Charles C. Peterson, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee; Charles C. Peterson, Petitioner, v. Michael D. Crews…

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Peterson's postconviction motion and denied his habeas petition. It held that Peterson failed to establish deficient performance and prejudice based on counsel's handling of juror challenges, eyewitness identifications, trial issues, penalty-phase mitigation, or cumulative error. Although appellate counsel made a deficient factual misstatement about Peterson's convictions in collateral cases, the error did not undermine confidence in the appellate result. Justice Pariente, joined by Justice Quince, concurred separately to urge broader admissibility of eyewitness-identification expert testimony in appropriate cases.