PAUL WILLIAM SCOTT, PETITIONER,
v.
LOUIE L. WAINWRIGHT, ETC., RESPONDENT; PAUL WILLIAM SCOTT, PETITIONER, V. STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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Paul William Scott, convicted and sentenced to death for first-degree murder, challenged the effectiveness of his appellate counsel and sought habeas corpus relief, error coram nobis, and stay of execution. The Florida Supreme Court denied all relief, finding no reversible error and that appellate counsel was not ineffective.
The court held that Scott failed to demonstrate ineffectiveness of appellate counsel under the established test, as none of the arguments he now raised would have constituted reversible error on direct appeal and most would have been frivolous. The court also held that Scott failed to qualify for coram nobis relief because the facts he relied upon were known to him at the time of trial and were discoverable through due diligence, and even if presented, would not have conclusively precluded the death sentence.
[1] A petitioner seeking a writ of habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of appellate counsel must demonstrate a substantial and serious deficiency on the part of cou…
[2] A petitioner's right to reasonably competent counsel does not entitle them to have every conceivable challenge pressed upon the court.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Scott's right to reasonably competent counsel does not entitle him to have every conceivable challenge pressed upon the court.”
Establishes the standard for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel—not all possible arguments must be raised
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceScott was convicted and sentenced to death for the bludgeoning murder of James Alessi. The Florida Supreme Court had previously affirmed his convictio…
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PER CURIAM.
We deny Paul William Scott’s petition for writ of habeas corpus, application for leave to file a petition for writ of error coram nobis, and motion for stay.
Scott was convicted and sentenced to death for the first-degree, bludgeoning murder of James Alessi. Finding no reversible error, we affirmed Scott’s conviction and sentence. Scott v. State, 411 So. 2d 866 (Fla.1982). On May 12, 1983, the Governor signed Scott’s death warrant. Scott has not challenged the effectiveness of his trial counsel, but does, by petition for habe-as corpus, challenge the effectiveness of appellate counsel.
Habeas Corpus
Scott alleges several grounds as a basis for his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.* We hold that he has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating ineffectiveness of counsel under the test we have announced in Knight v. State, 394 So. 2d 997 (Fla.1981). Scott’s right to reasonably competent counsel does not entitle him to have every conceivable challenge pressed upon the court. Francois v. State, 423 So. 2d 357 (Fla.1982). The State, in its response, has adequately refuted each of Scott’s grounds relating to his claim of ineffective appellate counsel. We find that none of the arguments now made by Scott would have constituted reversible error had they been raised on direct appeal. In fact, most of these claims would have been frivolous. There has been no showing of a substantial and serious deficiency on the part of Scott’s appellate counsel.
In addition to alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel as a basis for relief in his petition for writ of habeas corpus, Scott argues that his conviction and sentence are constitutionally infirm on other bases which he alleges are cognizable as fundamental error. We find no merit to any of these contentions, several of which have been addressed in our recent decisions of Hitchcock v. State, 432 So. 2d 42 (Fla. 1983); Porter v. State, 429 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 1983); Jackson v. Wainwright, 421 So. 2d 1385 (Fla.1982); and Ferguson v. State, 417 So. 2d 639 (Fla.1982). See also Ford v. Strickland, 696 F. 2d 804 (11th Cir.1983).
Application for Leave to File Petition for Writ of Error Coram Nobis
In Hallman v. State, 371 So. 2d 482 (Fla.1979), we succinctly stated what must be demonstrated in order to gain the leave of this Court to file coram nobis with the trial court. We stated:
A petition for this writ addressed to the appellate court must disclose fully the alleged facts relied on; mere conclusory statements are insufficient. The appellate court must be afforded a full opportunity to evaluate the alleged facts for itself and to determine whether they establish prima facie grounds. Lamb v. State, supra [91 Fla. 396, 107 So. 535]; Washington v. State, 92 Fla. 740, 110 So. 259 (1926); Urga v. State, 157 Fla. 794, 26 So. 2d 786 (1946). Furthermore, the petition should assert the evidence upon which the alleged facts can be proved and the source of such evidence. Russ v. State, 95 So. 2d 594 (Fla.1957). The function of a writ of error coram nobis is to correct errors of fact, not errors of law. Leavitt v. State, 116 Fla. 738, 156 So. 904 (1934). The facts upon which the petition is based must have been unknown by the trial court, by the party, or by counsel at the time of trial, and it must appear that defendant or his counsel could not have known them by the use of diligence. Kinsey v. State, 155 Fla. 159, 19 So. 2d 706 (1944).
371 So. 2d at 484-85 (emphasis supplied). The petition must also allege facts of such a vital nature that had they been known to the trial court, they conclusively would have prevented entry of judgment.
Scott’s request is denied because he has failed to demonstrate that the facts he now relies upon were not known to him at the time of trial or were not discoverable through the use of due diligence. The “new evidence” that Scott wants to present at a new sentencing hearing relates to his version of how the murder was committed. This is not “newly discovered” evidence for purposes of coram nobis relief since the facts he now seeks to establish were not unknown to him at the time of trial. By his own admission, he was an eyewitness to the murder. The testimony that he presented at his clemency hearing, explaining what happened at the victim’s home and the extent of his participation in the crime, could just as well have been presented at his trial. It is clear that all of the alleged facts were known to Scott at the time of his trial. In fact, defense counsel, during the sentencing hearing, argued at length to the jury that Scott was not the major perpetrator in the murder of Alessi and that his participation in this capital crime was relatively minor. Furthermore, we cannot say that this evidence, even if it had been presented at trial, would have conclusively precluded the sentence of death as Scott contends. We hold that Scott has failed to demonstrate facts legally sufficient to warrant the granting of his application.
Accordingly, finding no merit to Scott’s claims, we deny the petition for writ of habeas corpus, the application for leave to file a petition for writ of error coram nobis, and the motion for stay of execution. No motion for rehearing will be allowed.
It is so ordered.
ALDERMAN, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, McDonald, EHRLICH and SHAW, JJ., concur. *
Scott alleges that appellate counsel was ineffective because appellate counsel should have argued that the trial court erred by precluding defense counsel from making an opening statement regarding the victim’s drug use and homosexual activities, should have raised the State’s surprise identification of Richard Kondi-an during trial, should have argued that the court erred in disallowing cross-examination of the State witness who identified Kondian, should have challenged a statement in the State’s brief on appeal regarding a statement by Scott as to his robbery and murder plans, should have argued that the trial judge erroneously found nonstatutory aggravating circumstances, should have asserted that the trial court erred in allowing the State to cross-examine clinical psychologist Brad Fisher after Scott had waived reliance on the mitigating factor of no significant prior criminal activity, should have raised as error the trial court’s denial of a motion for mistrial because a witness had referred to him as an inmate of the Palm Beach County Jail and because of outbursts of the victim’s mother, and should have raised as error the overruling of counsel’s objection to the prosecutor’s remarks regarding Soutullo’s cooperation with the police.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (11 total)
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Scott v. State, 464 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 1985)…first degree and sentenced to death. We affirmed his conviction and sentence. Scott v. State, 411 So. 2d 866 (Fla.1982). Subsequently, we denied his petition for writ of habeas corpus and petition for writ of error coram nobis. Scott v. Wainwright, 433 So. 2d 974 (Fla.1983). He recently filed a motion to vacate his judgment and sentence. His motion concluded with the following verification: Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared Paul William Scott, who, being first duly sworn, says that…
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Magill v. State, 457 So. 2d 1367 (Fla. 1984)…he argument as futile because of its lack of merit. Palmes v. State, 425 So. 2d 4 (Fla.1983). The defendant’s right to reasonably competent counsel does not entitle him to have every conceivable challenge pressed upon the court. Scott v. Wainwright, 433 So. 2d 974 (Fla.1983). Another of the perceived failings at trial was that counsel did not contest MagilPs guilt during the guilt phase and that he allowed Magill to testify to his own guilt. Testimony at the evidentiary hearing firmly established that the de…
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Jackson v. State, 438 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 1983)…ourt’s denial of the 3.850 motion and deny the stay of execution. The petition for writ of error cor-am nobis presents no newly discovered evidence which would have precluded conclusively the death sentence and is, therefore, denied. Scott v. State, 433 So. 2d 974 (Fla.1983); Hallman v. State, 371 So. 2d 482 (Fla.1979). No motion for rehearing will be allowed. It is so ordered. ALDERMAN, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, EHRLICH and SHAW, JJ., concur. McDONALD, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with…
Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (15 total)
- Knight v. State, 394 So. 2d 997 (Fla. 1981)
- Hallman v. State, 371 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 1979)
- Ferguson v. State, 417 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 1982)
- Ford v. Strickland, 696 F.2d 804 (11th Cir. 1983)
- Lamb v. State, 91 Fla. 396 (Fla. 1926)
- Russ v. State, 95 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 1957)
- Abe Washington v. State, 92 Fla. 740 (Fla. 1926)
- Hitchcock v. State, 432 So. 2d 42 (Fla. 1983)
- Raleigh Porter v. State, 429 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 1983)
- Scott v. State, 411 So. 2d 866 (Fla. 1982)