Hoffman v. State

800 So. 2d 174, 2001 WL 747399
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 5, 2001
DocketSC94072
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 800 So. 2d 174 (Hoffman 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
Hoffman v. State, 800 So. 2d 174, 2001 WL 747399 (Fla. 2001).

Opinion

800 So.2d 174 (2001)

Barry HOFFMAN, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. SC94072.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 5, 2001.
Rehearing Denied November 8, 2001.

*175 Gregory C. Smith, Capital Collateral Counsel, Linda McDermott, Assistant CCC-NR, and John A. Tomasino, Assistant CCC-NR, Office of the Capital Collateral Counsel-Northern Region, Tallahassee, FL, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Barbara J. Yates, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Barry Hoffman, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the trial court's denial, after an evidentiary hearing, of *176 postconviction relief. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. Because the State failed to disclose evidence that was favorable to the defense, we reverse the order denying Hoffman's motion for postconviction relief and remand with directions that the conviction be vacated and a new trial granted. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963).

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On September 7, 1980, Frank Ihlenfeld and Linda Parrish were murdered in a Jacksonville Beach motel room. Barry Hoffman (Hoffman) was arrested in Michigan for the murders in October 1981. Testimony developed at trial revealed that Hoffman had murdered the victims for Lenny Mazzara (Mazzara), a high-level drug dealer in Jacksonville who worked for James Provost (Provost), a local gangster. Hoffman and his codefendant, James White (White), 20, were procured to commit this murder by George "Rocco" Marshall (Marshall), one of Mazzara's employees. Marshall's wife owed Provost a $10,000 drug debt which would be partially or wholly forgiven if Marshall found someone to kill Ihlenfeld. Apparently, Ihlenfeld was also involved in the drug trade with Mazzara and Provost, but had stolen from Provost and owed him money. At Marshall's request, Hoffman agreed to commit the murders in exchange for $5,000. White assisted in the murders in exchange for $500.

Evidence presented at trial implicating Hoffman in the crimes included a package of cigarettes found in the hotel room with Hoffman's fingerprint and confessions by Hoffman to FBI agents and Jacksonville Beach Police officers. Hoffman was indicted by a grand jury for two counts of first-degree murder on October 28, 1981. On March 25, 1982, Hoffman was charged by information with conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. The two cases were consolidated on June 25, 1982. Mazzara and White were tried separately for their involvement in the crimes.

On June 28, 1982, Hoffman pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, and the court agreed to sentence him to two concurrent life sentences with the conspiracy charge nolle prossed in exchange for truthful testimony against Mazzara, the man who allegedly ordered Ihlenfeld's murder. When Hoffman denied killing anyone at Mazzara's trial, the prosecution withdrew from the plea agreement and announced its intention to try Hoffman for both counts of first-degree murder.

Hoffman testified at both the guilt and penalty phases of his trial. Judgments of conviction were entered against him on January 14, 1983, on one count of first-degree murder for the murder of Frank Ihlenfeld, one count of second-degree murder for the death of Linda Parrish, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. On January 20, 1983, the jury recommended a sentence of death for the first-degree murder conviction by a nine-to-three vote. The trial court agreed, finding that the four aggravators found (prior conviction of violent felony; heinous, atrocious or cruel (HAC); cold, calculated and premeditated (CCP); and pecuniary gain) outweighed the mitigators found (no significant criminal history and the co-conspirator's sentence of life imprisonment). The trial court sentenced Hoffman to death for the first-degree murder on February 11, 1983.

Hoffman appealed and his convictions and sentences were affirmed by this Court. See Hoffman v. State, 474 So.2d 1178 (Fla. *177 1985).[1] This Court made the following findings: Hoffman's second-degree murder conviction was enough to substantiate a prior conviction for a violent felony; the State's withdrawal from the plea bargain and continued prosecution of Hoffman after he had reneged on his part of the agreement did not show the State purposely sought capital punishment as retribution; and life imprisonment for Hoffman's codefendants did not require finding that Hoffman's equal protection rights were violated because the death sentence was imposed.

On October 2, 1987, Hoffman filed a motion to vacate pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 raising, inter alia, claims under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). The motion was summarily denied by the trial court on October 7, 1987. On appeal, this Court reversed and remanded, finding a remand for a full hearing was required where the trial court stated no reasons for its rejection of Hoffman's petition and failed to attach specific parts of the record in support of its summary denial. See Hoffman v. State, 571 So.2d 449 (Fla.1990). This Court also ordered the State to honor Hoffman's chapter 119 request for access to state attorney records and required the trial court give Hoffman up to thirty days to amend his 3.850 motion after receipt of any public records.

On June 17, 1991, Hoffman filed an amended motion to vacate, which was summarily denied on August 26, 1991. In response to an appeal to this Court, the State claimed that some of Hoffman's requests sought records from agencies that had nothing to do with the judgment and sentence and were agencies over which the state attorney had no control. While agreeing with the State in principle on this matter, we also determined that the state attorney should make every effort to disclose materials within its possession even if they originated in other agencies. See Hoffman v. State, 613 So.2d 405, 406 (Fla. 1992). We again remanded to the trial court for resolution of the public records issue in December 1992 and directed that our 1990 mandate be followed.

Several years of public records litigation ensued, and on January 1, 1997, Hoffman filed his second amended motion for postconviction relief. After an April 11, 1997 Huff[2] hearing, the trial court issued an order outlining the issues that would be heard at the evidentiary hearing and those that were barred.[3] The trial court found *178 three issues required an evidentiary hearing: (1) the State withheld exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland; (2) ineffective assistance of counsel in the guilt/innocence phase; and (3) ineffective assistance in the penalty phase. The evidentiary hearing was held on July 15, 1997. On June 29, 1998, the trial court issued an order denying relief on the three claims.

Hoffman appeals the trial court's denial of postconviction relief. He raises five issues; we find merit in the Brady claim, and reverse his conviction on this basis.[4]

BRADY VIOLATION

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mazzara v. State
51 So. 3d 480 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
Rhodes v. State
986 So. 2d 501 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2008)
Ward v. State
984 So. 2d 650 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
Polk v. State
906 So. 2d 1212 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2005)
Floyd v. State
902 So. 2d 775 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2005)
Allen v. State
854 So. 2d 1255 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2003)
Marquard v. State
850 So. 2d 417 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
800 So. 2d 174, 2001 WL 747399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoffman-v-state-fla-2001.