Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. v. State of Florida, 136 So. 3d 1125

Gonzalez, Jr. convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion robbery with a firearm; sentenced to death and life imprisonment.
Robbery and murders occurred at the Billings home in Escambia County on July 9, 2009, with a lay-out plan to steal a supposed $13 million from a safe.
Gonzalez led a group of co-defendants, supplied weapons and disguises, and directed entry into the home; the killings occurred in the master bedroom during the robbery.
Surveillance video captured some events; no camera in the master bedroom where the fatal shots were fired.
Penalty phase included evidence of a 1992 robbery conviction; defense offered limited mitigation; jury recommended death by a 10–2 vote for each murder.
Florida Supreme Court affirmed both convictions and the death sentences, rejecting most claims of error as either unpreserved, harmless, or meritless.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
improper prosecutorial comments during guilt phase	Gonzalez asserts comments tainted verdict	State argues comments anticipated defense theory and were proper	Claims meritless; some comments deemed proper in context
magnifying glass during jury deliberations	Glass was improper undefined evidence in deliberations	No prejudice; federal analogies support no reversible error	Providing magnifying glass was not reversible error; harmless
failure to inform jury of read-back option per Hazuri	Judge failed to inform jury of read-back/read-back possibility	Invited error; no fundamental error	Not entitled to relief; Hazuri due to invited error and lack of fundamental error
cumulative guilt-phase errors	Errors cumulatively require reversal	No reversible cumulative error	Cumulative error rejected; individually or collectively harmless
penalty-phase aggravators and HAC weighting	Challenge to weight of HAC and prior violent felony; double murder as aggravator	Trial court properly weighed aggravators; no automatic double-counting	No reversible error; weightings and duplications considered and upheld

Occhicone v. State, 570 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 1990) (opening statements may anticipate defense theory; not misstate law)
Wade v. State, 41 So. 3d 857 (Fla. 2010) (witness credibility and motive in closing arguments; proper rebuttal)
Bonifay v. State, 680 So. 2d 413 (Fla. 1996) (prosecutor’s language in closing/opening must be measured; single use may be permissible)
Ruiz v. State, 743 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1999) (limits on using government prestige to bolster witness credibility)
Bevel v. State, 983 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 2008) (contemporaneous convictions and prior violent felony aggravator analysis)
Mosley v. State, 46 So. 3d 526 (Fla. 2010) (automatic aggravator argument rejected; contemporaneous murder evidence valid for weight)
Mahn v. State, 714 So. 2d 391 (Fla. 1998) (prior violent felony evaluation broad in nature; remoteness not controlling)