Lionel Michael Miller v. State of Florida, 161 So. 3d 354

Miller was convicted and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of 72-year-old Jerry Smith; he also faced charges for attempted murder of Larry Haydon, burglary with a battery, and attempted robbery.
Postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 was filed, raising ineffective-assistance claims and other issues; Miller also sought a writ of habeas corpus.
At trial, the jury recommended death for Smith by an 11–1 vote; a Spencer hearing preceded the death sentence.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Miller’s convictions and death sentence on direct appeal; the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in 2011.
In postconviction proceedings, Miller presented testimony from several experts (neuropsychology/forensic psychology) and defense witnesses; the postconviction court issued a comprehensive order denying relief.
The issues included alleged ineffective assistance by trial counsel, failure to present mitigation, Miranda voluntariness, Brady/Giglio violations, conflicts of interest, and prosecutorial/judicial missteps.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Danziger witness listing and strategy	Miller claims listing Danziger was deficient and prejudicial.	Henderson believed listing could mitigate and impeach; Miller agreed to the witness.	Deficient performance with prejudice; relief denied
Failure to present mitigation	Counsel did not fully develop mitigating evidence.	Counsel reasonably investigated and presented available mitigation.	No ineffective assistance; mitigation reasonably presented
Miranda voluntariness and PET scan	Neuroimaging could show involuntary waiver; PET scan necessary.	Evidence did not show impairment; pretrial experts supported waiver.	Procedurally barred and, in any event, meritless
Brady/Giglio and conflict	State suppressed impeachment evidence and Dempsey’s record; conflict claimed.	No suppression; no material misstatement; no actual conflict proven.	No Brady/Giglio violation; no conflict requiring relief
Prosecutorial/voir dire and instructions	Improper comments and misstatements affected outcome; judge/jury instructions flawed.	Comments and instructions were proper or not prejudicial; claims waived or barred.	No reversible error; claims rejected

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 () (ineffective assistance standard: deficient performance and prejudice)
Cherry v. State, 659 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 1995) (one must evaluate counsel's performance under reasonable-strategy framework)
Simmons v. State, 105 So. 3d 475 (Fla. 2012) (prejudice prong requires substantial likelihood of different outcome)
Mungin v. State, 932 So. 2d 986 (Fla. 2006) (defer to postconviction factual findings; de novo review of legal conclusions)
Jones v. State, 998 So. 2d 573 (Fla. 2008) (jury instructions and prosecutorial conduct review standards)
Rodriguez v. State, 919 So. 2d 1252 (Fla. 2005) (standard jury instruction constitutionality and burden shifting)