As to Chandler's claim regarding the prosecutor's questions about the Blair rape, we believe that this issue constitutes a classic case of trying to take the wind out of your opponent's sails by pre-emptively admitting extremely prejudicial evidence and thereby softening the blow. The October 1992 statement was undisputedly made after the October 1990 drug money incident. [16] He asserts that trial counsel's failure to object to these comments constituted prejudicial error. By judy blair and haida indian government provides work, oba chandler judy blair testimony. Florida, Appellee. Court: And it is your decision that you have instructed your lawyer not to call these people. Given sufficient similarity, in order for the similar facts to be relevant the points of similarity must have some special character or be so unusual as to point to the defendant. Subsequently, Chandler's trial counsel filed a motion for change of venue, alleging that Chandler could not get a fair and impartial trial anywhere in the Tampa Bay area. Soraya Butler, Elizabeth Beiro, Carl Voeller, and Frances Watkins. 400 So.2d at 1219. Anderson v. State, 574 So.2d 87, 93 (Fla.1991). [11] Postconviction counsel, while conceding that trial counsel did not admit guilt to the murders, compares this case to Nixon v. Singletary, 758 So.2d 618 (Fla.2000), wherein the Court held that defense counsel must have defendant's consent before counsel can make a tactical decision to admit guilt of murder during the guilt phase of a trial in an effort to persuade the jury to spare defendant's life during the penalty phase. In James, we rejected the appellant's vagueness and overbreadth challenges since the HAC instruction given at trial was the same instruction approved in Hall v. State, 614 So.2d 473 (Fla.1993), wherein this Court found that neither the instruction nor the aggravator itself was unconstitutionally vague. Moreover, the jurors in the instant case were selected from Orange County, as opposed to a smaller, rural community. For that reason, Chandler asks us to vacate his death sentences. We must examine each claim to determine if it is legally sufficient, and, if so, determine whether or not the claim is refuted by the record. The United States Supreme Court denied Chandler's petition for writ of certiorari on April 20, 1998. 2052. Admittedly, on its face, trial counsel's strategy might raise doubts as to its efficacy. Oba Chandler, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the trial court's denial of his motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. [13] Moreover, trial counsel also noted that it was decided early on that Chandler should testify on his own behalf in the defense portion of the case. judy blair testimony transcript. However, at the Huff hearing, the trial court indicated that the parties could inquire of trial counsel as to any strategic decisions he made in not objecting to the prosecutor's closing arguments. Leslie, who had been convicted of nine felonies, never heard Chandler speak of murders, only rapes. Gore, 599 So.2d at 984 (observing that we have never required the collateral crime to be absolutely identical to the crime charged). V, 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. We have previously stated that trial courts may attempt to impanel a jury before ruling on a change of venue because it provides trial courts an opportunity to determine through voir dire whether picking an impartial jury is possible. Id. The Jan. 6 committee heard a third day of testimony Thursday as it sought to link former President Trump to the Capitol attack and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. filed, No. monkey in the middle math; arp church bulletin. I think it looks bad in front of the jury when you're continually jumping up and interrupting the other side's closing argument." 674 So.2d at 99-100. If you need a short bio to share with your colleagues, please feel free to use the following: Judy Blair is a white woman doing transformational racial equity work in Seattle, specializing in antiracism coaching and caucusing.Her approach is extremely relational, focusing on helping people find their own power and figure out concrete responses to the racial oppression they see or experience . Samuel McMullin, a fingerprint expert for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department, found Chandler's palm print on the brochure. 657, 154 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), and denied relief. [16] Chandler organizes the numerous allegedly improper comments into four broad categories: (1) improper comments on Chandler's exercise of his Fifth Amendment privilege regarding the alleged sexual battery; (2) improper attacks on defense counsel and his theory of the case; (3) improper statements of the prosecutor's personal opinions and beliefs; and (4) improper personal attacks on Chandler. 2052 (quoting Michel v. Louisiana, 350 U.S. 91, 101, 76 S.Ct. The instant case is similar to Thompson v. State, 759 So.2d 650, 664 (Fla.2000), in which the defendant claimed defense counsel was ineffective for failing to object to several improper remarks by the prosecutor. denied, 522 U.S. 846, 118 S.Ct. judy blair testimony transcript. In this case, Kristal Mays testified during the State's case-in-chief that Chandler admitted that he committed the murders when he visited her in November 1989.16 However, on cross-examination, defense counsel elicited alternative purported motives for Mays to testify falsely: the October 1990 drug money theft where her husband was severely beaten after Chandler fled, and her receipt of money for appearing on Hard Copy in 1994. Dr. Judy Blair is a Psychiatrist in San Quentin, CA. In the order denying Chandler's current postconviction motion, the trial court stated that a subsequent motion to change venue objecting to the jury being picked in Orange County would have caused her to consider the previous stipulation void. We have jurisdiction. 662, 154 L.Ed.2d 564 (2002), and King v. Moore, 831 So.2d 143 (Fla.2002), cert. James; Hartley. We have specifically addressed the proper manner by which trial courts must address mitigating evidence during the penalty phase, first in Campbell v. State, 571 So.2d 415 (Fla.1990), and most recently in Ferrell v. State, 653 So.2d 367 (Fla.1995). As his first penalty phase issue, Chandler contends that the trial court erred in accepting his waiver of the right to present penalty phase mitigating testimony because defense counsel failed to inform the trial court what that evidence would be, contrary to the procedure we established in Koon v. Dugger, 619 So.2d 246 (Fla.1993). (513) 354-7200. If child abuse or deprived childhood existed in Defendant's case, he voluntarily elected not to present any evidence of it. When asked about details surrounding the rape of Judy Blair, Chandler invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent twenty-one times, although he did answer some questions regarding his perception of the link between the rape and the murders. at 193-94. See id. Moreover, we find that defense counsel complied with his duties under Koon by investigating Chandler's background, having witnesses ready and available to testify, and adequately outlining the favorable character evidence that Chandler's witnesses would have presented.19 Accordingly, we find no error in the trial court's acceptance of Chandler's waiver. To support his argument, Chandler directs our attention to Drake v. State, 400 So.2d 1217 (Fla.1981); Thompson v. State, 494 So.2d 203 (Fla.1986); and Peek v. State, 488 So.2d 52 (Fla.1986), wherein we found that the prior sexual crimes of the defendants in those cases were inadmissible in their murder prosecutions since the collateral crimes were insufficiently similar. The few dissimilarities here seem to be a result of differences in the opportunities with which Gore was presented, rather than differences in modus operandi. Id. Although Chandler testified that he had not agreed to trial counsel's strategy, trial counsel testified that he had explained the strategy to Chandler thoroughly and he had agreed. Roark had planned to spend the night at her friend's home. SC01-1468, Judges: (1993)(limiting cross examination to the subject matter of direct examination and matters affecting the credibility of the witness [although the] court may, in its discretion, permit inquiry into additional matters). Occhicone, 768 So.2d at 1048; see Shere v. State, 742 So.2d 215, 220 (Fla.1999); State v. Bolender, 503 So.2d 1247, 1250 (Fla. 1987). We find that Chandler is likewise not entitled to relief. [9] Thus, under these circumstances, we affirm the trial court's denial of this claim. Subsequently, Chandler began making advances to Blair after the boat entered the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Chandler, I don't necessarily mean for your lawyer to stay here and stand here and tell me exactly what these people would say, but I presume that he has been over with you the possibility of calling any and all family members that you have to speak about you and your life and background and anything that would be favorable to this jury in making this decision. He testified at trial that after viewing television reports about the recovery of the victims' bodies from Tampa Bay, Chandler said that he had met the three women and given them directions to a boat ramp on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. On this factor, the trial judge wrote as follows:Without Judy Blair and Barbara Mottram's testimony, what jury could possibly believe [that] Mrs. Rogers and her two children would board Chandler's boat for a sunset cruise within 24 hours of having met him? Chandler: Most certainly did. The robbery victims also testified about the details of those crimes. See 90.801(2)(b), Fla. Stat. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. More recently, in Hayes v. State, 660 So.2d 257 (Fla.1995), we observed that: The Evidence Code, under section 90.404(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1993), allows a party to introduce similar fact evidence of other crimes when it is relevant to prove a material fact in issue. [12] Chandler had not been tried or convicted for the alleged sexual battery. We find no merit in this claim. (This information is contained in the 1977 PSI). Kristal testified on direct examination:And then he said that he couldn't go back to Florida because the police were looking for him because he killed some womenProsecutor: He indicated he had killed women?Kristal: Yes.Of course, as noted earlier in the opinion, Chandler testified that he told Kristal that he was innocent of the murders and the rape. Make an Appointment. Cooper met Chandler the next morning at 7:05 a.m.; when asked why he looked grubby, Chandler replied that he had been out on his boat all night. We affirm the trial court's denial of relief on this claim. 86, 139 L.Ed.2d 43 (1997). Gore then proceeded to Miami, where police subsequently recovered Roark's Mustang after it was abandoned in a two-car accident. Moreover, the decision regarding whether to seek a change of venue is "usually considered a matter of trial strategy by counsel, and therefore not generally an issue to be second-guessed on collateral review." Aside from filing the notice, Chandler provides no argument other than that the cases "may be relevant to the issues raised in this cause." He convinced a friend to help him pawn several items of jewelry later identified as belonging to Roark. [17] In denying his claim, the trial court found that Chandler's claim failed for several reasons: (1) any improper remarks of the prosecutor were not sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of the case, and therefore, Chandler could not meet the prejudice prong of Strickland; (2) trial counsel explained at the evidentiary hearing why he did not object to many of the remarks made during the prosecutor's closing statement, and, in essence, Chandler could not meet the deficiency prong of Strickland; and (3) many of the specific statements raised by the defendant as objectionable were actually proper and permissible. at 189. [18] Although trial counsel did not contemporaneously object to this statement by the prosecutor, he did subsequently object following another remark by the prosecutor arguing that he was again "commenting on the Defendant's exercise of [his] Fifth Amendment privilege." The record reflects that the body of Joan Rogers and those of her two daughters, Michelle and Christe, were discovered floating in Tampa Bay on June 4, 1989. United States v. Weber, 437 F.2d 327 (3d Cir.1970). Blair had been with her friend . Similarly, because we have previously held that the prosecutor's comments in this case did not constitute fundamental error, even though some of the prosecutor's comments in this case were ill-advised, they were not so prejudicial as to vitiate the entire trial. The prosecutor's comment that Chandler never told his daughters or son-in-law that he was innocent was a fair characterization of the evidence, while his other comments about Chandler and his counsel were thoughtless and petty, e.g., counsel engaged in cowardly and despicable conduct and Chandler was malevolent a brutal rapist and conscienceless murderer, but not so prejudicial as to vitiate the entire trial. Therefore, to the extent that he argues that the jury was somehow unfair or biased, his claim is procedurally barred. At trial, she identified the clothing Chandler had been wearing that night. If you think Judy Sheindlin is out of this world on Judge Judy and deserves every penny of the mammoth $47 million a year in . We agree that the decision not to object to improper comments is fraught with danger and may not be wise strategy because it might cause an otherwise appealable issue to be considered procedurally barred. At the evidentiary hearing, trial counsel testified at length about his perception of Blair's credibility and appearance. Id. See Stephens v. State, 748 So.2d 1028, 1034 (Fla.1999) (recognizing trial court's superior vantage point in assessing credibility of witnesses). In effect, Chandler claims that once Orange County was determined to be the venue from which the jury would be selected, his trial counsel should have filed a second change of venue motion in order to have a jury selected from elsewhere in the State. [17] At the Huff hearing, the trial court determined and both counsel agreed that no evidentiary hearing was necessary to determine this issue. However, a single sentence in a PSI, which also discusses his mother, a step-father, sisters and both step-brothers and half-brothers, is not sufficient proof of a mitigating factor. That was it. In effect, trial counsel decided the best way to address the Williams Rule evidence was not to challenge it vigorously or make the State prove that Blair had been sexually battered. On April 2, 1988, the skeletonized remains of Roark's body were discovered in Columbia County, Florida. She was upset and told Rick to call the police and report that Chandler put a gun on him.. That's your concern and Mr. Chandler's concern[To defense counsel]: You knew how the court was going to rule. Later that same morning, at 9:52 a.m., Frances Watkins received a collect call from Gypsy One; the caller identified himself as Obie. Miss Holliday: Yes; I do. Pursuant to a new law, the trial court had the option of picking a jury from another county and bringing the jurors to Pinellas County for the trial. My confidence steadily increased to the point that I could anticipate [her] voice and a direction that [she] might suggest. We On September 29, 1994, Chandler was found guilty of all three counts of firstdegree murder. Fingerprints found blair back and judy blair testimony oba chandler. Again, Blair could not convince Mottram to join them. See Kilgore v. State, 688 So.2d 895, 898 (Fla.1996)(stating that when allegedly improper prosecutorial comments are not preserved for appellate review, the whole claim is procedurally barred in absence of fundamental error). *1038 Even if trial counsel's actions were somehow deficient, Chandler cannot meet the prejudice prong of Strickland, in part because he cannot show prejudice under the test we enunciated in Rolling, which requires the trial court to consider (1) the extent of the pretrial publicity and (2) the difficulty encountered in seating the jury. i think, when considered in the totality of the claims, there is a likelihood, based upon the circumstantial evidence case that the state had, regarding the rogers homicides, that mr. chandler might we will have been found not guilty, had his Neither Chandler nor his trial counsel wanted the jury to be picked from the Tampa Bay area, which was where the crimes were committed. Contained in the 1977 PSI ) [ 16 ] he asserts that trial 's! 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