SC11-1761 Initial Brief
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA CASE NO. SC11-1761 ___________________________________________________ KEVIN DON FOSTER, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. ___________________________________________________ ON APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR LEE COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA ___________________________________________________ INITIAL BRIEF OF APPELLANT ___________________________________________________ TERRI L. BACKHUS Special Assistant CCRC-South Fla. Bar No. 0946427 SCOTT GAVIN Staff Attorney Fla. Bar No. 0058651 CCRC-South 101 3rd Avenue, Suite 400 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Tel. (954) 713-1284 COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT PRELIMINARY STATEMENT Citations in this brief to designate references to the records, followed by the appropriate page number, are as follows: “R. ___” – Record on appeal to this Court in the 1988 direct appeal; “PC-R. ___” – Record on appeal to this Court from the 2011 summary denial of post-conviction relief; All other citations will be self-explanatory or will otherwise be explained. REQUEST FOR ORAL ARGUMENT This is a capital case. The resolution of the issues in this action will determine whether Mr. Foster lives or dies. A full opportunity to air the issues through oral argument is more than appropriate in this case, given the seriousness of the claims involved including Mr. Foster’s actual innocence. Therefore, Mr. Foster, through counsel, respectfully urges the Court to permit oral argument. i TABLE OF CONTENTS PRELIMINARY STATEMENT...........................................i REQUEST FOR ORAL ARGUMENT.......................................i TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................................ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES...........................................iv INTRODUCTION....................................................1 STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS.................................4 Facts Relevant to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel ......... 31 Facts relevant to trial counsel=s performanceCLay Witnesses................................................ 42 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT............................................45 ARGUMENT I.....................................................46 MR. FOSTER WAS DENIED THE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AT THE PENALTY PHASE OF TRIAL..................................46 a. Trial Counsel=s limitation of investigation to Mrs. Foster and their 18-year-old client was unreasonable..... 48 b. Trial counsel=s limitation of investigation without discovering Mr. Foster suffered from depression and other mental health deficits was unreasonable............ 64 c. Mr. Foster=s Defense Team Was Disorganized, Confused and Impaired............................................. 74 d. Trial Counsel Unreasonably Failed to Obtain Mental Health Mitigation........................................ 76 ARGUMENT II....................................................87 THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN SUMMARILY DENYING MR. FOSTER’S CLAIMS IN VIOLATION OF THE FIFTH, SIXTH, EIGHTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS..........................................87 a. Juror Misconduct......................................... 88 1. Improper consideration of pretrial media coverage........ 91 2. Jurors Failure to Follow Jury Instructions............... 91 b. Failure To Impanel An Impartial Jury Casts New Light On Change Of Venue Motions............................... 94 1. Rules Prohibiting Juror Interviews....................... 97 2. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel For Failure To Object To The Avoid Arrest Aggravator At Penalty Phase.................................................... 98 ii c. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Pre Trial and Guilt Phase.................................................... 99 1. Trial counsel failed to challenge the State’s ballistics expert and evidence........................... 99 2. Failure to object to non-expert testimony. .............. 103 3. Failure to challenge admissibility of scientific evidence................................................ 104 4. Failure to effectively challenge admissibility of hearsay evidence........................................ 105 d. Brady/Giglio Violations and Newly Discovered Evidence Show Forensic Science Used To Convict Mr. Foster Is Invalid................................................. 107 e. Lethal Injection Claim.................................. 111 f. Newly Discovered Evidence that Mr. Foster’s Death Sentence constitutes Cruel and Unusual punishment....... 114 g. Cumulative Analysis..................................... 115 h. Death Sentence Constitutes Cruel and Unusual Punishment.............................................. 116 i. Shifting of Burden of Proof to Mr. Foster violation of Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments........................ 118 CONCLUSION....................................................119 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE........................................120 CERTIFICATE OF TYPE SIZE AND FONT.............................120 iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1985)....................... 82, 85 Blanco v. Singletary, 943 1477 (11th Cir. 1991) ............... 58 Booker v. State, 969 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 2007)................... 91 Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)......................... 93 Buenoano v. State, 708 So. 2d 941 (Fla. 1998)................. 92 Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320 (1985)................. 124 Card v. State, 803 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 2001).................... 104 Chandler v. U.S., 218 F. 3d 1305 (11th Cir. 2000) ............. 47 Chester v. State, 737 So. 2d 557 (Fla. 1999).................. 94 Colina v. State,, 570 So. 2d 929 (Fla. 1990).................. 97 Conohan v. State, Case No. 97-166-CF.......................... 61 Cooper v. Secy Fla Dept. Corrections, 646 F. 3d 1328 (11th Cir. 2011) .......................51, 60 D.R.C. v. State, 670 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)......... 109 Dafour v. State, 495 So. 2d 154 (Fla. 1986).................. 105 Davis v. State, 461 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 1984)................. 98, 99 De La Rosa v. Zequeira, 659 So. 2d 239 (Fla. 1995)............ 94 Eaglin v. State, 19 So. 3d 935 (Fla. 2009).................... 97 Fla. Bar v. Leon Rolle, 661 So. 2d 301 (Fla. 1995)............ 36 Fla. Bar v. Rinard, Case Nos. SC00-501; SC03-721; SC05-1879... 36 Ford v. State, Case no. 97-351-CF............................. 61 Foster v. State, 778 So. 2d 906 (Fla. 2000)............. 6, 7, 85 Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972).................. 93 Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420 (1980)...................... 102 Green v. State, 975 So. 2d 1081 (Fla. 2008).................. 103 Griffin v. State, 866 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 2003)................... 103 Guzman v. State, 868 So.2 d 498 (Fla. 2003)................... 93 Hernandez v. State, 4 So. 3d 642 (Fla. 2009)................. 103 Hertz v. State, 803 So. 2d 629 (Fla. 2001)................... 104 Hitchcock v. Dugger, 481 U.S. 393 (1987)..................... 124 Hoy v. State, 353 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 1977)..................... 100 iv Johnson v. Sec=y DOC, 643 F. 3d 907 (11th Cir. 2011) ............... 47, 52, 62, 70 Jones v. Walker, 540 F. 3d 1277, 1288 (11th Cir. 2008) ........ 54 Kelvin v. State, 610 So. 2d 1359 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)......... 109 Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995)......................... 93 Lowrey v. State, 705 So. 2d 1367 (Fla. 1998).................. 94 Manning v. State, 378 So. 2d 274 (Fla. 1980).................. 99 Maynard v. Cartwright, 108 S. Ct. 1853 (1988)................ 103 Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356 (1988)................... 124 McCaskill v. State, 344 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 1977)............... 99 Menendez v. State, 368 So. 2d 1278 (1979).................... 103 Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 (1975)...................... 124 Murphy v. State, 252 So. 2d 385 (Fla. 1971)................... 99 Nebraska Press Ass’n v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539 (1976).......... 101 Porter v. McCollum, 130 S. Ct. 447 (2009)................. passim Provenzano v. State, 497 So.2d 1177 (Fla. 1986)............... 98 Riley v. State, 366 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 1978).................... 104 Rompilla v. Beard, 545 U.S. 374 (2005).................... 60, 61 Ruby Foster v. State, Case No. 00-CF-002609-A................. 53 Russ v. State, 95 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 1957)..................... 102 State v. Coney, 845 So. 2d 120 (Fla. 2003).................... 91 State v. Dixon, 283 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1973)..................... 123 Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)............. passim Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107 (1987).................. 97 Tanzi v. State, 964 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 2007).................... 97 Thompson v. Wainwright, 787 F. 2d 1447 (11th Cir. 1986) ....... 60 Trawick v. State, 473 So. 2d 1235 (Fla. 1985)................. 97 Turner v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 466 (1965)..................... 102 Voyles v. Watkins, 489 F. Supp. 901 (N.D. Miss. 1980)......... 59 Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510 (2003)..................... passim Williams v. Allen, 542 F. 3d 1326 (11th Cir. 2008) ........ passim Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000)........... 52, 61, 70, 82 Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976)................ 83 v Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862 (1983)........................ 103 Statutes Fla. Stat. § 921.141(5)(e).................................... 98 Other Authorities ABA Guidelines for Appointment and Performance of Counsel in Death Penalty Cases 1989 .................................... 60 Rules Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851........................................ 88 Fla. R. Prof. Resp. 4-3.5(d)(4)............................... 97