Jones v. State

612 So. 2d 1370, 1992 WL 370465
Supreme Court of Florida·Decided December 17, 1992·No. 78160·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinion

612 So.2d 1370 (1992)

Randall Scott JONES, Appellant, Cross-Appellee,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee, Cross-Appellant.

No. 78160.

Supreme Court of Florida.

December 17, 1992.
Rehearing Denied February 17, 1993.

*1372 Gilbert A. Schaffnit of the Law Offices of Gilbert A. Schaffnit, Gainesville, for appellant/cross-appellee.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Barbara C. Davis, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee/cross-appellant.

PER CURIAM.

Randall Scott Jones appeals the death sentences imposed on him on resentencing. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution, and affirm the sentences.

Seeking to steal Brock's truck, Jones shot and killed Matthew Brock and Kelly Perry while they slept in the truck.[1] A jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder, among other things, and recommended that he be sentenced to death, which the trial court did. On appeal we vacated the death sentences because of errors in the penalty phase and ordered that Jones be resentenced. His new jury recommended death for each victim's murder, and the trial court agreed with those recommendations.

Prior to the resentencing proceeding, Jones filed a pro se motion asking that his counsel, Howard Pearl, be dismissed because: 1) Pearl's being an honorary deputy sheriff constituted a conflict of interest; and 2) Pearl's assistance was ineffective because he "only does just enough to maintain appearances" and at Jones' first sentencing proceeding called only one mental health expert to testify and refused to call any of unspecified "numerous character witnesses." This motion did not ask for a hearing on the matter, but sought the dismissal of Pearl and the public defender's office, the appointment of private counsel, and more time. After Jones filed this motion, Pearl moved for permission to withdraw, claiming that Jones' motion and allegations had created an irreconcilable conflict that destroyed the attorney/client relationship. The trial court heard all the parties on these motions and denied Jones' motion because Pearl's "former" status[2] did not create a conflict of interest[3] and held that the claim of ineffective assistance had no merit. The court recognized that Pearl and Jones were having difficulty getting along but denied Pearl's motion to withdraw because the court had never known Pearl to compromise his integrity and because substitute counsel could not match Pearl's knowledge and familiarity with the case. The day the resentencing proceeding began Jones filed a second motion to dismiss counsel, and the trial court summarily denied it. On appeal Jones argues that the court conducted an inadequate inquiry on his motion. We disagree.

In Hardwick v. State, 521 So.2d 1071 (Fla.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 871, 109 S.Ct. 185, 102 L.Ed.2d 154 (1988), we approved the procedure for dealing with motions to dismiss counsel as set out in Nelson v. State, 274 So.2d 256, 258-59 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973):

[W]here a defendant, before the commencement of trial, makes it appear to the trial judge that he desires to discharge his court appointed counsel, the trial judge, in order to protect the indigent's right to effective counsel, should make an inquiry of the defendant as to the reason for the request to discharge. If incompetency of counsel is assigned by the defendant as the reason, or a reason, the trial judge should make a sufficient inquiry of the defendant and his appointed counsel to determine whether or not there is reasonable cause to believe that the court appointed counsel is not rendering effective assistance to the defendant.

Jones did not seek to represent himself; he only wanted the court to appoint someone else to represent him. He based much of his claimed dissatisfaction on Pearl's *1373 having been an honorary deputy. He also claimed that Pearl had been ineffective in the trial and prior sentencing, but made no assertion as to Pearl's effectiveness in the current proceeding.

"Without establishing adequate grounds, a criminal defendant does not have a constitutional right to obtain different court-appointed counsel." Capehart v. State, 583 So.2d 1009, 1014 (Fla. 1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 955, 117 L.Ed.2d 122 (1992). We agree with the trial court that Jones did not establish adequate grounds. The complaint about Pearl's being an honorary deputy had been resolved because Pearl had resigned that position. Jones' complaints about Pearl's handling of the prior sentencing proceeding do not provide a legal basis for challenging his prospective performance in the resentencing.[4]

We hold that the court conducted a sufficient inquiry into Jones' complaints and Pearl's concerns. The state argued that Pearl was a good attorney, and the trial judge pointed out Pearl's extensive trial experience and stated that he had never known Pearl to compromise his advocacy over a period of thirty years. We find that the refusal to dismiss Pearl was within the court's discretion and that no error occurred.

Jones made two statements to the authorities and moved to suppress them prior to his original trial. We affirmed the trial court's denial of that motion because Jones had not established that he had been denied a request for counsel. Jones v. State, 569 So.2d 1234, 1237 (Fla. 1990). He again moved to suppress those statements prior to resentencing, arguing that documentary evidence shows that a public defender had been appointed to represent him on an unrelated charge and that the statements should not have been taken in the absence of that counsel. The trial court denied the motion to suppress.

A trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress is presumed to be correct. Owen v. State, 560 So.2d 207 (Fla.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 855, 111 S.Ct. 152, 112 L.Ed.2d 118 (1990); Medina v. State, 466 So.2d 1046 (Fla. 1985). The document Jones relies on to make this claim also shows that Jones pled to the unrelated charge and the court imposed sentence twelve days before Jones committed these murders and more than a month before he made the challenged statements. Invoking one's right to counsel for one crime does not invoke that right for future crimes. Durocher v. State, 596 So.2d 997 (Fla. 1992); see Traylor v. State, 596 So.2d 957 (Fla. 1992). Thus, there is no merit to this claim.

In the original appeal we summarily rejected several claims challenging, among other things, the constitutionality of Florida's death penalty statute and not requiring jurors to use a special verdict form. 569 So.2d at 1238. Jones raises these same claims now, and we reject them again.

Jones' codefendant testified against him at resentencing, and Jones now complains that the judge referred to this witness by his first name and that the judge improperly commented that a prior witness' testimony corroborated that of the codefendant. The following exchange occurred on direct examination when the witness used a map to describe the murder scene:

Q. [by prosecutor] Chris, does this look at all in any way familiar to you with regard to the layout of Rodman Dam? Can you locate yourself on that map?
A. Back over this way [where] the bathrooms were. I believe I was — I believe that's the bathrooms?
The Court: That's correct, according to the previous witness, Mr. Stout.

It is error for a judge to comment on the evidence in the jury's presence. Raulerson v. State, 102 S

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