Whether a defendant's autonomy to decide the objective of the defense is violated by the assertion of a voluntary intoxication defense

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether a defendant’s “[a]utonomy to decide that the objective of the defense is to assert innocence.” McCoy v. Louisiana, 138 S.Ct. 1500, 1508 (2018), is violated by the assertion of a voluntary intoxication defense which by its very nature only negates the specific intent element of first-degree murder. 2. Whether trial counsel “usurp[s] control” in violation of the Sixth Amendment when he presents an affirmative defense conceding his client committed a criminal act rather than “maintain [the defendant’s] innocence, leaving it to the State to prove his guilt. Beyond a reasonable doubt”, as the defendant had asserted. See McCoy, 138 S. Ct. at 1511. i NOTICE OF RELATED CASES Per Supreme Court Rule 14.1(b) (iii), the following cases relate to this petition: Underlying Trial: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Judgement Entered September 9, 1993 Appellate Proceedings: Florida Supreme Court (Case No. 60-83,063) Merck v. State, 664 So. 2d 939 (Fla. 1995) Conviction Affirmed; Sentence Set Aside: October 12, 1995 Re-Sentencing Proceedings: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Sentence of Death Imposed: September 12, 1997 Appellate Proceedings: Florida Supreme Court (Case No. 60-91,581) Merck v. State, 763 So. 2d 295 (Fla. 2000) Death Sentence Vacated: July 13, 2000 Second Re-Sentencing Proceedings: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Sentence of Death Imposed: August 6, 2004 Appellate Proceedings: Florida Supreme Court (Case No. SC04-1902) Merck v. State, 975 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 2007) Death Sentence Affirmed: December 6, 2007 Initial Postconviction Proceedings: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Judgement Entered August 27, 2010 (denying motion) Appellate Proceedings: Florida Supreme Court (Case No. SC10-1830) Merck v. State, 124 So. 3d 785 (Fla. 2013) Affirmed: January 24, 2013 Successive Postconviction Proceedings: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Judgement Entered December 20, 2018 (denying motion) ii Appellate Proceedings: Florida Supreme Court (Case No. SC18-88) Merck v. State, 260 So. 3d 184 (Fla. 2018) Affirmed: December 28, 2018 Second Successive Postconviction Proceedings: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Judgement Entered May 4, 2017 (vacating death sentence and order a new penalty phase based on Hurst v. Florida, 136 S.Ct. 616 (2016) Third Successive Postconviction Proceedings: Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida State of Florida v. Troy Merck, Jr., Case No. 91-16659 CFANO Judgement Entered September 26, 2019 (dismissing motion) Appellate Proceedings: Florida Supreme Court (Case No. SC19-1864) Merck v. State, 298 So. 3d 1120 (Fla. 2020) Affirmed: July 9, 2020 iii