Buzia v. State

82 So. 3d 784, 2011 WL 6090069
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedDecember 8, 2011
DocketNos. SC10-31, SC10-1645
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 82 So. 3d 784 (Buzia 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
Buzia v. State, 82 So. 3d 784, 2011 WL 6090069 (Fla. 2011).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

John M. Buzia, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals an order of the circuit court denying his initial motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 to vacate his conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death and petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we affirm the postconviction court’s order denying relief, and we deny the habeas petition.

I. BACKGROUND

Buzia was indicted, tried, and found guilty of the first-degree murder of Charles Kersch, the attempted first-degree murder of Thea Kersch, armed burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Buzia v. State, 926 So.2d 1203, 1206 (Fla.2006). The jury in an eight-to-four vote recommended a sentence of death for the murder, and the trial court so sentenced him.

The evidence at trial showed that on the afternoon of March 14, 2000, Buzia took a bus to the home of Charles and Thea Kersch, a retired couple for whom he had been doing handyman work. Id. at 1206. Later, when Mrs. Kersch pulled into the driveway, she directed him to wait outside on the patio until her husband arrived. Soon, however, Buzia used the artifice of returning to her a tray from the patio to get her to open the door. He then attacked her, hitting and kicking her until she was unconscious. After taking money from her purse, he dragged her into a back bedroom. Buzia began searching through the house for money and took a credit card from Mrs. Kersch’s purse. Upon hearing Mr. Kersch arrive in the garage, Buzia decided to assault him also. He waited and then struck Mr. Kersch as he entered the door into the kitchen. Mr. Kersch fell to the floor, bleeding profusely, and Buzia hit him again when he tried to rise. Buzia went twice to the garage, each time returning with an axe, and he hit each of the victims with the axe. As Mr. Kersch lay on the floor, Buzia took money from Mr. Kersch’s wallet. Id. at 1207. Then, after trying to clean up the house and changing his shirt, Buzia took Mr. Kersch’s car keys and drove away in his car. The next [790]*790morning, Buzia was arrested at a bank where he was attempting to cash a check drawn from the Kersches’ account. Id.

In determining the sentence, the trial court found the following with regard to mitigation:

[T]he court assigned little weight to two factors under the statutory catchall provision, section 921.141(6)(h), Florida Statutes (2003), specifically Buzia’s interaction with the community and his work record. The court also found seven nonstatutory mitigating factors and ascribed weight as follows: (1) influence of a mental or emotional disturbance, not extreme in nature (substantial weight); .(2) Buzia’s capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired, but not substantially (substantial weight); (3) gainful employment (little weight); (4) appropriate courtroom behavior during the guilt and penalty phases of the trial and during the Spencer hearing (little weight); (5) cooperation with law enforcement (little weight); (6) difficult childhood (little weight); and (7) remorse (little weight).

Buzia, 926 So.2d at 1208. The trial court also found six aggravating circumstances, ascribing four of them great weight and two no weight:

(1) that Buzia was previously convicted of another capital offense or of a felony involving the use of violence to some person [great weight]; (2) that the murder was committed while he was engaged in the commission of or flight after committing or attempting to commit the crime of kidnapping [no weight]; (3) that the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or effecting an escape from custody [great weight]; (4) that the murder was committed for financial gain [no weight]; (5) that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (“HAC”) [great weight]; and (6) that the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner, and without any pretense of moral or legal justification (“CCP”) [great weight].

Buzia, 926 So.2d at 1207-08. Concluding that the aggravators outweighed the mitigation, the trial court sentenced Buzia to death for the first-degree murder of Charles Kersch.

After rejecting Buzia’s challenges to four of the aggravating circumstances found in this case and determining the proportionality of the death sentence and that competent, substantial evidence supported the murder conviction, this Court affirmed the judgment and sentence in Buzia’s direct .appeal. Id. at 1218. Subsequently, Buzia filed an initial motion for postconviction relief. The postconviction court denied the motion after holding an evidentiary hearing on some of his claims and summarily denied the others. Buzia then filed this appeal of the denial of his postconviction motion and filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus.

II. POSTCONVICTION CLAIMS

In this appeal, Buzia raises the following claims: (A) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to develop and present mitigation; (B) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress his confession; (C) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to have the jury view the entire confession tape; (D) trial counsel was ineffective in the guilt phase; (E) the postconviction court violated Buzia’s right to due process by summarily denying several claims; (F) the postconviction court erred in denying claims regarding the testimony of the fingerprint examiner; (G) the postconviction court erred in denying Buzia’s claim that [791]*791the State committed a Brady1 violation by not conducting promised blood testing; (H) cumulative error deprived Buzia of a fair trial; and (I) Buzia may be incompetent to be executed. Each of these claims will be addressed in turn.

A. Presentation of Mitigation

Buzia argues that trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to investigate and present mitigation in the penalty phase. To demonstrate ineffective assistance, the defendant must establish both deficient performance and prejudice under the following standard: (1) that “counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment”; and (2) that “counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable.” Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). To meet the first prong, “the defendant must show that counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness.” Id. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052. As to the second prong, the appropriate test for prejudice is whether' “there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Thus, as to this mitigation claim, the defendant must show that counsel’s error deprived him of a reliable penalty phase proceeding. See Henry v. State, 987 So.2d 563, 569 (Fla.2006).

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Bluebook (online)
82 So. 3d 784, 2011 WL 6090069, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buzia-v-state-fla-2011.