Opinion
No. SC08-939.
July 9, 2009.
Lower Tribunal No(s). 86-004084-CFAWS.
Paul Alfred Brown, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the circuit court's order summarily denying his successive postconviction motion. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.851. We have previously affirmed appellant's conviction and sentence of death. See Brown v. State, 565 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 1990). We have also affirmed the denial of his first postconviction motion, see Brown v. State, 755 So. 2d 616 (Fla. 2000), denied his petition for writ of habeas corpus, see Brown v. Moore, 800 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2001), and affirmed the denial of his second postconviction motion. See Brown v. State, 959 So. 2d 146 (Fla. 2007).
In this appeal, Brown first claims that the circuit court erred in assessing the constitutionality of Florida's lethal injection execution procedures under the legal standard set forth in Lightbourne v. McCollum, 969 So. 2d 326 (Fla. 2007), rather than under the legal standard set forth in Baze v. Rees, 128 S. Ct. 1520 (2008). This issue, however, has already been decided adversely to Brown. See Ventura v. State, 2 So. 3d 194 (Fla. 2009); Henyard v. State, 992 So. 2d 120 (Fla. 2008); Schwab v. State, 995 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 2008). Brown next contends that the circuit court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on his claim that Florida's lethal injection execution procedures are unconstitutional in various respects. Because the underlying claim has already been rejected by this Court, however, the circuit court did not err in summarily rejecting this claim. See Lightbourne; Schwab. And finally, Brown claims that section 945.10, Florida Statutes (2008), which protects the executioners' identity, is unconstitutional in various respects. This issue, however, has already been decided adversely to Brown. See Henyard; Bryan v. State, 753 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 2000).
Accordingly, we affirm the circuit court's order summarily denying Brown's successive postconviction motion.
PARIENTE, LEWIS, CANADY, POLSTON, LABARGA, and PERRY, JJ., concur.
QUINCE, C.J., recused.