Tavares J. Wright v. State of Florida
Tavares J. Wright v. State of Florida
Opinion
This case is before the Court on remand from the decision of the United States Supreme Court in
Wright v. Florida
(
Wright v. Florida
), --- U.S. ----,
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
This Court detailed the underlying crimes in Wright's direct appeal.
Wright v. State
(
Wright I
),
The postconviction court granted an evidentiary hearing on Wright's renewed motion.
Nearly two weeks later, on March 28, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Moore . As a result of Wright's certiorari petition, the Supreme Court vacated Wright and remanded for reconsideration in light of Moore . The remand order follows in full:
The motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and the petition for a writ of certiorari are granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Supreme Court of Florida for further consideration in light of Moore v. Texas , 581 U.S. ----,137 S.Ct. 1039 ,197 L.Ed.2d 416 (2017).
Wright v. Florida
,
This review follows.
ANALYSIS
We resolve this case in three parts below: (1) the nature of the remand order; (2) the intelligence prong of the ID test; and (3) the adaptive functioning prong of the ID test.
However, as a preliminary matter, it is necessary to clarify what
Moore
did not change-our standard of review. As noted in
Glover v. State
,
In reviewing the circuit court's determination that [the defendant] is not intellectually disabled, "this Court examines the record for whether competent, substantial evidence supports the determination of the trial court." State v. Herring ,76 So.3d 891 , 895 (Fla. 2011). [This Court] "[does] not reweigh the evidence or second-guess the circuit court's findings as to the credibility of witnesses." Brown v. State ,959 So.2d 146 , 149 (Fla. 2007). However, [this Court] appl[ies] a de novo standard of review to any questions of law. Herring ,76 So.3d at 895 .
Glover
,
The Remand Order
First, we must dispel Wright's impression that the Supreme Court's vacation and remand indicates that it either reversed on the merits or intends for us to do so. The remand was in the form of a Supreme Court summary reconsideration order, which is colloquially known as a "GVR" (granted, vacated, and remanded). A GVR is a "mode of summary disposition,
though not necessarily on the merits
, [by] an order that grants certiorari, vacates the judgment below, and remands the case to the lower court for reconsideration in light of an intervening Supreme Court ruling." Stephen M. Shapiro et al.,
Supreme Court Practice
346 (10th ed. 2013) (emphasis added) (collecting cases as examples of GVRs with nearly identical language as the GVR here, including
Siegelman v. United States
,
It is important to remember, however, that a GVR order is neither an outright reversal nor an invitation to reverse; it *770 is merely a device that allows a lower court that had rendered its decision without the benefit of an intervening clarification to have an opportunity to reconsider that decision and, if warranted, to revise or correct it. See Pratt v. Philbrook ,109 F.3d 18 , 19-20 (1st Cir. 1997). The GVR order itself does not constitute a final determination on the merits; it does not even carry precedential weight. See Tyler v. Cain ,533 U.S. 656 , 666 n.6,121 S.Ct. 2478 ,150 L.Ed.2d 632 (2001) ; Henry v. City of Rock Hill ,376 U.S. 776 , 777,84 S.Ct. 1042 ,12 L.Ed.2d 79 (1964) ; see also Lawrence [ v. Chater ,516 U.S. 163 , 178,116 S.Ct. 604 ,133 L.Ed.2d 545 (1996) ] (Scalia, J., dissenting) (suggesting that the GVR ought to be termed "no fault V & R" because it represents a "vacation of a judgment and remand without any determination of error in the judgment below"). Consequently, we do not treat the Court's GVR order as a thinly-veiled direction to alter our course ....
Gonzalez v. Justices of Mun. Court of Bos.
,
Upon receiving nearly identical
Moore
GVR orders, some courts have affirmed their original decisions as unchanged by
Moore
,
see
Carroll v. State
, No. CR-12-0599,
Intelligence Prong
Second, Wright contends that we erred by affirming the postconviction court's finding that he failed to satisfy his burden of proof on the intellectual functioning prong of the ID test. However, Moore does not substantially change the law with regard to consideration of intelligence or IQ for the purposes of an ID determination; thus, Wright's claim fails again.
It is unconstitutional to impose a death sentence upon any defendant with
With regard to the first prong, the statute defines the phrase "significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning" as "performance that is two or more standard deviations from the mean score on a standardized intelligence test." § 921.137(1). Currently, the mean IQ score of the general population is approximately 100; and each standard deviation represents about 15 points.
Hall
,
As it pertains to the intelligence prong of the ID test,
Moore
generally embodies a simple affirmation of the principles announced in
Hall
. Following
Hall
, the Supreme Court again stated that when a defendant establishes an IQ score range-adjusted for the SEM-"at or below 70," then a court must "move on to consider [the defendant's] adaptive functioning."
Moore
,
In requiring the CCA [ (the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) ] to move on to consider Moore's adaptive functioning in light of his IQ evidence, we do not suggest that "the Eighth Amendment turns on the slightest numerical difference in IQ score," post , at 1061. Hall invalidated Florida's strict IQ cutoff because the cutoff took "an IQ score as the final and conclusive evidence of a defendant's intellectual capacity, when experts in the field would consider other evidence." 572 U.S. at ----,134 S.Ct. at 1995 . Here, by contrast, we do not end the intellectual disability inquiry, one way or the other, based on Moore's IQ score. Rather, in line with Hall , we require that courts continue the inquiry and consider other evidence of intellectual disability where an individual's IQ score, adjusted for the test's standard error, falls within the clinically established range for intellectual-functioning deficits.
Moore
,
Both this Court and the postconviction court followed Moore 's subsequent instructions.
*772
In this case, both courts acknowledged that Wright's IQ score range-adjusted for the SEM-fell into the borderline ID range and the lowest end of the range dipped 1 point beneath 70; therefore, Wright was allowed to offer evidence of adaptive functioning.
Wright
,
Based on the competing medical testimony of Dr. Kasper and Dr. Gamache-along with numerous IQ test scores above 70 after SEM adjustments-there was competent, substantial evidence for the postconviction court to conclude that Wright failed to prove significant subaverage intellectual functioning by clear and convincing evidence. For instance, on his July 15, 2005, IQ test, Wright scored an 82 with a range of 79-86, which is well above the approximation for
Accordingly, we need not alter our affirmance of the postconviction court's finding on the intelligence prong in light of Moore .
*773 Adaptive Functioning Prong
Lastly, Wright contends that we erred in affirming the postconviction court's finding that he failed to prove deficits in his adaptive functioning. Although Moore addressed the adaptive functioning prong, the decision does not change the outcome of Wright's claim here.
This issue relates to the second prong of the ID test: concurrent "deficits in adaptive behavior." § 921.137(1). The statute defines "adaptive behavior" as "the effectiveness or degree with which an individual meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of his or her age, cultural group, and community."
The DSM-5 divides adaptive functioning into three broad categories or "domains": conceptual, social, and practical. DSM-5, at 37;
see also
AAIDD-11, at 43. The conceptual domain "involves competence in memory, language, reading, writing, math reasoning, acquisition of practical knowledge, problem solving, and judgment in novel situations." DSM-5, at 37. The social domain "involves awareness of others' thoughts, feelings, and experiences; empathy; interpersonal communication skills; friendship abilities; and social judgment."
*774
Before delving into
Moore
and its application in this case, it is important to note that only one domain is at issue here: the conceptual. Both experts testified at the renewed ID determination hearing-including Wright's own expert-that Wright has no deficits in the social and practical domains that rise to the level of an ID determination.
Wright
,
In
Moore
, the Supreme Court reversed because the CCA "deviated from prevailing clinical standards and from the older clinical standards the court claimed to apply" when it found no adaptive deficits.
The CCA had reversed a state habeas court that applied current medical standards-the DSM-5 and AAIDD-11-and found the defendant to have
Did those who knew the person best during the developmental stage-his family, friends, teachers, employers, authorities-think he was mentally retarded at that time, and, if so, act in accordance with that determination?
On two occasions this Court briefly addressed the impact of
Moore
on Florida's ID analysis.
Glover
,
The determination that Glover is not intellectually disabled was made under "the generally accepted, uncontroversial intellectual-disability diagnostic definition," which is the same three-part standard that this Court follows. See Rodriguez , 219 So. 3d [at 756 n.6] (quoting Moore [,137 S.Ct. at 1045 ] ). This distinguishes the trial court's determination in Glover's case from a Texas court's determination in a recent case, which the Supreme Court invalidated, in part, because the Texas court relied upon superseded medical standards to conclude that the defendant was not intellectually disabled. See generally Moore , --- U.S. ----,137 S.Ct. 1039 ,197 L.Ed.2d 416 .
Glover
,
The record in this case demonstrates that the postconviction court and the medical experts below relied on current medical standards. Even the State's expert, Dr. Gamache, used current medical expertise to inform his testimony. Moreover, the postconviction court demonstrated a willingness to engage with the clinical manuals and understand how they fit together with the case law. Unlike
Moore
, this Court did not reject the postconviction court's reliance on current medical standards.
Compare
Moore
,
In
Moore
, one of the reasons that the Supreme Court reversed was because the CCA "overemphasized" the defendant's adaptive strengths.
*777
Our opinion discussed some of Wright's adaptive strengths and behavior in prison,
Wright
,
In
Moore
, the habeas court relied on the expert testimony, based on current medical standards, which established that the defendant had adaptive deficits in all three domains.
Likewise, we did not detrimentally rely on strengths that Wright developed in prison to justify our conclusion.
See
As further evidence supporting the rejection of Wright's adaptive deficit claim, we noted that Wright gave extensive testimony at his trial, withstood cross-examination, and understood the ramifications of waiving his penalty phase jury during a waiver colloquy.
Wright
,
At bottom, Wright's position is less about
Moore
than it is a mere reassertion that his expert, Dr. Kasper, was more reliable than the State's, Dr. Gamache. However,
Moore
did not change our standard of review: we still review a postconviction court's order for competent, substantial evidence, and we neither reweigh evidence nor second-guess credibility determinations on appeal.
Supra
p. 769. At the ID hearing, the parties presented all the evidence that they could muster, which resulted in an outcome adverse to Wright. Because that decision was supported by competent, substantial evidence, which we thoroughly detailed,
Wright
,
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, we reaffirm the postconviction court's denial of Wright's ID claim.
It is so ordered.
LEWIS, QUINCE, POLSTON, and LABARGA, JJ., concur.
CANADY, C.J., concurs specially.
LABARGA, J., concurs with an opinion, in which CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, J., concur.
LAWSON, J., concurs specially with an opinion, in which CANADY, C.J., concurs.
PARIENTE, J., concurs in result with an opinion.
I fully concur with the majority that Wright is not entitled to relief in light of the Supreme Court's decision in
Moore v. Texas
, --- U.S. ----,
In the broader context, however, I agree with the general proposition that where a defendant has failed to establish any one of the three prongs of the intellectual disability determination by clear and convincing evidence, "the defendant will not be found to be intellectually disabled."
Williams v. State
,
Accordingly, where a defendant fails to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that his or her IQ score, when adjusted for the SEM, falls within the clinically established range for significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, the inquiry need not continue. 11
CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, J., concur.
I agree with that portion of the majority opinion explaining the nature and effect of the United States Supreme Court's summary reconsideration order. I also agree with the majority's conclusion that
Moore v. Texas
, --- U.S. ----,
*780
Salazar v. State
,
The majority opinion properly explains that "
Moore
does not substantially change the law with regard to consideration of intelligence or IQ for the purposes of an ID determination." Majority op. at 770. In
Moore
, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) had applied its prior precedent in
Ex parte Briseno
,
To the extent that the majority believes that
Moore
requires consideration of the second ID prong-deficits in adaptive functioning-when,
after giving full consideration to the SEM as directed by
Hall
, the trial court properly concludes that the defendant has failed to prove the first prong, I disagree with the majority opinion. In
Moore
, the Supreme Court only addressed the second prong, adaptive functioning, because the defendant met his burden to establish the first prong.
See
Moore
,
However, I fully concur in the result in this case.
CANADY, C.J., concurs.
The important holding of the United States Supreme Court's decision in
Moore v. Texas
, --- U.S. ----,
While we discussed adaptive strengths in our now-vacated opinion in
Wright v. State
,
Nevertheless, I urge trial courts analyzing intellectual disability claims post- Moore to focus on the adaptive deficits and not to fall into the pitfalls of analyzing either adaptive strengths or deficits in the context of a prison environment. As the United States Supreme Court explained:
In concluding that Moore did not suffer significant adaptive deficits, the CCA [ 14 ] overemphasized Moore's perceived adaptive strengths. The CCA recited the strengths it perceived, among them, Moore lived on the streets, mowed lawns, and played pool for money. See [ Ex parte Moore ,] 470 S.W.3d [481,] 522-523, 526-527 [ (Tex. Crim. App. 2015) ]. Moore's adaptive strengths, in the CCA's view, constituted evidence adequate to overcome the considerable objective evidence of Moore's adaptive deficits, see supra , at 1045 ; App. to Pet. for Cert. 180a-202a. See 470 S.W.3d at 522-524, 526-527. But the medical community focuses the adaptive-functioning inquiry on adaptive deficits . E.g. , AAIDD-11, at 47 ("significant limitations in conceptual, social, or practical adaptive skills [are] not outweighed by the potential strengths in some adaptive skills"); DSM-5, at 33, 38 (inquiry should focus on "[d]eficits in adaptive functioning"; deficits in only one of the three adaptive-skills domains suffice to show adaptive deficits); see Brumfield [ v. Cain ], 576 U.S. at ----, 135 S.Ct. [2269], 2281,192 L.Ed.2d 356 [ (2015) ] ("[I]ntellectually disabled persons may have 'strengths in social or physical capabilities, strengths in some adaptive skill areas, or strengths in one aspect of an adaptive skill in which they otherwise show an overall limitation.' " (quoting AAMR, Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports 8 (10th ed. 2002) ) ).
In addition, the CCA stressed Moore's improved behavior in prison. 470 S.W.3d at 522-524, 526-527. Clinicians, however, caution against reliance on adaptive strengths developed "in a controlled setting," as a prison surely is. DSM-5, at 38 ("Adaptive functioning may be difficult to assess in a controlled setting (e.g., prisons, detention centers); if possible, corroborative information reflecting functioning outside those settings should *782 be obtained."); see AAIDD-11 User's Guide 20 (counseling against reliance on "behavior in jail or prison").
Moore
,
The holding of
Moore
is consistent with the views expressed in my concurring in part, dissenting in part opinion in
Dufour v. State
,
Specifically, the AAIDD and the DSM-IV stress that the focal point of adaptive behavior should be on the individual's limitations rather than demonstrated adaptive skills. An important reason for this policy is that "[t]he skills possessed by individuals with [intellectual disability] vary considerably, and the fact that an individual possesses one or more that might be thought by some laypersons as inconsistent with the diagnosis (such as holding a menial job, or using public transportation) cannot be taken as disqualifying." James W. Ellis, Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty: A Guide to State Legislative Issues , 27 Mental & Physical Disability L. Rep. 11, 21 n.29 (2003).
The AAIDD, in its amicus brief to this Court, explains that the significant limitations in adaptive behavior must be based on objective measurements and not weighed against adaptive strengths. The purpose of the adaptive functioning prong is to ascertain whether the measured intellectual score reflects a real-world disability, as opposed to a testing anomaly. Thus for this prong, the diagnostician's focus must remain on the presence of confirming deficits. Accordingly, the AAIDD has specifically noted that "assessments must ... assume that limitations in individuals often coexist with strengths, and that a person's level of life functioning will improve if appropriate personalized supports are provided over a sustained period." Am. Ass'n on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Definition of Intellectual Disability , http://www.aaidd.org/content_100.cfm?navID=21 (last visited Jan. 14, 2011). Further, as the AAIDD correctly explains, much of the clinical definition of adaptive behavior is much less relevant in prisons, and in fact, a person with [intellectual disability] is likely to appear to have stronger adaptive behavior in a structured environment such as a prison than in society. The amicus brief of the AAIDD further points out that "[s]tereotypes and lay assumptions about people with [intellectual disability] can cloud or distort individual assessment."
The failure to take an objective approach to deficits in adaptive behavior can result in the perpetuation of misunderstanding [intellectual disability].
In this case, however, I agree with the per curiam opinion that "the crux of our decision [in Wright ] rested on the competing expert medical testimony of Dr. Gamache and Dr. Kasper instead of independently weighing strengths and deficits or focusing on prison conduct." Majority op. at 777. This Court, in affirming the postconviction court's denial of relief, relied primarily on the competent, substantial evidence presented through the testimony of both experts who agreed that Wright does not have sufficient deficits in the practical or social domains and the competing testimony presented with respect to the conceptual domain. Majority op. at 777.
Regardless of how this Court explained Wright's intellectual disability claim in its prior opinion, it is clear that the postconviction *783 court properly analyzed Wright's claim. As the per curiam opinion aptly notes, "Wright's position is less about Moore than it is a mere reassertion that his expert, Dr. Kasper, was more reliable than the State's, Dr. Gamache." Majority op. at 778. For these reasons, I concur in result but do not agree with the unnecessary discussion of adaptive strengths and prison behavior.
In
Wright
, we recounted the evidence presented at the renewed ID hearing at length.
This definition parallels the current medical consensus surrounding the definition of
According to Justice Lawson's opinion, the fact that Wright failed to establish this first prong ends our inquiry. Concurring in result op. at 779-80 (Lawson, J.) (citing
Salazar v. State
,
Wright challenges Dufour 's concurrent adaptive deficit requirement. Neither Hall nor Moore addressed the issue; yet both the AAIDD-11 and DSM-5 state that current adaptive deficits are the focus of this inquiry. AAIDD-11, at 54 ("Currently, adaptive behavior is defined and measured on the basis of the individual's typical present functioning."); DSM-5, at 38 ("[The second prong] is met when at least one domain of adaptive functioning ... is sufficiently impaired that ongoing support is needed."). Moreover, because intelligence and functioning deficits must present themselves during the developmental stage (prong three), it seems necessary that they exist at the same time (i.e., before a defendant turns eighteen). See DSM-5, at 38; AAIDD-11, at 11-12. Thus, with regard to his Dufour challenge, Wright's claim fails.
The DSM-5 differs from earlier editions in that adaptive deficits are now organized into three broad domains as opposed to numerous subcategories. Prior opinions held that defendants must show deficits in at least two of the previous smaller subcategories.
E.g.
,
Dufour
,
In Texas, the CCA is " 'the ultimate factfinder' in habeas corpus proceedings" rather than the court of first instance.
Moore
,
To the extent that this Court has discussed relatedness, it has been in the context of experts relying on the DSM-5-which retains the relatedness requirement-rather than imposing an arbitrary list of evidentiary factors like
Briseno
.
See
Glover
, 226 So.3d at 810 ;
Hampton v. State
,
Ignoring this important qualification, Justice Pariente's opinion reads
Moore
far beyond its holding. Concurring in result op. at 780-81 (Pariente, J.) ("[A]daptive strengths do not overcome adaptive deficits and conduct in prison, a structured environment, should not be relied on ...."). The Supreme Court faulted the CCA for "overemphasiz[ing]" or "plac[ing] undue emphasis on adaptive strengths" and "caution[ing] against reliance on" prison conduct.
Moore
,
At this point, we feel the need to express the difficult position that the States are placed in due to the Supreme Court's lack of clear guidance on this analysis.
See
Moore
,
For death defendants who have typically been in prison for some time, this lack of guidance is particularly problematic. For instance, the AAIDD-11 instructs that an adaptive functioning analysis centers on an individual's "present functioning," AAIDD-11, at 54, but it warns against considering prison functioning,
Of course, nothing prohibits a circuit court from reaching and considering all three prongs, especially in cases involving what may be considered a "close call." Doing so ensures that if, on appeal, this Court determines competent substantial evidence does not support the trial court's determination as to one prong, we will have a developed record to review the other prongs without reversing and remanding for further proceedings.
Salazar
is a unanimous per curiam decision from this Court, decided after
Hall v. Florida
,
The two medical diagnostic standards relied on in
Moore
are the DSM and the AAIDD, current editions. "DSM-5" refers to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. Additionally "AAIDD-11" refers to the eleventh edition of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities clinical manual. Both are considered the "current medical diagnostic standards."
Moore
,
"CCA" refers to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' court of last resort in criminal cases.
Moore
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Tavares J. WRIGHT, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published