ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Circuit Judge Wendy Berger has denied death row inmate Norman McKenzie's motion to throw out his 2007 conviction and sentencing.
McKenzie was convicted of first-degree murder and is on death row for killing two men, Randy Peacock and Charles Johnston, with a hatchet and a butcher knife. Prosecutors said the killings were motivated by robbery; McKenzie took the victims' wallets, cash, credit cards and fled in Peacock's car.
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McKenzie requested and was granted the right to represent himself at a jury trial was held in August 2007. McKenzie was found guilty as charged.
Following the verdict, he requested a lawyer for the penalty phase, then changed his mind and representend himself at sentencing. The jury recommended the death penalty.
The motion to vacate judgment of conviction and sentence was filed on Sept. 15. In a 13-page order on Thursday, Berger denied McKenzie's request for an evidentiary hearing on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, and McKenzie failed to demonstrate prejudice, such as, that a reasonable probability exists that, but for counsel's error, the result in the case would have been different.
Berger also wrote in her order that the court finds the defendant's ground one that the state denied him a full and fair sentencing to have no merit. In July 2007, while still represented by counsel, McKenzie made it clear that he did not want a continuance and that he wanted to go to trial as soon as possible.
Berger wrote, "Additionally, defendant voluntarily chose to represent himself and assumed the consequences of such representation; therefore, he cannot complain that he received ineffective assistance of counsel."
McKenzie also claimed he was denied meaningful access to the court because he was not given access to a law library. Berger ruled that the defendant was appropriately informed of the limited access he would have to legal materials when the defendant chose to waive his right to assistance of competent counsel.
Berger referenced to court transcripts documenting the defendant being informed of the limited access to legal materials while incarcerated.