Bobby Marion FRANCIS, Petitioner,
v.
Thomas L. BARTON, Etc., et al., Respondents.
Bobby Marion FRANCIS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Billy H. Nоlas and Julie D. Naylor, Ocala, for petitioner/appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Ralph Barreira, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for respondents/appellee.
Steven M. Goldstein, Tallahassee, amicus curiae for Volunteer Lawyers' Resource Center.
Certiorari Denied June 25, 1991. See
PER CURIAM.
Francis, a prisoner under death warrant, petitions this Court for writ of habeas corpus, appeals the trial court's denial of his mоtion for postconviction relief, and requests a stay of his execution, currently scheduled for June 19, 1991. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), (9), Fla. Const.; Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850. Because all of the issues raised in this successive postсonviction petition and appeal from a successive postconviction motion are procedurally barred, we deny all relief.
We affirmed Francis' conviction of first-degrеe murder and sentence of death on direct appeal. Francis v. State,
In this second 3.850 motion Francis raised the following claims: 1) imрroper jury override; 2) the state knowingly presented misleading evidence concerning the witness elimination/disrupt or hinder governmental function or enforcement of law aggravating factor; 3) finding witness elimination in aggravation violated Ashe v. Swenson,
Francis raised the first issue on direct appeal and in his prior state and federal habeas corpus petitions. Issues raised and disposed of on direct appeal are prоcedurally barred in postconviction proceedings. Francis,
In his habeas petition Francis rаises three of the issues raised in his 3.850 petition, i.e., improper override, violation of Ashe v. Swenson, and ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase. Habeas corpus is not to be used to relitigate issues considered in prior proceedings. E.g., Bolender; Mills v. Dugger,
As a final issue, Francis alleges that the state violated State v. Neil,
Therefore, we deny the petition for writ of habeas corpus, affirm the trial court's denial of the motion for рostconviction relief, and refuse to stay Francis' scheduled execution.
It is so ordered.
SHAW, C.J., and OVERTON, McDONALD, GRIMES and HARDING, JJ., concur.
BARKETT, J., concurs specially with an opinion, in which KOGAN, J., concurs.
BARKETT, Justice, specially concurring.
Every constitutional claim should be rеviewed on the merits prior to final disposition of a death case. If counsel was negligent in fаiling to raise a constitutional claim during the direct appeal or during a subsequent collatеral attack, a death-sentenced defendant should not be forced to suffer the consequences. Thus, because no court has ever considered the merits of Francis' claim under State v. Neil,
I continue to adhere to the views expressed in my dissenting opinion in Francis v. State,
KOGAN, J., concurs.
