John Ruthell Henry v. State of Florida

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida affirmed the denial of John Ruthell Henry's motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.850 and 3.851. The court held that counsel's strategy of having Henry disclose prior murders and sentences during the guilt phase did not constitute ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington, and that Henry failed to establish prejudice.

Holdings

1. Henry failed to establish that counsel's decision to elicit damaging evidence about his prior criminal history and death sentence fell outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance.
2. Henry failed to establish a reasonable probability that, absent counsel's challenged conduct, the result of the guilt phase would have been different.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance by eliciting during the guilt phase testimony about Henry's prior murder conviction, prior imprisonment, and death sentence for Suzanne Henry's murder.
2. Whether Henry established prejudice under Strickland from counsel's decision to disclose that evidence.

Disposition

affirmed