King v. State

808 So. 2d 1237, 2002 WL 54414
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJanuary 16, 2002
DocketSC02-01, SC02-02
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 808 So. 2d 1237 (King 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
King v. State, 808 So. 2d 1237, 2002 WL 54414 (Fla. 2002).

Opinion

808 So.2d 1237 (2002)

Amos Lee KING, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Amos Lee King, Petitioner,
v.
Michael W. Moore, etc., Respondent.

Nos. SC02-01, SC02-02.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 16, 2002.

*1238 Bill Jennings, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel-Middle, Richard E. Kiley, Assistant CCC, and April E. Haughey, Assistant CCC, Tampa, FL, for Appellant/Petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Carol M. Dittmar and Stephen D. Ake, Assistant Attorneys General, Tampa, FL, for Appellee/Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Amos Lee King, a prisoner under sentence of death and an active death warrant, has filed in this Court a successive petition for writ of habeas corpus and motions seeking a stay of execution. King also appeals an order of the circuit court denying a successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. We deny the successive petition for writ of habeas corpus and affirm the trial court's denial of the successive 3.851 motion. We also deny King's separate request to stay his execution while he *1239 seeks an application for a writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court.[1]

BACKGROUND

The facts of this case are set forth in our initial opinion on direct appeal, in which we affirmed King's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence for the murder of Natalie Brady. See King v. State, 390 So.2d 315, 316-17 (Fla.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 989, 101 S.Ct. 1529, 67 L.Ed.2d 825 (1981).

In 1981, King instituted his first rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief, and then Governor Bob Graham signed King's first death warrant. This Court affirmed the trial court's denial of the 3.850 motion and denied King's request for a stay of execution. See King v. State, 407 So.2d 904, 905 (Fla.1981). While King's postconviction relief appeal was pending before this Court, King petitioned for federal habeas corpus relief. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted a stay of execution but, in an unpublished decision, later vacated that stay when it denied King's federal habeas petition.

On appeal of the district court's denial, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied King the requested habeas relief with regard to his convictions but granted relief as to the death sentence. See King v. Strickland, 714 F.2d 1481, 1495 (11th Cir. 1983). The United States Supreme Court vacated the Eleventh Circuit's opinion and remanded to the Eleventh Circuit for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). See Strickland v. King, 467 U.S. 1211, 104 S.Ct. 2651, 81 L.Ed.2d 358 (1984). On remand, the Eleventh Circuit applied Strickland and again vacated King's death sentence, finding that King's trial counsel was ineffective during the penalty phase. See King v. Strickland, 748 F.2d 1462, 1465 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1016, 105 S.Ct. 2020, 85 L.Ed.2d 301 (1985). The court reinstated its prior opinion as to all other issues previously decided. See id.

After conducting new penalty proceedings, the trial court followed the jury's unanimous recommendation and again imposed a sentence of death upon King. The trial court found five aggravators[2] and no mitigators. This Court affirmed the death sentence on direct appeal but struck the aggravator of a great risk of death to many persons. See King v. State, 514 So.2d 354, 360 (Fla.1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1241, 108 S.Ct. 2916, 101 L.Ed.2d 947 (1988). Then Governor Bob Martinez signed King's next death warrant in October 1988, setting King's execution for 7 a.m. on November 30, 1988. King filed a 3.850 motion with the trial court on November 28, 1988. The trial court summarily denied the motion that day. King appealed to this Court the circuit court's *1240 3.850 denial, petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, and requested a stay of execution. In an unpublished order on November 29, 1988, we granted the stay of execution and remanded the 3.850 motion to the trial court for its further consideration. See King v. State, 538 So.2d 1255 (Fla.1988) (table). On remand after an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied King's rule 3.850 motion. We affirmed that denial on appeal. See King v. State, 597 So.2d 780 (Fla.1992). We also denied King's petition for writ of habeas corpus. See King v. Dugger, 555 So.2d 355 (Fla.1990).

In 1992, King filed a habeas corpus petition in the federal district court. In a 1998 unpublished decision, the district court denied the habeas petition. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of relief, see King v. Moore, 196 F.3d 1327 (11th Cir.1999), and the Supreme Court denied King's petition for certiorari. See King v. Moore, 531 U.S. 1039, 121 S.Ct. 631, 148 L.Ed.2d 539 (2000).

While he sought relief in the federal system, King instituted several more post-conviction motions in the state system. King filed a pro se habeas corpus petition in this Court on February 7, 1997, which we denied without opinion. See King v. Singletary, 695 So.2d 700 (Fla.1997) (table). On January 24, 1997, King filed a pro se motion for postconviction relief and habeas corpus petition in the trial court, which the trial court dismissed without prejudice. King refiled those identical papers in the trial court on February 3, 2000, but withdrew them on October 26, 2000. On October 3, 2001, King filed another pro se motion for postconviction relief in the trial court.

DEATH WARRANT PROCEEDINGS

On November 19, 2001, Governor Jeb Bush signed King's third death warrant, the second after resentencing. Execution was set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, 2002. The trial court held a case management conference on November 21, 2001, and established a schedule governing all further proceedings before the trial court pending the resolution of the status of the Capital Collateral Counsel—Middle's (CCRC-M) representation of King. The case management order included filing deadline dates for public records requests and pleadings and established tentative dates for further hearings if needed. At a November 29, 2001, hearing, King withdrew a separately filed pro se motion to dismiss CCRC-M as counsel and stated that he wanted CCRC-M as his counsel. The trial court then struck King's October 3, 2001, pro se postconviction motion because King was represented by CCRC-M.

Thereafter, CCRC-M filed additional public record requests with six agencies and sought DNA testing of vaginal washings and a rectal swab taken from the murder victim, Natalie Brady. Pursuant to section 925.11, Florida Statutes (2001), and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.853, the trial court found the DNA request to be sufficient and ordered the State to respond.

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Bluebook (online)
808 So. 2d 1237, 2002 WL 54414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/king-v-state-fla-2002.