Darling v. State

45 So. 3d 444, 35 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 389, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 1050, 2010 WL 2606029
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 1, 2010
DocketSC09-1249, SC09-555
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 45 So. 3d 444 (Darling 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
Darling v. State, 45 So. 3d 444, 35 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 389, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 1050, 2010 WL 2606029 (Fla. 2010).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

This case is before the Court on appeal from an order denying the successive post-conviction motion of Dolan Darling (a/k/a Sean Smith) filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. Through this motion, Darling challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection as administered in Florida and the constitutionality of sections 945.10 and 27.702, Florida Stat[446]*446utes (2007). Darling also requests this Court to recede from those portions of our prior decisions that have interpreted chapter 27, Florida Statutes, and held that Capital Collateral Regional Counsel (CCRC) attorneys cannot assist capital defendants in challenging the State’s intended method of execution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2006). We reject each of Darling’s claims and affirm the circuit court’s denial of the successive postconviction motion. However, based upon recent developments with regard to the litigation of challenges to methods of execution we agree with Darling as to statutory construction and hold that CCRC attorneys are permitted to file section 1983 claims on behalf of capital defendants if, and only if, they are challenging and seek to enjoin an integral part of the judgment and sentence, the State’s intended method of execution.

Background

Dolan Darling is an inmate under sentence of death. As of June 2010, the Governor has not signed a death warrant for Darling. Through our prior opinions addressing Darling’s direct and postconviction appeals, we have detailed the facts and procedural background surrounding the offense. See Darling v. State, 808 So.2d 145 (Fla.2002) (“Darling I”); Darling v. State, 966 So.2d 366 (Fla.2007) (“Darling II ”).

Most recently, in November 2007, Darling filed a successive motion for postcon-viction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851, which he claims is based on “newly discovered evidence.” In this motion, Darling (1) assails the constitutionality of lethal injection as currently administered in Florida; (2) asserts that section 27.702, Florida Statutes (2007), as interpreted by this Court, is unconstitutional facially and as applied because it prohibits CCRC from filing lethal-injection challenges under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (3) claims that section 945.10, Florida Statutes (2007), as interpreted by this Court, is unconstitutional because it prohibits him from discovering the identities of his executioners, which precludes him from determining the adequacy of their qualifications and training; and (4) alleges that the American Bar Association’s (ABA) report entitled, “Evaluating Fairness and Accuracy in the State Death Penalty Systems: The Florida Death Penalty Assessment,” reveals that Florida’s death-penalty system is seriously flawed and unconstitutional.1

In February 2008, the trial court issued an order holding Darling’s successive motion in abeyance pending issuance of the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35, 128 S.Ct. 1520, 170 L.Ed.2d 420 (2008). In June 2008, following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Baze, the trial court lifted its stay holding the case in abeyance and granted the State’s motion for rehearing. In his amended rule 3.851 successive motion to vacate sentence filed in February 2009, Darling reexamined three of the four claims raised in his initial motion in light of Baze, but chose to abandon the ABA report claim. The trial court denied Darling’s amended motion to vacate sentence, and Darling subsequently appealed that decision to this Court. In June 2009, Darling filed a petition to invoke our all writs jurisdiction, challenging this Court’s [447]*447interpretation of section 27.702, Florida Statutes (2007).

Constitutionality of Lethal Injection as Administered in Florida

In Ventura v. State, 2 So.3d 194 (Fla.2009), this Court articulated the appropriate standard of review for a successive postconviction motion:

Rule 3.851(f)(5)(B) permits the denial of a successive postconviction motion without an evidentiary hearing “[i]f the motion, files, and records in the case conclusively show that the movant is entitled to no relief.” A postconviction court’s decision regarding whether to grant a rule 3.851 evidentiary hearing depends upon the written materials before the court; thus, for all practical purposes, its ruling is tantamount to a pure question of law and is subject to de novo review. See, e.g., Rose v. State, 985 So.2d 500, 505 (Fla.2008). In reviewing a trial court’s summary denial of postconviction relief, we must accept the defendant’s allegations as true to the extent that they are not conclusively refuted by the record. See Freeman v. State, 761 So.2d 1055, 1061 (Fla.2000). The Court will uphold the summary denial of a newly-discovered-evidenee claim if the motion is legally insufficient or its allegations are conclusively refuted by the record. See McLin v. State, 827 So.2d 948, 954 (Fla.2002).

Id. at 197-98.

In his postconviction motion and brief, Darling has simply re-alleged the criticisms of Florida’s revised protocol that have been presented in previous postcon-viction motions filed by the CCRC. This Court has repeatedly rejected Eighth Amendment challenges to Florida’s August 2007 lethal-injection protocol. See, e.g., Marek v. State, 8 So.3d 1123, 1130 (Fla.), cert denied, — U.S. --, 130 S.Ct. 40, 174 L.Ed.2d 625 (2009); Ventura, 2 So.3d at 202; Sexton v. State, 997 So.2d 1073, 1089 (Fla.2008); Schwab v. State, 995 So.2d 922, 933 (Fla.2008); Tompkins v. State, 994 So.2d 1072, 1081 (Fla.2008) (concluding that the Lightbourne v. McCollum, 969 So.2d 326 (Fla.2007), decision is further supported by the performance of the Schwab and Henyard2 executions “with no subsequent allegations of any newly discovered problems with Florida’s lethal injection process”); Power v. State, 992 So.2d 218, 221 (Fla.2008); Woodel v. State, 985 So.2d 524, 533-34 (Fla.2008); Lebron v. State, 982 So.2d 649, 666 (Fla.2008); Lightbourne, 969 So.2d at 350-53; Schwab v. State, 969 So.2d 318, 325 (Fla.2007) (“Given the record in Lightboume and our extensive analysis in our opinion in Lightbourne v. McCollum, we reject the conclusion that lethal injection as applied in Florida is unconstitutional.”).

Further, Darling’s contention that this Court’s recent lethal-injection decisions, including Lightboume, have not applied the standard articulated by the Baze plurality was considered and rejected by this Court in Ventura. See Ventura, 2 So.3d at 198-201. Although Darling claims that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Baze warrants a reassessment of Florida’s lethal injection protocol, this Court has made it abundantly clear that “[n]othing contained within the various opinions of Baze v. Rees affects the validity of our decisions upholding Florida’s current lethal-injection protocol.” Id. at 202.

This Court has previously considered and rejected each of Darling’s constitutional challenges to Florida’s lethal-injection protocol. We decline to recede from our prior precedent.

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Darling v. State
45 So. 3d 444 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
45 So. 3d 444, 35 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 389, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 1050, 2010 WL 2606029, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/darling-v-state-fla-2010.