affirmed Blanco's subsequent appeal from denial of his first motion for postconviction relief, and denied his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Blanco v. Wainwright, 507 So.2d 1377 (Fla.1987).[2] A federal court later vacated *176 the death sentence based on ineffective assistance of penalty-phase counsel. Blanco v. Dugger, 691 F.Supp. 308 (S.D.Fla.1988), aff'd sub nom. Blanco v. Singletary, 943 F.2d 1477 (11th Cir.1991).[3] During the pendency of the resentencing proceedings, Blanco filed his third motion for postconviction relief, alleging newly discovered evidence.[4] After holding an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied relief, and we affirmed. Blanco v. State, 702 So.2d 1250 (Fla.1997).[5]

After a second penalty phase, the jury recommended death by a ten-to-two vote, and the trial court sentenced Blanco to death, based on two aggravating circumstances: prior violent felony and pecuniary gain and commission during a burglary. Blanco v. State, 706 So.2d 7, 8 & n. 5 (Fla.1997), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 837, 119 S.Ct. 96, 142 L.Ed.2d 76 (1998). We affirmed. Id. at 8.[6]

Following his resentencing, Blanco filed a rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief in which he raised twenty-two claims. After a Huff hearing,[7] the trial court summarily denied each claim.

II. ANALYSIS

On appeal, Blanco raises the following issues, which we address in turn: that the trial court erred (A) in denying his motion to require law enforcement officers to run a latent fingerprint through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS); (B) in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing regarding allegedly tainted evidence; and (C) in summarily denying most of his claims both individually and cumulatively.

A. THE AFIS SEARCH

During the postconviction proceedings after resentencing, Blanco filed a motion to *177 require state officials to run through a national database of fingerprints the latent fingerprint found on Thalia Vezos's bedroom door at the time of the murder. He alleged that the print belonged to the "real" killer. After a hearing, the circuit court denied the motion. Blanco argues that (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to require that an unidentified latent fingerprint found at the crime scene in 1982 be run through AFIS for identification; (2) that possible leads resulting from using AFIS would constitute newly discovered evidence; and (3) that the State's failure to run the print through AFIS at this time violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972). As we explain, we reject each of these contentions.

A trial court's ruling denying postconviction discovery is subject to review for abuse of discretion. State v. Lewis, 656 So.2d 1248, 1250 (Fla.1994) (holding that the court has inherent authority, upon good cause shown, to permit limited discovery on postconviction claims into relevant and material matters and that denial of such a motion is subject to abuse of discretion review). The trial court did not abuse its discretion here. During the 1982 guilt phase, an expert testified that a latent fingerprint found on the door of Thalia Vezos's room remained unidentified. He estimated that the print could have been left at least ten days before the murder. No fingerprint evidence was admitted against Blanco, and Thalia testified that the killer wore socks over his hands. Further, at trial Thalia identified Blanco, and another eyewitness identified him as matching the form he saw leaving the home shortly after the murder. Blanco's wallet and identification papers were found at the murder scene, and Blanco, who does not live in the area of the victim's home, was arrested shortly after the murder within one-and-a-half miles of the home. Finally, at the hearing on the motion, Blanco admitted that his expert had determined that the latent print also did not match Enrique Gonzalez, a defense witness at trial whom Blanco has long contended is the "real" murderer. In addition, in his brief, Blanco admits that his expert also determined that the latent print did not match the fingerprints of anyone he believed to be a suspect. Accordingly, Blanco has not shown that his request would result in relevant or material evidence.

The remaining claims regarding this issue are not preserved. At the hearing on the AFIS motion, Blanco expressly disavowed that he was arguing newly discovered evidence, and he did not allege Brady or Giglio violations either. Accordingly, these claims are waived and we do not address them.

B. THE EVIDENCE BOX

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963 So. 2d 173, 2007 WL 1074942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blanco-v-state-fla-2007.