Case Information
*1 Supreme Court of Florida ____________
No. SC18-175
____________ FRED ANDERSON, JR., Appellant,
vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.
October 4, 2018
PER CURIAM.
Fred Anderson, Jr., a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the circuit court’s order denying his successive motion for postconviction relief, which was filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.
In 1999, a jury convicted Anderson of first-degree murder, attempted first-
degree murder, robbery with a firearm, and grand theft of a firearm. After hearing
evidence during the penalty phase, the jury unanimously recommended a sentence
of death for the first-degree murder by a vote of twelve to zero. We affirmed
Anderson’s convictions and sentence of death on direct appeal.
Anderson v. State
,
*2
In January 2017, Anderson filed a successive postconviction motion to
vacate his death sentence in light of the decision of United States Supreme Court in
Hurst v. Florida
,
Anderson argues the error in his case was not harmless despite the
jury’s unanimous recommendation for death and that the postconviction court
erred in denying his successive motion. As we have previously explained, “a
jury’s unanimous recommendation of death is ‘precisely what we determined in
to be constitutionally necessary to impose a sentence of death’ because a
‘jury unanimously f[inds] all of the necessary facts for the imposition of [a] death
sentence[ ] by virtue of its unanimous recommendation[ ].’ ”
Everett v. State
, 43
Fla. L. Weekly S250, S250,
As previously discussed, Anderson received a unanimous jury recommendation of death. Neither the jury instructions provided in this case, nor the aggravators and mitigators found by the trial court, nor the facts of the case compel departing from our precedent. We conclude any error in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and Anderson is therefore not entitled to relief.
Anderson also contends that a unanimous jury recommendation violates the
Eighth Amendment pursuant to
Caldwell v. Mississippi
,
Accordingly, because we conclude any error in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and the remaining claims are similarly without merit, we affirm the postconviction court’s order denying Anderson’s successive motion for postconviction relief.
It is so ordered. PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, POLSTON, LABARGA, and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
CANADY, C.J., concurs in result.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court in and for Lake County,
G. Richard Singeltary, Judge - Case No. 351999CF000572AXXXXX James Vincent Viggiano, Jr., Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Maria E. DeLiberato, Julissa R. Fontán, Chelsea Shirley, and Kara Ottervanger, Assistant Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Middle Region, Temple Terrace, Florida,
for Appellant Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, and Patrick Bobek, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, Florida,
for Appellee 1. We likewise reject Anderson’s argument that he is entitled to a new proportionality analysis with respect to his death sentence.
