Reaves v. Secretary, FL Dept. of Corrections, No. 12-11044 (11th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePetitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Petitioner asserted that he was high on cocaine at the time he shot a law enforcement officer to death. At issue was whether there was a reasonable probability that the jury would have found petitioner incapable of forming a premeditated design to kill had his trial attorney actively pursued a defense of voluntary intoxication. Because petitioner failed to carry his burden of proving that he was prejudiced by trial counsel's failure to pursue a voluntary intoxication defense, the district court erred in granting federal habeas relief on his guilty phase claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Because the district court's grant of an evidentiary hearing on the penalty phase claim was interlocutory in nature and no exception to the final judgment rule applied, the court lacked jurisdiction to review that decision. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded.
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