Tai A. Pham, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee; Tai A. Pham, Petitioner, v. Julie L. Jones

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Pham’s postconviction motion and denied his habeas petition. It held that Pham failed to establish prejudice from alleged deficiencies in trial counsel’s mitigation investigation or impeachment of a witness, and that his cumulative-error claim therefore failed. The court also rejected his ineffective-assistance claims against appellate counsel because the omitted claims were either already addressed or meritless. Justice Pariente, concurring in result, would have affirmed solely because Pham failed to establish prejudice, while concluding that counsel’s mitigation investigation was deficient.