Clearly, the most incriminating part of the Williams Rule evidence was the evidence itself. However, at the Huff hearing, the trial court indicated that the parties could inquire of trial counsel as to any strategic decisions he made in not objecting to the prosecutor's closing arguments. We From that backdrop, we believe the factual situation and our reasoning in Gore v. State, 599 So.2d 978 (Fla.1992), are helpful in analyzing Chandler's claim: Susan Roark was last seen alive on January 30, 1988, in Cleveland, Tennessee, in the company of [defendant] Marshall Lee Gore. As his last penalty phase issue, Chandler argues that the standard jury instruction on the heinous, atrocious, or cruel (HAC) aggravating circumstance is unconstitutionally vague. 2296, 152 L.Ed.2d 1054 (2002). 400 So.2d at 1219. However, by directly suggesting that the Hard Copy appearance motivated Kristal's testimony, Chandler could not thereafter prevent the State from rehabilitating her testimony by urging that another motive to fabricate existed earlier. 488 So.2d at 55. For example, the only similarity between the crimes in Drake was that the victims' hands were tied behind their backs and they had left a bar with the defendant. 662, 154 L.Ed.2d 564 (2002), and King v. Moore, 831 So.2d 143 (Fla.2002), cert. At the evidentiary hearing, Chandler's trial counsel testified that this opening statement was part of the strategy to keep Chandler's Fifth Amendment rights intact and that if he had denied the alleged sexual battery in his opening it might have opened the door to the State to cross-examine Chandler on it. Chandler: Did I tell her that I was innocent? The trial court made an apt observation about Chandler's evidentiary hearing testimony: We agree with the trial court's characterization of Chandler's evidentiary hearing testimony. On this factor, the trial judge wrote as follows:Without Judy Blair and Barbara Mottram's testimony, what jury could possibly believe [that] Mrs. Rogers and her two children would board Chandler's boat for a sunset cruise within 24 hours of having met him? 7162 Reading Rd Ste 400 Cincinnati, OH 45237. [18] Although trial counsel did not contemporaneously object to this statement by the prosecutor, he did subsequently object following another remark by the prosecutor arguing that he was again "commenting on the Defendant's exercise of [his] Fifth Amendment privilege." Carlton recalled seeing concrete blocks at the Chandler house and that some of the concrete blocks had three holes and some had two. Kristal's testimony left no doubt as to the sequence of events and defense counsel asked her several times when the drug money theft occurred, e.g., [t]his incident occurred in October of 1990, right?, to which Kristal responded yes.. Toggle navigation. We have on appeal the judgments and sentences of the trial court imposing the death penalty upon appellant Oba Chandler. Mottram picked Chandler's photograph out of a photo pack and identified him in a lineup and in court. 5. Sign up to receive the Free Law Project newsletter with tips and announcements. The material issue to be resolved by the similar facts evidence in the present case is identity, which the State sought to prove by showing Drake's mode of operating. Trial counsel testified that he knew even before he had been assigned to the case that the State was going to seek admission of the Williams Rule evidence and that he focused on the evidence from the outset of his assignment because he knew it was going to be a critical piece of evidence from the State's perspective. what is virgo spirit animal. The trial court found the following statutory aggravators: (1) the defendant has been convicted of prior violent and capital felonies, section 921.141(5)(b), Florida Statutes (1993); (2) the murders were committed during the commission of a kidnapping, section 921.141(5)(d); (3) the murders were committed to avoid arrest, section 921.141(5)(e); and (4) the murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, section 921.141(5)(h). Although some of the descriptions by the prosecution may have been poorly chosen and more harsh than necessary, the statements were made in reference to defense claims that the prosecutor felt were legally or factually inaccurate or logically inconsistent. Mays had testified to these issues during the State's case-in-chief. In June of 1998, Chandler filed an initial motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. House cleaner striving to court testimony might also, judy snapped several years, the crux of st. Transcript Part 1; Transcript Part 2; Exhibits Part 1; Video . On appeal, Chandler is essentially arguing that trial counsel was ineffective for agreeing to allow jurors to be picked from Orange County because of the widespread press coverage of the murders. 2052. Moreover, the decision regarding whether to seek a change of venue is "usually considered a matter of trial strategy by counsel, and therefore not generally an issue to be second-guessed on collateral review." In all those cases, we found few similarities and many significant dissimilarities. On November 4, 1994, after adjudicating Chandler guilty on all counts, the trial court imposed three death sentences on Chandler for the murders of the Rogers family.3. SC01-1468, Judges: The indictment in this case alleged that the murders occurred in either Pinellas County or Hillsborough County, Florida. Chandler claimed that he was out on his boat all night because his engine died after a hose burst, spilling all of his fuel. Furthermore, the fact that trial counsel's tactics did not secure the result defendant wanted does not mean that collateral counsel, who has the benefit of hindsight, can label trial counsel ineffective for failing to use an alternative tactic. There must be identifiable points of similarity which pervade the compared factual situations. ANSTEAD, C.J., WELLS, PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, and CANTERO, JJ., and SHAW, Senior Justice, concur. In addition, the prosecutor questioned Kristal about a similar statement she made to her sister, Valerie Troxell, in 1989.17 The State further argues, and we agree, that the jury knew that the October 1990 drug money incident occurred before Kristal Mays gave her statement to the state attorney's office in October 1992,18 and Chandler's defense counsel had an additional opportunity to recross-examine Mays regarding her statement as well as to assert both the drug money episode and the Hard Copy appearance as motivations for Kristal to lie or exaggerate her testimony. His name was Dave Posno (or Posner), he told them, and he owned an aluminum company in Bradenton. Prosecutor: Did you tell her you were innocent of both crimes? In James, we rejected the appellant's vagueness and overbreadth challenges since the HAC instruction given at trial was the same instruction approved in Hall v. State, 614 So.2d 473 (Fla.1993), wherein this Court found that neither the instruction nor the aggravator itself was unconstitutionally vague. at 193-94. Sometime between 11:30 and 12:00, Roark left to drive Gore home. Gore had planned to travel to Florida with a friend from Cleveland. Given sufficient similarity, in order for the similar facts to be relevant the points of similarity must have some special character or be so unusual as to point to the defendant. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. Id. [16] He asserts that trial counsel's failure to object to these comments constituted prejudicial error. "[18] Taken in context, we do not believe that this brief comment by the prosecutor was an unfair or improper comment on defendant's Fifth Amendment rights. Squatters A Of Crossword Conquest Mongodb Gore accompanied Roark to a party at the home of a friend of hers. 3. V, 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. Blair testified that Chandler seemed disappointed when told Mottram would not be joining them. Chandler raises seven claims of error on appeal.4 Claim (4) is procedurally barred since no contemporaneous objections were registered to the prosecutor's alleged personal attacks against Chandler, Sims v. State, 681 So.2d 1112, 1116-17 (Fla.1996) cert. More recently, in Hayes v. State, 660 So.2d 257 (Fla.1995), we observed that: The Evidence Code, under section 90.404(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1993), allows a party to introduce similar fact evidence of other crimes when it is relevant to prove a material fact in issue. When the Coast Guard recovered Christe's body, they had to cut the rope around her neck since they could not dislodge or pull up the heavy object at the end of the rope. However, that fact alone does not preclude admission of collateral crime evidence and, indeed, would erect an almost impossible standard of admissibility. Because we find that Chandler's claim is refuted by the record, we agree that there was no need for an evidentiary hearing on the amount of pretrial publicity in the case. In summing up his thoughts, trial counsel stated, "If they were ever going to make a mold of what the State wants to bring to court for a rape victim, that mold is going to be this lady. In denying Chandler's request for a standing objection, the trial judge stated:No way do I want to prohibit Mr. Chandler from testifying before this jury. (Emphasis added.). Beyond the trial court's procedural compliance with the guidelines for evaluating mitigating circumstances, we have recognized that it is within the trial court's discretion to determine whether such mitigation has been established. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d at 1135. I think it looks bad in front of the jury when you're continually jumping up and interrupting the other side's closing argument." Thereafter, when the time came, defense counsel did not allude to the Blair rape during his direct examination of Chandler. Gore then proceeded to Miami, where police subsequently recovered Roark's Mustang after it was abandoned in a two-car accident. (Supp.1994). See Chandler v. State, 442 So.2d 171, 173 (Fla.1983). See Occhicone v. State, 768 So.2d 1037, 1048 (Fla.2000) ("Counsel cannot be deemed ineffective merely because current counsel disagrees with trial counsel's strategic decisions."). 230, 136 L.Ed.2d 161 (1996). Her friend did not want to go. Joan's hands were tied behind her back, her ankles were tied together, and the yellow rope around her neck was attached to a concrete block. We noted that on direct examination, the defendant's testimony covered six general subjects, including his denial that he murdered the victim. In the order denying Chandler's current postconviction motion, the trial court stated that a subsequent motion to change venue objecting to the jury being picked in Orange County would have caused her to consider the previous stipulation void. Because the trial court did not hold an evidentiary hearing on the amount of pretrial publicity, the only information in this record regarding the extent and nature of pretrial publicity comes in the way of the supplemental record, which includes the report prepared by Chandler's media expert. He then dragged her out of the car, punched her face against a rock, strangled her, and stabbed her in the neck, arms, legs, and buttocks. After the jury trial concluded, Chandler was found guilty of all three counts of murder on September 29, 1994. Has he gone over that with you? The testimony of Tina Corolis was admitted as evidence of a collateral crime. See 90.801(2)(b), Fla. Stat. See id. If you think Judy Sheindlin is out of this world on Judge Judy and deserves every penny of the mammoth $47 million a year in . Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence 608.1 at 385 (1997 ed.) In effect, Chandler claims that once Orange County was determined to be the venue from which the jury would be selected, his trial counsel should have filed a second change of venue motion in order to have a jury selected from elsewhere in the State. at 100. Court: And you've had plenty of time to talk this over with your lawyer? Similarly, Rick Mays thought Chandler had committed the murders from the way he described how the police were looking for him as a murder suspect. (1993). See Hunter v. State, 660 So.2d 244, 251 (Fla.1995) (finding trial court did not err in limiting attempted cross-examination of police detective which was clearly outside the scope of direct); 90.612(2), Fla. Stat. Anderson v. State, 574 So.2d 87, 93 (Fla.1991). Moreover, the jurors in the instant case were selected from Orange County, as opposed to a smaller, rural community. Kristal later testified that Chandler told her he could not go back to Florida because the police were looking for him for killing some women. Arens began the questioning as such: Mr. Arens: Kindly identify yourself by name and residence. I also want to acknowledge the expertise that [she] provided in helping me select and present a year-long series He put the knife to Corolis' stomach, forced her to undress, and raped her. In effect, trial counsel did concede Chandler's guilt in the Blair case. Before absconding with some of the drug dealers' money, Chandler put a gun to Rick's head and said, Family don't mean s_ to me. After Chandler fled, Rick was badly beaten up and almost killed. Law Project, a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit. Foster v. State, 679 So.2d 747, 755 (Fla.1996), cert. 2052. at 659-60. Chandler, by way of comparison, was given an initial selection between Pinellas or Hillsborough counties based on the indictment, and was given the additional option of stipulating to have his jury selected from Orange County. The following day Roark's grandmother reported her missing. We have jurisdiction. One of the operators, Elizabeth Beiro, testified that she received three collect calls for Debra Chandler's telephone number, at 1:12 and 1:30 a.m. on June 2, 1989. "This isn't a negotiation," she tells the network's execs. She had been expected home by 7 a.m. that morning. We have long held that prior consistent statements are generally inadmissible to corroborate or bolster a witness' trial testimony. Rodriguez v. State, 609 So.2d 493, 499 (Fla.1992); Jackson v. State, 498 So.2d 906, 909 (Fla.1986); Parker v. State, 476 So.2d 134, 137 (Fla.1985); Van Gallon v. State, 50 So.2d 882 (Fla.1951). Theresa Stubbs from FDLE determined that some of the handwriting on the Clearwater Beach brochure was Chandler's, while other writing may have been Joan Rogers'. i think, when considered in the totality of the claims, there is a likelihood, based upon the circumstantial evidence case that the state had, regarding the rogers homicides, that mr. chandler might we will have been found not guilty, had his Chandler, 702 So.2d at 191 n. 5. 2052 ("A fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel's challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel's perspective at the time. Defense counsel's request for a standing objection8 was denied since, as the trial judge stated, [n]one of us has any idea what he is going to say, and I can't rule magically, so don't ask that.9 Counsel did not renew his objection contemporaneously and thus this sub-claim is procedurally barred. filed, No. In Dabney v. State, 119 Fla. 341, 161 So. On direct appeal, Chandler did not challenge any members of the Orange County jury as being unfair or unable to be impartial. The trial court also stated that if the stipulation had been voided, any change of venue motion that Chandler filed would have been held in abeyance while the court attempted to pick an impartial jury in Hillsborough County, the county of original venue. This claim is without merit. Clearly, the trial judge was describing Koon and the compulsory procedure in this situation. And, again, I ask you to keep that separate." Only then could the trial court, and this Court, be assured that the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived this substantial and important right to show the jury why the death penalty should not be imposed in his or her particular case. Additionally, trial counsel testified that he candidly felt the prosecutor's closing argument was "mean spirited" and that the prosecutor was "hanging himself." The State presented the judgments and sentences of Chandler's prior armed robberies. Each body was nude from the waist down. Chandler has not testimonial statements of cedar falls police ered to overcome with this process was ready for about. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); *1036 see also Wike v. State, 813 So.2d 12, 17 (Fla.2002); Rutherford v. State, 727 So.2d 216, 219-20 (Fla.1998); Rose v. State, 675 So.2d 567, 569 (Fla.1996). [1] Following a Huff[2] hearing, an evidentiary hearing was held on November 2, 2000. [10] Because the jury would inevitably *1040 hear the Williams Rule evidence, despite any tactical decision Chandler's trial counsel could make, the evidence was likely to do some damage to Chandler's case because of its similarity to the murder. The hearing was overseen by staff director Richard Arens and Senator Richard Watkins. See Chandler v. Florida, 523 U.S. 1083, 118 S.Ct. Date. In denying Chandler relief on this claim, the trial court first determined that the underlying issue was procedurally barred. Id. The record reflects that after defense counsel informed the court of Chandler's decision and began to go over the list of penalty phase witnesses and what they would say, the trial judge stated: However, I think there is a case-and I don't have it at my fingertips-but what it says is, if the Defendant has told the defense counsel not to call relevant mitigation, that defense counsel is, Number One, obligated to tell the Court that; and, Number Two, the Court then is obligated to tell you what you would have-who you would have called and what they would have said, basically. at 1219. Freeman v. State, 761 So.2d 1055, 1061 (Fla. 2000) (citations omitted). 90.612(2), Fla. Stat. This Court stated that "[b]ecause none of these prosecutorial comments would have constituted reversible error had they been objected to at trial, we affirm the trial court ruling summarily denying this claim." This appeal follows. 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