RUSSELL J. CHAUDOIN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1980-03-12
No. 79-133
DAUKSCH, C. J., and SHARP, J., concur.
383 So. 2d 645 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1980) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Russell Chaudoin sought post-conviction relief under Rule 3.850, claiming his court-appointed attorney was ineffective for filing a notice of appeal before the trial court ruled on a motion for new trial, thereby waiving his right to appeal the sufficiency of the evidence. The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's denial of the motion but appointed a commissioner to hear evidence on whether appellate review should be granted as a matter of discretion.


Holding

Rule 3.850 is not the appropriate procedure for raising claims of frustration of appellate review, which does not occur during trial and does not affect the validity of a conviction. However, the proper remedy of petition for writ of habeas corpus directed to the appellate court should be treated as properly invoked under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.040(c), and the court appointed a commissioner to take testimony to determine whether Chaudoin is entitled to full appellate review.


Headnotes

[1] A motion for post-conviction relief under Rule 3.850 is not the appropriate procedure to raise the issue of frustration of appellate review by counsel.

[2] The proper remedy for frustration of appellate review by counsel is a petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking delayed appellate review.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“[QUOTE REDACTED — failed verbatim audit (paraphrase, not verbatim). See original_text for the text as originally displayed.]”

Establishes the legal principle that filing a notice of appeal before the trial court rules on a motion for new trial waives the right to appeal sufficiency of evidence claims.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Chaudoin was convicted of second degree murder and aggravated battery. After conviction, his court-appointed counsel filed a motion for a new trial. B…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
COBB, Judge.

COBB, Judge.

The appellant filed in the trial court, pursuant to Rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, a motion to vacate judgment and sentence imposed for the crime of second degree murder and aggravated battery. We affirm the trial court’s denial concerning the first eight grounds raised in the motion. The ninth ground raises the issue of whether appellant’s right to appellate review by direct appeal from the judgment and sentence had been frustrated by his court-appointed attorney. In effect, appellant contends that his court-appointed counsel was ineffective on appeal. Appellant alleges that after the conviction his attorney filed a motion for a new trial. Before the trial court acted on the motion for new trial appellant’s attorney filed a notice of appeal, thereby nullifying the motion for a new trial. See Harrell v. State, 197 So. 2d 505 (Fla.1967). Since a denial of a motion for new trial “is an absolute prerequisite to any appellate consideration of the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction,” Huntley v. State, 267 So. 2d 374, 376 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972), appointed counsel thereby waived appellant’s right to appeal that issue. In his brief in support of his motion for post-conviction relief, appellant alleges that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction, and alleges that his appointed counsel frustrated his right to appellate review of this issue.

Frustration of appeal does not occur during trial and does not affect the validity of a conviction, therefore Rule 3.850 is not the appropriate procedure for raising this issue. The trial court was correct in denying the motion for post-conviction relief. See State v. Wooden, 246 So. 2d 755 (Fla.1971); Mays v. State, 285 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973). The proper remedy is to apply for delayed appellate review by petition for writ of habeas corpus directed to the appellate court for the district in which the appellant was convicted. Baggett v. Wainwright, 229 So. 2d 239 (Fla.1969); Hollingshead v. Wainwright, 194 So. 2d 577 (Fla.1967).

However, under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.040(c), this court will treat this case as though the proper remedy had been sought. See Article V, Section 2(a), Florida Constitution (1973); Thompson v. Dilley, 275 So. 2d 234 (Fla.1973); Tobler v. State, 350 So. 2d 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); Rushing v. State, 233 So. 2d 137 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970). Accordingly, in order to determine whether petitioner is entitled to full appellate review, the Honorable John W. Booth Circuit Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida, is appointed a Commissioner to take testimony and receive evidence as is necessary to resolve petitioner’s allegations, and thereafter, with all convenient speed, report his findings and recommendations to this Court.

It is so ordered.

DAUKSCH, C. J., and SHARP, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Williams v. State, 454 So. 2d 756 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
    …). However, the motion was properly denied because “frustration of appeal does not occur during trial and does not affect the validity of a conviction, therefore Rule 3.850 is not the appropriate procedure for raising this issue.” Chaudoin v. State, 383 So. 2d 645, 646 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). This court has also affirmed the denial of a Rule 3.850 motion alleging similar error, holding that such error “does not affect the validity of the conviction and sentence.” See Edwards v. State, 410 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 1st DC…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw