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Pietri v. State8/26/2004
Rehearing petition filed: 09/10/2004; Rehearing denied: 10/18/2004
An Original Proceeding - Habeas Corpus
Norberto Pietri appeals the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Pietri also petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court's order denying Pietri's motion for post-conviction relief and further deny his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Norberto Pietri was adjudicated guilty of the 1988 murder of West Palm Beach police officer Brian Chappell. See Pietri v. State, 644 So. 2d 1347, 1349 (Fla. 1994). The facts surrounding the murder of Officer Chappell were fully detailed in our direct appeal opinion. See id. at 1350. The jury, by a vote of eight to four, recommended that a sentence of death be imposed, and, following that recommendation, the trial court entered a sentence of death. See id. The trial court found that four aggravating circumstances were present: (1) the murder was committed by someone under a sentence of imprisonment; (2) the murder was committed while Pietri was fleeing after committing a burglary; (3) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification (CCP); and (4) the murder was committed to avoid arrest or to escape, the murder was committed to disrupt or hinder the lawful enforcement of laws, and the victim was a law enforcement officer performing his official duties. See id. at 1349. The trial judge found no statutory or non-statutory mitigating factors to be present. See id. On direct appeal, this Court upheld Pietri's conviction and sentence. See id. at 1355.
On direct appeal, Pietri asserted twenty issues. See id. at 1350 n.6. Although we denied eighteen of his claims, we held that the trial court had erred in finding the CCP aggravating factor to be applicable. See id. at 1353. Despite the erroneous finding of CCP, however, the sentence of death was upheld in light of the three remaining aggravating factors and the complete lack of mitigation. See id. at 1353-54. Importantly, we noted that even if the trial court had found mitigators, including a deprived childhood, a reasonable likelihood that the trial court would have imposed a life sentence did not exist. See id. at 1354.
Pietri timely filed his initial post-conviction 3.850 motion, and two amendments followed. His final amended motion for relief contained thirty-three claims. A Huff hearing was held on August 10, 2000. Shortly thereafter the trial court issued a pre-evidentiary hearing order on Pietri's post-conviction motion. In that order, the court concluded that an evidentiary hearing was warranted on three claims and a portion of a fourth. The court summarily denied the remaining claims, holding that they were either legally insufficient, had or should have been asserted on direct appeal, were conclusively refuted by the record, or were moot.
An extensive evidentiary hearing was subsequently held. Pietri presented the testimony of five mental health experts, the two attorneys who served as his defense counsel at trial, an attorney presented to be a "Strickland expert," three attorneys who worked for the public defender's office at the time of Pietri's trial, and six family members and friends of Pietri. The State presented only one witness, a mental health expert. At the end of the hearing, the trial judge requested that both parties submit a written post-evidentiary hearing memorandum addressing the relevant issues. Both sides agreed, wit
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