Hitchcock v. Florida, No. SC03-2203

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, HABEAS CORPUS, PER CURIAM, SENTENCING

Hitchcock v. Florida, No. SC03-2203
Denial of a motion to vacate a first degree murder conviction and a sentence of death is affirmed, and a petition for habeas corpus is denied, over claims of error regarding: 1) ineffective assistance of counsel; 2) destruction of exculpatory evidence by the state; 3) newly discovered evidence; 4) the state's failure to disclose deficiencies of the hair analyst and then knowingly presenting incompetent and false testimony; 5) defendant's failure to be present at a bench conference where peremptory challenges were exercised; and 6) a failure of counsel to properly investigate and present statutory mitigating circumstances. Read more...

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/floridastatecases/5_2008/sc03-2203.pdf