Owen v. Crosby

854 So. 2d 182, 2003 WL 21554960
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 11, 2003
DocketSC01-2146, SC01-2476
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 854 So. 2d 182 (Owen v. Crosby) 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
Owen v. Crosby, 854 So. 2d 182, 2003 WL 21554960 (Fla. 2003).

Opinion

854 So.2d 182 (2003)

Duane E. OWEN, Petitioner,
v.
James V. CROSBY, Jr., etc., et al., Respondents.
Duane E. Owen, Appellant,
v.
State of Florida, Appellee.

Nos. SC01-2146, SC01-2476.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 11, 2003.
Rehearing Denied September 2, 2003.

*185 James L. Driscoll, Jr., Assistant CCRC and Eric Pinkard, Assistant CCRC, Tampa, FL, for Petitioner/Appellant.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Celia A. Terenzio, Melanie Dale, and Debra Rescigno, Assistant Attorneys General, West Palm Beach, Florida, for Respondent/Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Duane Eugene Owen, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals an order of the trial court denying a motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Additionally, Owen petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the decision of the trial court denying postconviction relief and deny habeas corpus relief.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Duane Eugene Owen (Owen) was convicted of first-degree murder, sexual battery, and burglary, and sentenced to death. The facts of the case are summarized by this Court in Owen v. State, 596 So.2d 985, 986-87 (Fla.1992):

The body of the victim, Georgianna Worden, was discovered by her children on the morning of May 29, 1984, as they prepared for school. An intruder had forcibly entered the Boca Raton home during the night and bludgeoned Worden with a hammer as she slept, and then sexually assaulted her. Owen was arrested the following day on unrelated charges and was interrogated over several weeks. He eventually confessed to committing numerous crimes, including the present murder and a similar murder in Delray Beach in March 1984. See Owen v. State, 560 So.2d 207 (Fla.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 855, 111 S.Ct. 152, 112 L.Ed.2d 118 (1990). At trial on the present murder, sexual battery and burglary, the evidence consisted of Owen's confession, his fingerprint on a library book at the murder scene, and other corroborating evidence. The jury returned guilty verdicts on the charges and recommended death by a vote of ten to two. The trial judge followed the jury's recommendation and imposed death, finding the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating.[1]*186 On July 31, 1986, after Owen was convicted and sentenced, but before this Court ruled on his appeal, he prematurely filed a motion for postconviction relief. The postconviction proceeding was stayed pending his appeal, and Owen was permitted to amend his motion several times. On November 5, 1997, the trial court held a hearing pursuant to Huff v. State, 622 So.2d 982 (Fla.1993), after which the trial court summarily denied a number of claims. However, the trial court found that an evidentiary hearing was required on the following claims:
(1) Trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the guilt phase by failing to provide mental health experts with information necessary to conduct an accurate competency exam; (2) trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the guilt phase by failing to mount an insanity or any other defense and failing to call any defense witnesses; (3) attorneys Kohl and Krischer failed to disclose to Owen various conflicts of interest; (4) trial counsel was ineffective in the penalty phase by failing to investigate and present statutory and nonstatutory mitigating evidence and by presenting only one (minor) witness; (5) trial counsel was ineffective in failing to raise various issues. The court also deferred ruling on several additional claims.

Owen v. State, 773 So.2d 510, 512-13 n. 4 (Fla.2000). At the evidentiary hearing, after the first witness's testimony, Owen's counsel informed the court that Owen had decided not to proceed with the hearing because the attorney-client privilege in the Slattery murder case would be violated.[2] After explaining to Owen the consequences of his decision, the trial court ended the hearing and denied relief on the rule 3.850 motion.

Subsequently, Owen appealed the trial court's denial to this Court. Owen raised eighteen claims.[3] This Court affirmed the *187 trial court, finding that Owen waived any attorney-client privilege that existed between him and trial counsel when he accused counsel of ineffectiveness and conflict of interest. This Court also found that Owen waived his ineffective assistance of counsel and conflict of interest claims. Next, this Court held that the principles underlying Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), were inapplicable to the instant case. Finally, the Court found that Owen's remaining claims were procedurally barred. See Owen, 773 So.2d at 515. On June 29, 2001, Owen filed a pro se motion for postconviction relief, which was summarily denied. Owen now appeals the trial court's denial of his rule 3.850 motion. Additionally, Owen petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus, raising eleven claims.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Rule 3.850 Motion

Owen raises a total of five claims on appeal from the denial of postconviction relief.[4] We find that this successive motion is governed by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(f), which allows a trial court to dismiss a successive petition if it fails to allege new or different grounds and the prior determination was on the merits; or if new and different grounds are alleged, the trial court finds the failure to assert those grounds in a prior motion constituted an abuse of the procedures governed by the rule. A second or successive motion for postconviction relief can be denied on the ground that it is an abuse of process if there is no reason for failing to raise the issues in the previous motion. See Pope v. State, 702 So.2d 221, 223 (Fla. 1997). Although claims that could have been raised in a prior postconviction motion are procedurally barred, this Court has held that a defendant may file successive postconviction relief motions that are based on newly discovered evidence. See White v. State, 664 So.2d 242, 244 (Fla. 1995). In order to overcome a procedural bar, a defendant must show that the newly discovered facts could not have been discovered with due diligence by collateral counsel and raised in an initial rule 3.850 motion. See id. Based on these principles, we affirm the summary denial of relief on claims 1, 2, and 3, which are ineffective assistance of counsel claims, because these claims were raised in Owen's prior 3.850 motion. Since Owen does not base these present claims upon newly discovered evidence, that exception does not apply here. Claim 4, Owen's Brady[5] claim, is insufficiently pled because it is unclear as to when Owen obtained the information he claims that the State withheld. Moreover, Owen fails to allege this material was in the State's possession as required under *188 Brady. See Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194. Finally, because Owen's claims are either successive or insufficiently pled, it is unnecessary for this Court to reach the merits of claim 5 concerning the trial court's failure to attach portions of the record. Therefore, we affirm the trial court's order summarily denying postconviction relief.

Habeas Corpus Petition

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Bluebook (online)
854 So. 2d 182, 2003 WL 21554960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/owen-v-crosby-fla-2003.