Hamilton v. State

875 So. 2d 586, 2004 WL 1207574
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJune 3, 2004
DocketSC02-1426, SC02-2409
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 875 So. 2d 586 (Hamilton 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
Hamilton v. State, 875 So. 2d 586, 2004 WL 1207574 (Fla. 2004).

Opinion

875 So.2d 586 (2004)

Richard Eugene HAMILTON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Richard Eugene Hamilton, Petitioner,
v.
State of Florida, Respondent.

Nos. SC02-1426, SC02-2409.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 3, 2004.

*589 Charles E. Lykes, Jr., Clearwater, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Curtis M. French, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Cassandra K. Dolgin, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Appellee/Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Richard Eugene Hamilton, an inmate under sentence of death, appeals an order denying his motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 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 stated below, we affirm the denial of Hamilton's motion and deny the petition for habeas corpus.

I. FACTS

Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder, armed sexual battery, armed robbery, and armed kidnapping. He was sentenced to death. The facts of Hamilton's crimes are discussed in this Court's opinion in Hamilton v. State, 703 So.2d 1038, 1040 (Fla.1997). We briefly restate them.

Hamilton and his codefendant, Anthony Wainwright, escaped from a North Carolina prison and made their way to Florida in a stolen car. In April 1994, when the car overheated in Lake City, Florida, the men abducted at gunpoint Carmen Gayheart, a young mother of two, as she loaded groceries into her Ford Bronco. They stole the Bronco and drove north on Interstate 75. The men raped, strangled, and executed Gayheart by shooting her twice in the back of the head. They were arrested the next day in Mississippi following a shootout with a trooper. Hamilton and Wainwright were tried in a single trial with separate juries.

This Court affirmed Hamilton's convictions and sentence on direct appeal. Hamilton, 703 So.2d at 1045. Hamilton later filed a motion and an amended motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, asserting seventeen issues.[1] After a Huff[2] hearing, the trial court granted an evidentiary hearing limited to claims (3), (4), (5), (8), (9), and (10). After the evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied relief on all claims.

*590 II. 3.850 APPEAL

In this appeal, Hamilton raises nine issues. We find it unnecessary to address each claim here and affirm the trial court's denial of relief as to all of the issues raised. We discuss only two of Hamilton's claims: (1) whether trial counsel was ineffective regarding the issue of venue, and (2) whether trial counsel was ineffective regarding the presentation of mitigation during the penalty phase.[3]

To prevail on a claim that defense counsel provided ineffective assistance, a defendant must demonstrate specific acts or omissions of counsel that are "so serious that counsel was not functioning as the `counsel' guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment." Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The defendant also must demonstrate prejudice by "show[ing] that 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." Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Ineffective assistance of counsel claims present mixed questions of law and fact subject to plenary review, and this Court independently reviews the trial court's legal conclusions, while giving deference to the trial court's factual findings. Occhicone v. State, 768 So.2d 1037,1045 (Fla.2000).

A. Change of venue

Hamilton claims trial counsel was ineffective for failing to properly advise him regarding the issue of venue. Hamilton was charged by indictment with first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed kidnaping, and armed sexual battery. For each count, the indictment read, "The grand jurors of Hamilton County, Florida, charge that Richard Eugene Hamilton and [the codefendant] on the 27th day of April, 1994, in Columbia County, Florida and/or Hamilton County, Florida,...." (Emphasis added.) Before trial, trial counsel filed a motion for change of venue, alleging that because of adverse pretrial publicity, the trial should be moved from Hamilton County. The motion contained an index with twenty-two newspaper articles about the crime. Trial counsel also filed a supplemental motion containing affidavits in support of the first motion. One of these affidavits was from Hamilton himself, and stated in pertinent part:

Affiant has read and understands the motion for change of venue prepared by *591 his attorney, personally joins in the motion and requests a change of venue.
Affiant believes that a change of venue is necessary and proper because adverse pretrial publicity, as evidenced by the exhibits attached to his motion, would prevent him from receiving an impartial trial in Hamilton County, where the case is now pending.

The motion for change of venue was initially denied, but the trial court reserved ruling in an attempt to seat a jury in Hamilton County. Ultimately the attempt to select a jury in Hamilton County was unsuccessful and the State agreed that the defense's motion should be granted. The trial court granted the motion, and at a subsequent hearing stated:

The Court has investigated potential locations for moving the trial, and as previously announced, locations considered were Leon, Escambia, Okaloosa, Nassau, and Clay Counties. The closest and best accommodations were available in Clay County. Mr. Blair and Nancy Nydam, Court Administrator, and Goldie Hudson, Juror Coordinator, met with personnel and the Sheriffs have talked and Clay County has been more than cooperative with meeting the needs of Hamilton and Columbia Counties.... So Clay County will be the site of the trial.

(Emphasis added.)

Hamilton argues that if he had been properly informed of his rights, he could have elected venue so as to change the location of the trial and separate his trial from the codefendant. Hamilton claims that trial counsel did not properly exercise Hamilton's right to be tried in Columbia County, where the offense was committed, which, he alleges, would have clearly been a more neutral location for the trial. The trial court denied this claim without an evidentiary hearing, finding that Hamilton's election of a venue change before trial effectively waived or barred the claim in postconviction proceedings.

"[A] defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on a postconviction relief motion unless (1) the motion, files, and records in the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief, or (2) the motion or a particular claim is legally insufficient." Freeman v. State, 761 So.2d 1055, 1061 (Fla.2000). Where the motion lacks sufficient factual allegations, or where alleged facts do not render the judgment vulnerable to collateral attack, the motion may be summarily denied. Ragsdale v. State, 720 So.2d 203, 207 (Fla. 1998). However, in cases where there has been no evidentiary hearing, this Court must accept the defendant's factual allegations to the extent the record does not refute them. See Peede v. State, 748 So.2d 253, 257 (Fla.1999).

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Bluebook (online)
875 So. 2d 586, 2004 WL 1207574, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hamilton-v-state-fla-2004.