RAY LAMAR JOHNSTON, Appellant, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.
No. SC17-1678
Supreme Court of Florida
April 5, 2018
PER CURIAM.
Ray Lamar Johnston appeals an order summarily denying his first successive postconviction motion filed under
In this successive postconviction motion, we affirm the denial of Johnston‘s claim that he is entitled to relief pursuant to Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 2161 (2017). Johnston received a unanimous jury recommendation of death and, therefore, the Hurst error in this case is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Davis v. State, 207 So. 3d 142, 175 (Fla. 2016). Additionally, we affirm the denial of Johnston‘s Hurst-induced Caldwell2 claim. See Reynolds v. State, No. SC17-793, slip op. at 26-36 (Fla. Apr. 5, 2018).
Accordingly, we affirm the denial of postconviction relief.
It is so ordered.
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
CANADY and POLSTON, JJ., concur in result.
QUINCE, J., dissents with an opinion.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED.
QUINCE, J., dissenting.
I cannot agree with the majority‘s finding that the Hurst error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As I have stated previously, “[b]ecause Hurst requires
An Appeal from the Circuit Court in and for Hillsborough County, Michelle Sisco, Judge - Case No. 291997CF013379000AHC
James Vincent Viggiano, Jr., Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, James L. Driscoll Jr., David Dixon Hendry and Gregory W. Brown, Assistant Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Middle Region, Temple Terrace, Florida, for Appellant
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, and Timothy A. Freeland, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, Florida, for Appellee
