Enoch D Hall v. State of Florida ( 2018 )


Menu:
  •           Supreme Court of Florida
    ____________
    No. SC17-1355
    ____________
    ENOCH D. HALL,
    Appellant,
    vs.
    STATE OF FLORIDA,
    Appellee.
    [April 12, 2018]
    PER CURIAM.
    This case is before the Court on appeal from an order denying a Successive
    Motion to Vacate Death Sentence pursuant to Hurst v. State, 
    202 So. 3d 40
    (Fla.
    2016), cert. denied, 
    137 S. Ct. 2161
    (2017), under Florida Rule of Criminal
    Procedure 3.851. Because the order concerns postconviction relief from a sentence
    of death, we have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.
    FACTS AND BACKGROUND
    This Court has previously detailed the underlying facts of this case. Hall v.
    State (Hall I), 
    107 So. 3d 262
    , 267-71 (Fla. 2012). Relevant to the instant
    proceeding, Hall, an inmate at Tomoka Correctional Institution (TCI), was
    convicted and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Correctional
    Officer (CO) Donna Fitzgerald. Hall v. State (Hall II), 
    212 So. 3d 1001
    , 1009 (Fla.
    2017). After a penalty phase, the jury returned a unanimous death sentence. 
    Id. at 1012.1
    Hall appealed, and this Court ultimately affirmed his conviction and
    1. As we stated in Hall I,
    In the trial court’s Sentencing Order, the court found five
    aggravators: (1) previously convicted of a felony and under sentence
    of imprisonment—great weight; (2) previously convicted of another
    capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to
    the person—great weight; (3) committed to disrupt or hinder the
    lawful exercise of any governmental function or the enforcement of
    laws—great weight; (4) especially heinous, atrocious or cruel
    [(HAC)]—very great weight; (5) cold, calculated, and premeditated
    [(CCP)]—very great weight; (6) the victim of the capital felony was a
    law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of his or her
    official duties—no weight—merged with aggravator number 3 as
    listed above. In mitigation, the sentencing court found no statutory
    mitigators and eight non-statutory mitigating circumstances: (1) Hall
    was a good son and brother—some weight; (2) Hall’s family loves
    him—little weight; (3) Hall was a good athlete who won awards and
    medals—little weight; (4) Hall was a victim of sexual abuse—some
    weight; (5) Hall was productively employed while in prison—some
    weight; (6) Hall cooperated with law enforcement—some weight; (7)
    Hall showed remorse—little weight; and (8) Hall displayed
    appropriate courtroom behavior—little weight. The trial court
    concluded that the aggravating circumstances far outweighed the
    mitigation and gave great weight to the jury’s unanimous
    recommendation of death. Thus, the trial court imposed the sentence
    of death.
    Hall 
    I, 107 So. 3d at 270-71
    .
    -2-
    sentence. See generally Hall I, 
    107 So. 3d 262
    .2 On October 7, 2013, the United
    States Supreme Court denied certiorari, Hall v. Florida, 
    134 S. Ct. 203
    (2013);
    thus Hall’s case became final on that date.
    This Court affirmed the denial of Hall’s initial motion for postconviction
    relief and denied his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Hall 
    II, 212 So. 3d at 1036
    .
    During the pendency of his initial postconviction motion, Hall filed a Successive
    Motion to Vacate Death Sentence pursuant to Hurst, which was denied by the
    postconviction court. This appeal from the first successive motion for
    postconviction relief follows.
    ANALYSIS
    Hall’s Claims for Relief under Hurst v. State
    We affirm the postconviction court’s denial of relief on this claim for the
    reasons discussed below. Most importantly, our opinion in Hall II, and our
    corresponding Hurst harmless error analysis denying relief within that opinion,
    already addressed the issues that Hall now attempts to present.
    2. We did, however, find that the trial court’s finding of the CCP aggravator
    was not supported by competent, substantial evidence, and thus it was stricken.
    Hall 
    I, 107 So. 3d at 278-79
    .
    -3-
    CCP Aggravator Stricken
    We conclude that this subclaim of Hall’s successive postconviction motion
    fails on the merits. Notably, aside from Wood v. State, 
    209 So. 3d 1217
    , 1234 (Fla.
    2017), which is distinguished below, Hall presents no binding precedent that
    supports his assertion that the stricken CCP aggravator in his case is sufficient to
    receive Hurst relief. Moreover, as discussed below, our recent decisions in
    Middleton v. State, 
    220 So. 3d 1152
    (Fla. 2017), cert. denied, 
    138 S. Ct. 829
    (2018), and Cozzie v. State, 
    225 So. 3d 717
    , 729 (Fla. 2017), cert. denied, No. 17-
    7545 (U.S. Apr. 2, 2018), support the contrary conclusion.
    In Wood, we struck both the CCP and avoid arrest aggravating factors,
    which were two of the three aggravators found by the trial court and to which it
    assigned “great weight.” 
    Id. at 1233.
    In ultimately determining that the error in
    Wood was not harmless, we emphasized:
    In this case the jury was instructed on both aggravating factors
    that we have determined were not supported by competent, substantial
    evidence. This alone would require a finding that the error was not
    harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We note that our conclusion in
    this regard is also consistent with our pre-Hurst precedent in Kaczmar
    v. State, 
    104 So. 3d 990
    , 1008 (Fla. 2012), where we held that, upon
    striking the CCP and felony-murder aggravating factors so that only
    one valid aggravating factor remained, such error was not harmless
    beyond a reasonable doubt. Post-Hurst, this conclusion is even more
    compelling.
    . . . [T]he jury would have had to make these factual
    determinations that the sole valid aggravating factor—that the capital
    felony was committed while Wood was engaged, or was an
    -4-
    accomplice in the commission of a burglary and or robbery—
    outweighed the mitigating circumstances established. “[W]e are not
    so sanguine as to conclude that [Wood’s] jury . . . would have found
    [this sole aggravating factor] sufficient to impose death and that [this
    sole aggravating factor] outweighed the mitigation.”
    
    Id. at 1234
    (alterations in original) (emphasis added) (quoting 
    Hurst, 202 So. 3d at 68
    ). In determining that the error was harmful, we repeatedly emphasized that our
    conclusion was influenced by the fact that two of the three aggravators presented
    were stricken, leaving only one valid aggravating factor for the jury to properly
    consider. Thus the harmless error analysis in Wood was based on the Court’s
    determination that the remaining sole valid aggravating factor was not sufficient to
    support the sentence of death.3
    Wood is distinguishable from Hall’s case for numerous reasons. Firstly,
    even after striking the CCP aggravator, Hall had four valid remaining aggravators,
    all of which were afforded either “great weight” or “very great weight,”4 as
    3. Ultimately, in Wood, we did not order a new penalty phase because we
    determined that Wood’s death sentence was a disproportionate punishment when
    the aggravators were 
    stricken. 209 So. 3d at 1234
    .
    4. “(1) [P]reviously convicted of a felony and under sentence of
    imprisonment—great weight; (2) previously convicted of another capital felony or
    of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person—great weight; (3)
    committed to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of any governmental function or
    the enforcement of laws—great weight; (4) especially heinous, atrocious or cruel—
    very great weight; [and] (5) . . . the victim of the capital felony was a law
    enforcement officer engaged in the performance of his or her official duties—no
    weight—merged with aggravator number 3 as listed above.” Hall 
    I, 107 So. 3d at 270-71
    .
    -5-
    opposed to the one remaining aggravator found in Wood. Secondly, three of the
    remaining aggravators found in Hall’s case (i.e., under sentence of imprisonment,
    previously convicted of another violent felony, and the victim was a law
    enforcement officer) were without dispute. Thus as we stated in our harmless error
    analysis in Hall II,
    Presuming that the jury did its job as instructed by the trial
    court, we are convinced that it would have still found the aggravators
    greatly outweighed the mitigators in this case. Indeed, it is
    inconceivable that a jury would not have found the aggravation in
    Hall’s case unanimously, especially given the fact that three of the
    aggravators found were automatic . . . 
    . 212 So. 3d at 1035
    . It is also worth noting that this Court, in conducting its
    harmless error analysis in Hall II, did not include the invalidated CCP aggravator
    in its analysis. 
    Id. Instead, we
    found that the Hurst error, as it related to Hall’s
    case, was harmless, even without the stricken CCP aggravator. 
    Id. Thus we
    conclude that Wood is distinguishable from Hall’s case.
    Two other cases recently decided by our Court, Middleton and Cozzie, also
    lend support to the postconviction court’s denial of this subclaim of Hall’s
    successive postconviction motion.
    Middleton involved a unanimous jury recommendation of death, where this
    Court ultimately struck the avoid arrest and CCP 
    aggravators. 220 So. 3d at 1172
    .
    There, we explained:
    -6-
    “When this Court strikes an aggravating factor on appeal, ‘the
    harmless error test is applied to determine whether there is no
    reasonable possibility that the error affected the sentence.’ ” Williams
    v. State, 
    967 So. 2d 735
    , 765 (Fla. 2007) (quoting Jennings v. State,
    
    782 So. 2d 853
    , 863 n.9 (Fla. 2001)); see also Diaz v. State, 
    860 So. 2d
    960, 968 (Fla. 2003) (“We find this error harmless, however, after
    consideration of the two remaining aggravating circumstances and the
    five mitigating circumstances in this case.”). Despite striking the
    avoid arrest and CCP aggravators, two valid aggravators remain in
    this unanimous death-recommendation case. The two aggravators
    which remain are that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or
    cruel (HAC) and that is was committed during the commission of a
    burglary and for pecuniary gain, which were each given “great
    weight” by the trial court.
    
    Id. In finding
    that the error in Middleton was harmless, we noted that there was no
    statutory mitigation and that “the trial court expressly stated that any of the
    considered aggravating circumstances found in this case, standing alone, would be
    sufficient to outweigh the mitigation in total presented.” Id.5 Thus because there
    was no reasonable possibility that the erroneous aggravators contributed to
    Middleton’s sentence, we ultimately concluded that any errors there were
    harmless. 
    Id. Hall’s case
    is similar to Middleton because significant aggravation remained,
    even without the stricken CCP aggravator, that “far outweighed the mitigation.”
    Hall 
    I, 107 So. 3d at 271
    . Furthermore, three of the remaining aggravators present
    5. The trial court in Middleton found eleven nonstatutory mitigators, all of
    which were afforded “some weight” or “little 
    weight.” 220 So. 3d at 1173
    .
    -7-
    in Hall are without and beyond dispute. The fourth aggravator that remains, HAC,
    is one of the weightiest in Florida, see Jackson v. State, 
    18 So. 3d 1016
    , 1035 (Fla.
    2009), and was afforded “very great weight” by the trial court. Thus we conclude,
    as we have previously in Hall’s initial postconviction case, that any error in Hall’s
    case, like the errors in Middleton, was harmless. See Hall 
    II, 212 So. 3d at 1035
    -
    36 (finding any Hurst error harmless).
    Similarly, in Cozzie, we determined that “[e]ven if the avoid arrest
    aggravator were stricken . . . the unanimous death recommendation would still
    remain, along with the aggravators of CCP, HAC, and in the course of a felony,
    which are among the weightiest aggravators in our capital sentencing 
    scheme.” 225 So. 3d at 729
    . Furthermore, the remaining aggravators in Cozzie were
    afforded “great weight” by the trial court. Id.6 Thus we ultimately determined that
    “any possible error was harmless because there was not a reasonable possibility
    that [Cozzie] would have received a life sentence without the trial court finding of
    the [avoid arrest] aggravator.” 
    Id. (alterations in
    original) (quoting Aguirre-
    Jarquin v. State, 
    9 So. 3d 593
    , 608 (Fla. 2009)).
    6. The trial court found one statutory mitigator and twenty-five nonstatutory
    mitigators in Cozzie. Ultimately, the trial court, in weighing the aggravation and
    mitigation in Cozzie, concluded that the aggravators “far outweighed” the
    mitigators in sentencing Cozzie to 
    death. 225 So. 3d at 726
    .
    -8-
    Hall has significant and weighty aggravation beyond the invalidated CCP
    aggravator. Further, the trial court in both Cozzie and here concluded that the
    aggravating circumstances “far outweigh[ed]” the mitigating circumstances. 
    Id. at 725;
    see Hall 
    I, 107 So. 3d at 271
    . Thus we conclude that Cozzie is factually
    similar to Hall’s case.
    Both Hall and the dissent attempt to conflate nonbinding, dissenting
    opinions with our binding post-Hurst death penalty precedent. However, as
    discussed above, our binding precedent dictates our conclusion that Hall’s stricken
    CCP aggravator is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
    We deny this subclaim of Hall’s successive postconviction motion.
    Mental Health Mitigation Presentation
    We deny this subclaim in the successive postconviction motion because this
    Court has already heard and addressed the mental health mitigation in Hall’s initial
    postconviction motion. Thus this claim is procedurally barred. In addition, even
    when considered on the merits, we conclude that this subclaim fails.
    In his initial postconviction motion, Hall extensively asserted the claim that
    trial counsel was ineffective for not presenting mental health mitigation to the jury.
    Similarly, in our opinion on Hall’s initial postconviction motion, we addressed the
    issue and determined that the trial court’s ruling on counsel’s strategy was
    supported by competent, substantial evidence. Hall 
    II, 212 So. 3d at 1027-29
    .
    -9-
    Thus we conclude that this subclaim is procedurally barred, as it was raised and
    denied on Hall’s previous postconviction motion. See Hunter v. State, 
    29 So. 3d 256
    , 267 (Fla. 2008).
    Nevertheless, we also conclude that the subclaim should be denied on the
    merits. Primarily, under Hurst harmless error, this Court must look to the potential
    effect on the trier-of-fact, not on the potential effect on trial counsel’s trial strategy.
    
    Hurst, 202 So. 3d at 68
    -69. Additionally, we have previously held that trial
    counsel is not required to anticipate changes in the law to provide effective legal
    representation. See Lebron v. State, 
    135 So. 3d 1040
    , 1054 (Fla. 2014) (“This
    Court has ‘consistently held that trial counsel cannot be held ineffective for failing
    to anticipate changes in the law.’ ” (quoting Cherry v. State, 
    781 So. 2d 1040
    , 1053
    (Fla. 2000))). Furthermore, under Strickland v. Washington, 
    466 U.S. 668
    (1984),
    claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are assessed under the law in effect at
    the time of the trial. 
    Id. at 689.
    Thus we conclude that Hall’s subclaim also fails
    on the merits.
    Caldwell v. Mississippi, 
    472 U.S. 320
    (1985).
    We deny this subclaim of Hall’s successive postconviction motion because it
    fails on the merits. We have repeatedly rejected Caldwell challenges to the
    advisory standard jury instructions in the past. See, e.g., Rigterink v. State, 
    66 So. 3d
    866, 897 (Fla. 2011); Globe v. State, 
    877 So. 2d 663
    , 673-74 (Fla. 2004); Card
    - 10 -
    v. State, 
    803 So. 2d 613
    , 628 (Fla. 2001); Sireci v. State, 
    773 So. 2d 34
    , 40 nn.9 &
    11 (Fla. 2000); Teffeteller v. Dugger, 
    734 So. 2d 1009
    , 1026 (Fla. 1999); Brown v.
    State, 
    721 So. 2d 274
    , 283 (Fla. 1998); Burns v. State, 
    699 So. 2d 646
    , 655 (Fla.
    1997); Johnson v. State, 
    660 So. 2d 637
    , 647 (Fla. 1995). Additionally, as
    discussed in detail in our recent opinion in Reynolds v. State, No. SC17-793 (Fla.
    Apr. 5, 2018) (plurality opinion), we have now expressly rejected these post-Hurst
    Caldwell claims. See also Franklin v. State, 43 Fla. L. Weekly S86 (Feb. 15,
    2018). Thus we deny relief on this subclaim of Hall’s successive postconviction
    motion.
    Hall’s Sentence Violates Due Process
    We deny this subclaim of Hall’s successive postconviction motion because
    we have already addressed a Hurst harmless error analysis as it pertains to Hall’s
    case in Hall 
    II. 212 So. 3d at 1033-36
    . Thus this subclaim is duplicative.
    Furthermore, the authority upon which Hall relies in support of his
    argument, In re Winship, 
    397 U.S. 358
    (1970), is not determinative. The United
    States Supreme Court, in In re Winship, held that the State must prove all elements
    of a crime in a juvenile delinquency proceeding beyond a reasonable doubt, just as
    it would in an adult criminal proceeding, and that the failure to do so would result
    in a due process 
    violation. 397 U.S. at 367-68
    . We conclude that In re Winship is
    distinguishable from Hall’s case, however, because Hall’s case does not concern a
    - 11 -
    juvenile delinquency proceeding. Moreover, although Hurst did result in the
    requirement that all aggravators and mitigators be proven beyond a reasonable
    doubt, as we previously stated in Hall II, the error in Hall’s case was harmless. 
    See 212 So. 3d at 1033-36
    (discussing how the error was harmless due to Hall’s
    unanimous death sentence). Thus we conclude that Hall’s death sentence does not
    violate due process and thus hold that this subclaim is meritless.
    Hall’s Death Sentence Violates the Eighth Amendment
    We deny this claim of Hall’s successive postconviction motion because
    there was no harmful error in this case. Hall 
    II, 212 So. 3d at 1036
    . In Hurst, we
    held that unanimity is required under the Eighth Amendment. Similarly, we have
    determined that defendants whose sentences became final post-Ring and who
    received unanimous jury recommendations are not entitled to Hurst relief if the
    error is deemed to be harmless pursuant to Davis v. State, 
    207 So. 3d 142
    , 173-75
    (Fla. 2016). Hall’s jury returned a unanimous recommendation, Hall 
    I, 107 So. 3d at 270
    , his sentence became final after Ring, see Hall v. Florida, 
    134 S. Ct. 203
    ,
    and the Hurst error was harmless. Therefore, we deny this claim of Hall’s
    successive postconviction motion.
    Hall’s Indictment
    Finally, Hall’s argument with regard to his indictment also fails. Hall argues
    that he was denied his right to a proper indictment because the grand jury
    - 12 -
    indictment in his case did not list the aggravators. However, “this Court has
    repeatedly rejected the argument that aggravating circumstances must be alleged in
    the indictment.” Pham v. State, 
    70 So. 3d 485
    , 496 (Fla. 2011) (citing Rogers v.
    State, 
    957 So. 2d 538
    , 554 (Fla. 2007); Coday v. State, 
    946 So. 2d 988
    , 1006 (Fla.
    2006); Ibar v. State, 
    938 So. 2d 451
    , 473 (Fla. 2006); Blackwelder v. State, 
    851 So. 2d
    650, 654 (Fla. 2003); Kormondy v. State, 
    845 So. 2d 41
    , 54 (Fla. 2003)).
    Nothing in Hurst indicates that our holding impacted this settled point of law; and
    we have also held prior to Hurst that “neither Apprendi nor Ring requires that
    aggravating circumstances be charged in the indictment.” 
    Rogers, 957 So. 2d at 554
    . Therefore, Hall’s indictment claim fails.
    CONCLUSION
    For the reasons set forth above, we affirm the postconviction court’s order
    denying Hall relief on his successive motion for postconviction relief.
    It is so ordered.
    LABARGA, C.J., and LEWIS and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
    CANADY and POLSTON, JJ., concur in result.
    PARIENTE, J., dissents with an opinion, in which QUINCE, J., concurs.
    NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND,
    IF FILED, DETERMINED.
    - 13 -
    PARIENTE, J., dissenting.
    In Hall v. State (Hall II), 
    212 So. 3d 1001
    (Fla. 2017), this Court denied Hall
    relief under Hurst7 based on the jury’s unanimous recommendation for death
    . 212 So. 3d at 1035
    .8 That opinion, which focused solely on the jury’s unanimous
    recommendation for death, did not discuss the effect of the stricken cold,
    calculated, and premeditated (CCP) aggravator on the Hurst harmless error
    analysis.
    In Hall II, I concurred in result without an opinion, and Justice Quince
    dissented as to the majority’s denial of Hurst relief, explaining that some of the
    aggravating factors required a factual determination that this Court could not
    assume the jury made unanimously despite the jury’s unanimous recommendation
    for 
    death. 212 So. 3d at 1036-37
    (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in
    part). Concurring in result in Hall II, I did not consider the effect of the stricken
    CCP aggravator on this Court’s Hurst harmless error analysis.
    7. Hurst v. State (Hurst), 
    202 So. 3d 40
    (Fla. 2016), cert. denied, 
    137 S. Ct. 2161
    (2017); see Hurst v. Florida, 
    136 S. Ct. 616
    (2016).
    8. Despite having already denied Hall Hurst relief, this Court has addressed
    more than one request for Hurst relief from multiple defendants based on
    alternative arguments under the Sixth and Eighth Amendments. See Hitchcock v.
    State, 
    226 So. 3d 216
    , 217 n.2 (Fla.), cert. denied, 
    138 S. Ct. 513
    (2017).
    - 14 -
    In this case, the per curiam opinion addresses the stricken CCP aggravating
    factor and finds our opinion in Wood v. State, 
    209 So. 3d 1217
    (Fla. 2017),
    distinguishable. Per curiam op. at 5-6. Although Wood’s death sentence was
    reversed on proportionality grounds, 
    Wood, 209 So. 3d at 1221
    , as I explained on
    rehearing in Middleton v. State, 42 Fla. L. Weekly S637, 
    2017 WL 2374697
    (Fla.
    June 1, 2017), this Court’s opinion in Wood supports the conclusion that a stricken
    aggravating factor affects the Hurst harmless error analysis. 
    Id. at S637-38,
    *1
    (Pariente, J., dissenting).
    In Wood, this Court stated: “Our inquiry post-Hurst must necessarily be the
    effect of any error on the jury’s findings, rather than whether beyond a reasonable
    doubt the trial judge would have still imposed 
    death.” 209 So. 3d at 1233
    .
    Applying this statement on rehearing in Middleton, I explained the “serious[]
    flaw[]” in the majority’s harmless error analysis:
    Instead of focusing on the effect of the error on the jury, the majority
    opinion conducted an erroneous and contradictory harmless error
    analysis that did not consider the effect of striking two of the four
    aggravating factors—avoid arrest and CCP—on the jury and instead
    focused on the effect the improper aggravators had on the trial
    court. . . . When the correct harmless error analysis, pursuant to our
    precedent, is conducted, I conclude that Middleton is entitled to a new
    penalty phase.
    Without even referencing, much less considering, the two
    stricken aggravators, the majority relied only on the jury’s unanimous
    verdict to determine that the Hurst error in Middleton’s case was
    harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Regardless of whether the
    failure to consider the effect of the two stricken aggravators on the
    jury was an oversight, it is clear that the analysis is incomplete.
    - 15 -
    Middleton, 42 Fla. L. Weekly at S638, 
    2017 WL 2374697
    , at *1 (Pariente, J.,
    dissenting) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). Like in Middleton, in denying
    Hall Hurst relief in Hall II, this Court did not consider the effect of the stricken
    CCP aggravating factor. Per curiam op. at 6.
    As I also explained in Middleton, a stricken aggravating factor significantly
    affects the Hurst harmless error analysis:
    Indeed, the essence of the United States Supreme Court’s
    decision in Hurst v. Florida, 
    136 S. Ct. 616
    (2016), was refocusing
    Florida’s capital sentencing scheme on the jury . . . . 
    Id. at 624.
    As
    this Court stated in DiGuilio v. State, 
    491 So. 2d 1129
    (Fla. 1986),
    “Harmless error is not a device for the appellate court to substitute
    itself for the trier-of-fact by simply weighing the evidence. The focus
    is on the effect of the error on the trier-of-fact.” 
    Id. at 1139.
          Therefore, in determining whether the Hurst error . . . was harmless
    beyond a reasonable doubt, we must focus on how the stricken
    aggravating factors could have affected the jury’s recommendation for
    death. . . .
    Because the jury . . . was instructed on the . . . aggravating
    factors that this Court determined were not supported by competent,
    substantial evidence, this Court must consider the impact that the
    inappropriate aggravating factors had on the jury’s ultimate verdict in
    determining whether the Hurst error was harmless beyond a
    reasonable doubt. Despite the jury’s unanimous recommendation for
    death, this Court has no way of knowing that the jury would have
    reached the same verdict if it had been instructed on only the . . .
    valid aggravators. . . . Nor can we assume that the jury would have
    unanimously found the remaining aggravators sufficient to impose
    death or unanimously found that the aggravation (without the two
    stricken aggravating factors) outweighed the mitigation.
    In short, it is sheer speculation to assume that even without [the
    stricken] aggravators, the jury would have still unanimously
    recommended death. Thus, the Court is in no position to conclude
    - 16 -
    that the unanimous jury recommendation renders the Hurst error
    harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
    Middleton, 42 Fla. L. Weekly at S638, 
    2107 WL 2374697
    , at *2 (Pariente, J.,
    dissenting) (emphasis added) (citations omitted).
    Likewise, in Hall’s case, this Court has no way of knowing whether the
    unsupported CCP aggravating factor contributed to the jury’s unanimous
    recommendation for death, or whether it affected the jury’s conclusion that the
    aggravating factors were sufficient to impose death and that the aggravation
    outweighed the mitigation. See 
    Hurst, 202 So. 3d at 44
    . In fact, the stricken
    aggravating factor in Hall’s case “is among the most serious aggravators set out in
    the statutory sentencing scheme.” 
    Wood, 209 So. 3d at 1228
    (quoting Deparvine v.
    State, 
    995 So. 2d 351
    , 381 (Fla. 2008)). Thus, I would conclude that because of
    the stricken CCP aggravating factor in Hall’s case, the State cannot establish that
    the Hurst error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and would grant Hall a new
    penalty phase.
    Accordingly, I dissent.
    QUINCE, J., concurs.
    An Appeal from the Circuit Court in and for Volusia County,
    Raul A. Zambrano, Judge - Case No. 642008CF033412XXXAES
    James Vincent Viggiano, Jr., Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Ann Marie
    Mirialakis and Ali A. Shakoor, Assistant Capital Collateral Regional Counsel,
    Middle Region, Temple Terrace, Florida,
    - 17 -
    for Appellant
    Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, and Doris Meacham,
    Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, Florida,
    for Appellee
    - 18 -