Supreme Court of Florida

In an appeal of a conviction for murder of a correctional officer, the conviction and death sentence are affirmed where: 1) appellant's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel cannot be raised on direct appeal of the conviction; 2) the trial court properly denied appellant's motion to suppress his videotaped statements; 3) competent and substantial evidence supported conviction for first degree premeditated murder; 4) appellant's claim that the state advocated inconsistent positions in his and a codefendant's trials could not be reviewed due to appellant not identifying any inconsistent position taken in the record of the other defendant's trial; 5) testimony regarding having previously faced the death penalty in another murder trial did not vitiate the entire penalty phase; 6) the death sentence was proportionate and the trial court's weighting of aggravating and mitigating standards was supported by substantial and competent evidence; and 7) neither Florida's lethal injection procedure nor its death sentencing procedure are unconstitutional. (Revised opinion)

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/25/2008
• Published 12/23/2008

Judges

• PER CURIAM.

Court

• Supreme Court of Florida

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Ryan Thomas Truskoski of Ryan Thomas Truskoski, P.A., Orlando, Florida, for Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, Candance M. Sabella, Assistant Attorney General, Bureau Chief, and Stephen D. Ake, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, Florida, for Appellee.