[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 07-13768 AUGUST 7, 2008
________________________ THOMAS K. KAHN
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 00-01996-CV-SDM-TGW
RICHARD EARLE SHERE, JR.,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
ATTORNEY GENERAL, STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondents-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(August 7, 2008)
Before TJOFLAT, BLACK and WILSON, Circuit Judges.
BLACK, Circuit Judge:
Richard Earle Shere, Jr., a Florida death row inmate, appeals the district
court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. During the penalty phase
of Shere’s state criminal trial, the prosecutor1 made Biblical references on three
separate occasions while cross-examining defense mitigation witnesses. Shere
now contends his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise a challenge
to these Biblical references on direct appeal. After review, we affirm the district
court’s denial of Shere’s habeas petition.
I. BACKGROUND
Shere was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death for his
role in the murder of Drew Snyder. The facts underlying Shere’s conviction are
set forth in the Florida Supreme Court’s decision affirming his conviction and
sentence and need not be repeated here. See Shere v. State, 579 So. 2d 86, 88-89
(Fla. 1991). For purposes of this appeal, what is relevant is what happened during
the penalty phase of Shere’s trial.
Shere called 14 witnesses to testify on his behalf during the penalty phase.
He presented a mitigation theory based on his being a generally good and religious
person, who had been hurt by his parents’ divorce and who was more prone to lead
1
There were two prosecutors involved in this case: Anthony Tatti and Bradley King. For
convenience, we will not distinguish between them.
2
than to follow. Of particular importance to this appeal are the direct and cross-
examinations of three witnesses who discussed Shere’s religious beliefs and
practices: Shere’s sister, Deanne Judith Simpson; Shere’s pastor, Rose Grindheim
Sims; and Shere himself. The relevant parts of their exchanges with defense
counsel and the prosecutor are as follows:
A. Deanne Judith Simpson
1. Direct Examination
DEFENSE: Okay. What do you know about Rick’s religious
beliefs and his faith in God?
SIMPSON: I know that he believes in God and I know that if
he goes to the electric chair, he will be in heaven
with me.
DEFENSE: Have you done any --
SIMPSON: But that won’t happen because he’s a good man
and I love him to death.
DEFENSE: What have you done to try to bring him closer to
God yourself?
SIMPSON: I’ve prayed with him a lot since I married him and
Heidi to give their son a reputable name and a
good life.
2. Cross-Examination
PROSECUTOR: Okay. And you’ve described your brother as a
religious man. Is that right? He believes in God?
3
SIMPSON: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: He believes in God’s Law?
SIMPSON: He does now.
PROSECUTOR: Yes, ma’am. Do you know whether or not he’s
aware of the Ten Commandments, the
commandment against taking another human life?
DEFENSE: I’m going to object to that, Your Honor. She can’t
say what he’s aware of. It’s irrelevant.
THE COURT: Objection sustained.
B. Rose Grindhein Sims
1. Direct Examination
DEFENSE: What can you tell the jury about Rick’s belief in
God, about his religious faith?
SIMS: I first met Richard’s grandmother when she came
to our church, and then I called on her and then I
called on Richard, Sr. And then he began bringing
Richard to church with his wife, Pam.
....
I probably have known Richard better than most
other people have in the last three years because
I’ve counseled with him over and over and over
again. And when I counsel with him, I counsel
that he accept Christ as his savior, and Richard did
this. After a great struggle, both he and [his first
wife] Pam accepted Christ.
4
And the day that they accepted Christ, Pam said,
“Does this mean that I have to stay with Richard?”
I said, “God isn’t going to keep you out of heaven
if you get a divorce. You have to try to make it
work,” but both he and Pam accepted Christ. And
the second Sunday after that, I think, with great
sincerity, both he and Pam came forward to
profess their faith in Christ. He has never rejected
that decision that he made. I baptized him.
....
He was a brand new Christian. He was stumbling.
He was growing. He was trying to do God’s will
and we shared together in many ways.
2. Cross-Examination
PROSECUTOR: Reverend Sims, you indicated earlier, I think, that
you counseled with Rick --
SIMS: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: -- about Christ and his Christian faith. Is that
correct?
SIMS: Yes, I sure did.
PROSECUTOR: And that was sometime prior to December of
1987. Is that correct?
SIMS: Yes, sir.
PROSECUTOR: And correct me if I’m wrong. I’m Baptist and I
think basically we believe the same thing.
SIMS: I was a Baptist minister’s wife for many years.
5
PROSECUTOR: When you counseled with him, you explained to
him, did you not, that he has personal
responsibility for his sins. Is that right?
SIMS: Absolutely.
PROSECUTOR: And that he is responsible before God and
everybody else for the sins he’s committed. Is that
correct?
SIMS: Yes. That we confess them to Christ and he
forgives them.
PROSECUTOR: And he understood that concept.
SIMS: He understood that one sin, but all of us have
sinned. All of us have done things wrong.
PROSECUTOR: Absolutely. And the wages of sin is death.
SIMS: Exactly.
PROSECUTOR: Did you discuss with Rick, I’m sure, sins and the
Ten Commandments, and that one of the sins is
thou shall not kill or commit murder. Correct?
SIMS: Sir, I said to him that no sin that you commit or
that anyone commits is any different, that God
forgives all sins equally. That’s why I said if they
were divorced, God would not hold that sin any
worse than any other sin.
PROSECUTOR: Right. But nonetheless, that is a sin, is it not?
SIMS: Each transgression is a sin.
PROSECUTOR: Okay.
6
SIMS: Yours and mine.
PROSECUTOR: Right. So regardless of Christ’s acceptance of him
and Christ’s forgiveness of him, --
SIMS: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: -- does not the [B]ible teach, I’m sure you
explained to Rick, that regardless of that
forgiveness, he still has personal responsibility for
the act that he committed on Christmas of 1987. Is
that correct?
DEFENSE: Objection. That’s been asked and answered, his
personal responsibility.
THE COURT: Objection overruled.
PROSECUTOR: Is that correct, ma’am?
SIMS: Sir, I have never said that he committed an act on
Christmas Eve.
PROSECUTOR: If this jury has found that he committed murder on
Christmas, 1987, is he not, before God and
everybody else, personally responsible for that
act?
SIMS: You’re an attorney.
PROSECUTOR: Ma’am, --
SIMS: The law says that. Right?
PROSECUTOR: Is that correct?
7
SIMS: Each person is responsible for anything that we
do.
PROSECUTOR: Right?
SIMS: Life does not hold us irresponsible just because
you’re a Christian.
PROSECUTOR: That’s correct.
SIMS: And I’m not indicating that.
PROSECUTOR: Okay. I just want to make sure that we understand
that we’re talking about two different
responsibilities.
SIMS: Absolutely. I understand that.
PROSECUTOR: Okay. Do you hold a personal belief about the
death penalty?
SIMS: I don’t believe that’s the question here, and I don’t
think that that is --
PROSECUTOR: Ma’am, --
SIMS: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: -- I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt, but --
DEFENSE: Your Honor, I’m going to have to object to this
question.
THE COURT: Objection overruled.
PROSECUTOR: Would you answer the question, please, ma’am?
8
SIMS: I don’t believe that is the question here. I think
there’s a whole lot of difference between a Bundy
and a boy like this.
PROSECUTOR: Your Honor, would you instruct the witness --
THE COURT: Ma’am, just answer the question. It calls for a yes
or no, or if you feel like a yes or no is inadequate,
then I’ll let you explain it.
SIMS: I think a yes or no is inadequate.
THE COURT: Then you’ve got to say one or the other and then
explain it.
SIMS: Okay. I believe that there are circumstances.
PROSECUTOR: Yes, ma’am.
SIMS: Right.
PROSECUTOR: Circumstances that would warrant a death penalty.
SIMS: Yes. When there is absolute evidence, when there
are fingerprints, --
C. Richard Shere, Jr.
1. Direct Examination
DEFENSE: I want you to tell me about your religious beliefs.
I know it’s hard for you and it’s hard to testify
here today, but tell the jury what are your religious
beliefs. How do you feel about the Lord?
SHERE: Well, it’s kind of hard growing up in a world of
material things all your life and then having to
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adapt to a spiritual world, but I’m very close to
God and I’m starting to really understand him. In
the last three years I’ve really took on a lot of what
it’s all about, you know, got a whole lot of
understanding about what the Lord and the [B]ible
is about. I’ve read a lot on it and I’ve proven to
myself that the [B]ible is true and everything in it
is true.
DEFENSE: Who’s helped you come closer to God? Can you
tell the jury what you’ve done, what kind of things
you’ve done to work on your faith and become
deeper in your faith?
SHERE: Well, in the last three years I’ve been involved in a
lot of church activity and that’s helped me out a lot
because I like building things. My pastor has
coached me through everything in the last three
years, and I feel that she’s helped me more than
anybody as far as getting involved in that type of
environment, and I’ve really liked it. It’s been
very beneficial to me.
DEFENSE: Would you like to have the opportunity to bring
other people closer to God?
SHERE: Yes.
DEFENSE: How would you like to do that?
SHERE: I talk to people all the time, other inmates and
stuff. I try to keep most everybody happy and out
of trouble. I see a lot of bad people in there. I
never thought there was that many bad people.
....
10
DEFENSE: How often do you pray, Rick?
SHERE: I pray every morning when I wake up and every
night before I go to sleep.
DEFENSE: How long have you been in the habit of praying
every morning and every evening?
SHERE: Pretty much for the last seven months. Before that
I prayed probably three times a week.
DEFENSE: Have you ever said a prayer for Drew Snyder?
SHERE: Yes, ma’am.
DEFENSE: Okay. Can you tell the jury about that?
SHERE: After his death I felt, you know, that I can’t really
say nothing bad about him, but I just felt that he
wasn’t saved, and I pray that the Lord will take
that into consideration on his part. And I pray that
he will be saved along with me and my family and
everyone else.
2. Cross-Examination
PROSECUTOR: Okay. You talked quite a bit with your attorney
about your religious beliefs and you indicated, I
think, that you have strong feelings about the Lord
and you’ve been saved. Is that true?
SHERE: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: I think you went on to say that you had been
reading the [B]ible and learning about the laws
that God said apply to your life. Is that true?
11
SHERE: Yes, sir.
PROSECUTOR: You know that one of those laws that God says
applies to your life and everybody’s life is one of
the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not kill. Is
that correct?
SHERE: Yes, sir.
PROSECUTOR: Do you believe that applies to you, sir?
SHERE: Yes, sir. I believe that applies to everyone.
PROSECUTOR: Right. Also, a little bit further in that same book,
Exodus Chapter 21, more laws are given to Moses
for the people of Israel. Part of those laws say that
if a man lies in wait or premeditates the death of
another man and by doing that kills him that the
sentence is death.
DEFENSE: Your honor, I’m going to have to object to this.
PROSECUTOR: Do you agree with that?
THE COURT: Objection sustained.
SHERE: Yes, I believe --
PROSECUTOR: Mr. Shere, you said that you said a prayer for
Drew and that was after his death. Is that right?
SHERE: Yes, sir.
PROSECUTOR: Did you do anything to give him a Christian burial
on Christmas of 1987?
DEFENSE: Object, Your Honor.
12
THE COURT: Objection overruled.
SHERE: He was buried in a really beautiful place and I said
a prayer over the grave after I was forced to cover
him up.
The jury returned a 7-5 recommendation in favor of the death penalty,
which the court followed in sentencing Shere to death. Shere appealed his
conviction and sentence on various grounds, but on direct appeal his appellate
counsel raised no challenge to the Biblical references the prosecutor made during
the penalty phase of the trial.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review de novo the district court’s denial of a habeas corpus petition.
McNair v. Campbell, 416 F.3d 1291, 1297 (11th Cir. 2005). An ineffective
assistance of counsel claim is a mixed question of law and fact, which we review
de novo. Id.
Because Shere filed his federal habeas petition after April 24, 1996, this
case is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
(AEDPA), Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), which “establishes a
highly deferential standard for reviewing state court judgments.” McNair, 416
F.3d at 1297 (citation omitted). Under AEDPA, a person in custody pursuant to
the judgment of a state court is entitled to habeas relief only if the state court’s
13
decision was (1) “contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly
established Federal law as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States;
or (2) . . . was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the
evidence presented in the State court proceeding.” Id. (quoting 28 U.S.C. §
2254(d)).
III. DISCUSSION
Shere claims the prosecutor’s Biblical references during cross-examination
were improper and his appellate counsel should have challenged these references
on direct appeal. Because appellate counsel failed to raise such a challenge, Shere
contends he received ineffective assistance. A defendant can establish ineffective
assistance of appellate counsel by showing: (1) appellate counsel’s performance
was deficient, and (2) but for counsel’s deficient performance he would have
prevailed on appeal. Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. 259, 285-86, 120 S. Ct. 746, 764
(2000) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S. Ct. 2052 (1984)).
For the reasons that follow, we conclude Shere has not carried his burden of
proving he is entitled to habeas relief under AEDPA based on a claim of
ineffective assistance.
Under AEDPA, Shere is entitled to federal habeas relief only if the Florida
Supreme Court’s resolution of his ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim
14
is contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, as
set forth by the United States Supreme Court. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Shere has not
framed his claim in these terms. However, even if we assume Shere properly
framed his claim, we nonetheless conclude he has not carried his burden under
AEDPA.
In denying Shere’s ineffective assistance claim, the Florida Supreme Court
suggested appellate counsel’s performance was not deficient for two reasons.
Shere v. Moore, 830 So. 2d 56, 59 (Fla. 2002). First, appellate counsel could not
have challenged many of the prosecutor’s Biblical references because in many
instances Shere’s trial counsel failed to object. Id. Second, it was the defense that
injected religion into the proceedings in the first place, so the prosecutor’s
exploring religion on cross-examination was not reversible error, and thus, no
meritorious ground for appeal existed. Id.
The Florida Supreme Court’s decision is neither contrary to, nor an
unreasonable application of, clearly established United States Supreme Court law.
Shere has identified no United States Supreme Court case holding appellate
counsel rendered constitutionally deficient performance in a situation like that
before us, i.e., where appellate counsel failed to challenge a prosecutor’s
references to religion during the cross-examination of witnesses who had already
15
testified to religious matters on direct. Moreover, Shere has not identified any
basis from which we can conclude the Florida Supreme Court unreasonably
applied United States Supreme Court law when it denied his ineffective assistance
claim. Thus, Shere is not entitled to habeas relief under AEDPA.
In his brief, Shere relies on our decision in Romine v. Head, 253 F.3d 1349
(11th Cir. 2001), to show the impropriety of the prosecutor’s Biblical references.
Shere’s reliance on Romine is misplaced in the federal habeas context. As
discussed above, under AEDPA, our review is limited to examining whether the
highest state court’s resolution of a petitioner’s claim is contrary to, or an
unreasonable application of, clearly established law, as set forth by the United
States Supreme Court. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); see also Newland v. Hall, 527 F.3d
1162, 1199 (11th Cir. 2008). Thus, Romine, an Eleventh Circuit case, cannot form
the basis of habeas relief under AEDPA.
Even if we were permitted to consider Eleventh Circuit law in resolving a
habeas claim under AEDPA, the prosecutor’s Biblical references in this case do
not constitute error under Romine. That case involved the resentencing trial of
Larry Romine, who had been convicted of murdering his parents. During the
trial, Romine’s grandfather appeared as a defense witness, and the prosecutor
cross-examined him on whether he believed in the New Testament verse
16
commanding “honor your mother and father or be put to death.” Romine, 253 F.3d
at 1358-59. Then, at closing argument, the prosecutor gave the jurors “a hell fire
and brimstone mini-sermon the effect of which was to tell them that regardless of
the law of Georgia, they ought to follow the law of God.” Id. at 1369. In the
course of his closing, the prosecutor quoted various passages from the Bible,
informed the jury it would simply be carrying out its duty by sentencing Romine to
death, and admonished the jury not to ignore the Bible just because it was asked to
apply state law. See id. at 1360-61. We determined the prosecutor’s extensive
reliance on religion during his closing argument was improper, noting it is error
for a prosecutor to mislead a jury by quoting scripture for the proposition that a
higher authority mandates death for murderers. Id. at 1368.
What Shere challenges is fundamentally different from what we held
improper in Romine. There, we dealt with a prosecutor who unilaterally advanced
Biblical arguments during closing to convince the jury the Bible required the death
penalty. It was the prosecutor’s closing arguments we found problematic, not his
Biblical quotation during cross-examination. Unlike Romine, Shere does not
contend the prosecutor made improper Biblical arguments to the jury during
closing. Instead, Shere challenges the Biblical nature of the questions asked by
the prosecutor during cross-examination. In Romine, the prosecutor asked a
17
defense witness whether he believed in the Biblical passage prescribing death for
one who fails to honor his mother and father, and we acknowledged this, standing
alone, was not constitutionally improper. Id. at 1358-59. The prosecutor’s
conduct in this case is nearly identical to that which we condoned in Romine.
Indeed, there is nothing inherently problematic with a prosecutor’s asking
religious questions while cross-examining defense witnesses who were put on the
stand to testify about a capital defendant’s religion, so long as the cross-
examination does not exceed the scope of the religious subject matter explored on
direct. Shere injected religion into the proceedings when he called witnesses to
establish a mitigation defense based in part on religion, and he asked them fairly
searching questions aimed at highlighting his religious beliefs and practices.
Because the subject of religion was broadly addressed during direct examination,
it was within the province of the prosecutor’s authority to test that defense through
cross-examination. In doing so, the prosecutor did not exceed the scope of the
religious testimony with his questions; therefore, the prosecutor’s Biblical
references were valid cross-examination. Shere’s appellate counsel did not have a
meritorious issue to raise on appeal, so his failure to address the issue did not
constitute deficient performance. Chandler v. Moore, 240 F.3d 907, 917 (11th
Cir. 2001) (noting appellate counsel is not ineffective for failing to raise a
18
meritless issue on appeal). Thus, Shere’s ineffective assistance of appellate
counsel claim is without merit.2
In summary, Shere would not be entitled to habeas relief even if his claim
were properly framed in terms of AEDPA. The Florida Supreme Court’s denial of
his ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim is neither contrary to, nor an
unreasonable application of, clearly established United States Supreme Court law.
Shere’s reliance on Romine is misplaced, since under AEDPA our review of his
habeas claim is limited to examining United States Supreme Court cases. Even if
that were not the case, the prosecutor’s Biblical references were within the scope
of valid cross-examination under Romine, and thus Shere’s appellate counsel did
not perform deficiently in failing to challenge them on appeal.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude the district court did not err in
rejecting Shere’s ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim. The district
court’s order is
AFFIRMED.
2
We also note Shere’s trial counsel did not preserve a claim for appeal with regard to the
Biblical references, and under almost identical facts to those before us, the Florida Supreme
Court has held a prosecutor’s Biblical questioning during cross-examination is not fundamental
error. See Farina v. State, 937 So. 2d 612, 632 (Fla. 2006).
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