Mendyk v. State

592 So. 2d 1076
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJanuary 2, 1992
Docket77865 and 76906
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 592 So. 2d 1076 (Mendyk 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
Mendyk v. State, 592 So. 2d 1076 (Fla. 1992).

Opinion

592 So.2d 1076 (1992)

Todd Michael MENDYK, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Todd Michael MENDYK, Petitioner,
v.
Richard L. DUGGER, Etc., Respondent.

Nos. 77865 and 76906.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 2, 1992.
Rehearing Denied February 20, 1992.

*1078 Larry Helm Spalding, Capital Collateral Representative; Martin J. McClain, Chief Asst. CCR and Susan Hugins Elsass, Staff Atty., Office of the Capital Collateral, Tallahassee, for appellant/petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Kellie A. Nielan and Barbara C. Davis, Asst. Attys. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee/respondent.

BARKETT, Justice.

Todd Michael Mendyk appeals the trial court's denial of his motion for relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, and petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus.[1] We affirm the trial court's ruling on the motion and deny the petition for habeas corpus. However, we grant Mendyk's petition for information pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1989).

Mendyk's convictions and sentences arise from events that transpired late in the evening of April 8, 1987, when Mendyk and a friend, Philip Frantz, drove to a convenience store. After entering the store, Mendyk grabbed the store clerk and forced her into his truck. They drove to a secluded area where Mendyk tied her to a sawhorse and sexually tortured her. Mendyk untied her and moved her to a new location where he retied her between two trees. Frantz and Mendyk attempted to leave the scene in the truck, but became stuck when Mendyk steered too far to one side of the dirt road. After attempts to free the truck failed, Mendyk returned to the victim, strangled her, and dragged her body into the bushes. Mendyk and Frantz were arrested when police discovered the victim missing and began an aerial search, observed the truck in the woods, apprehended the defendants, and subsequently discovered the victim's body.

Mendyk was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery. The jury recommended death by a unanimous vote, and the judge imposed death for the first-degree murder conviction and three consecutive life sentences on the remaining counts. Mendyk's convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal, Mendyk v. State, 545 So.2d 846 (Fla. 1989), and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, Mendyk v. Florida, 493 U.S. 984, 110 S.Ct. 520, 107 L.Ed.2d 521 (1989). Governor Martinez signed a death warrant scheduling Mendyk's execution for January 15, 1991, and this Court granted a motion for stay of execution and set a schedule for the filing of post-conviction pleadings.

Rule 3.850 Motion

Mendyk's claims can be grouped into three basic categories:

1. The trial court erred in denying an evidentiary hearing to resolve allegations that:
a. The prosecution used false evidence and arguments at trial and withheld material and exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963);
b. Defense trial counsel was ineffective in investigating and presenting mitigating evidence and in failing to object or adequately pursue various legal issues.
2. Mendyk's conviction and death sentence are unreliable because:
a. This Court on direct appeal erroneously decided Mendyk's claim that statements should have been suppressed;
b. The admission of numerous inflamatory photographs violated Mendyk's Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights;
c. Procedural and substantive errors rendered Mendyk's trial fundamentally unfair.
3. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Parole Commission, and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office have withheld files and records in violation of chapter 119, Florida Statutes.

*1079 Mendyk's Brady claim alleges the existence of the following exculpatory evidence:

1. Codefendant Frantz's statements that Mendyk was intoxicated at the time of the murder;
2. Evidence that the State knew Frantz's trial testimony was a lie;
3. Evidence that the State proffered false testimony of John Cousins to the sentencing judge;
4. Evidence that the State knew Mendyk's competency was in decline during the trial.

In order to prevail on a Brady claim, a defendant must establish the following:

(1) that the Government possessed evidence favorable to the defendant (including impeachment evidence); (2) that the defendant does not possess the evidence nor could he obtain it himself with any reasonable diligence; (3) that the prosecution suppressed the favorable evidence; and (4) that had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, a reasonable probability exists that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different.

Hegwood v. State, 575 So.2d 170, 172 (1991) (quoting United States v. Meros, 866 F.2d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 932, 110 S.Ct. 322, 107 L.Ed.2d 312 (1989)). We do not find the alleged evidence of intoxication meets this test. The evidence that Mendyk now proffers does not contradict Frantz's deposition or trial testimony that he and Mendyk had consumed drugs and alcohol on the night of the murder. Moreover, Frantz never stated that Mendyk was intoxicated at the time of the murder, neither at trial nor in the proffered statement. We thus find the evidence carries little impeachment value and that it is not otherwise exculpatory in nature.

Mendyk's assertion that the State knew Frantz lied at trial derives from the reported statements of two police officials who "believed" that Frantz's involvement in the murder was greater than he admitted. We need not even comment on the admissibility of such evidence as it is not exculpatory as far as Mendyk is concerned. Even if Frantz was more involved in the crime than he testified to, it would not diminish the culpability of Mendyk in the absence of specific allegations that Mendyk's participation in the crime was actually less than the evidence at trial demonstrated.

We find no error in the proffer of the testimony of John Cousins. Although the testimony was proffered, the State chose not to use this witness at trial. We also find no merit in the claim that the State hid evidence of Mendyk's incompetency.

We likewise reject Mendyk's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel will warrant an evidentiary hearing only where the defendant alleges "specific facts which are not conclusively rebutted by the record and which demonstrate a deficiency in performance that prejudiced the defendant." Roberts v. State, 568 So.2d 1255, 1259 (Fla. 1990). Prejudice is demonstrated if the deficiency was sufficient to render the result unreliable. Gorham v. State, 521 So.2d 1067, 1069 (Fla. 1988) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)).

Mendyk asserts his trial counsel's failure to investigate and present in mitigation his mental deficiencies, intoxication at the time of the offense, history of substance abuse, deprived childhood, and lack of significant prior criminal activity render the resulting death sentence unreliable.

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Bluebook (online)
592 So. 2d 1076, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mendyk-v-state-fla-1992.