HOLLIS E. SUTTON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The circuit court correctly denied the motion to vacate misdemeanor convictions due to lack of jurisdiction and correctly denied the motion regarding delinquency adjudication for failure to allege indigency.
Appellant sought to vacate misdemeanor convictions and an adjudication of delinquency, alleging denial of counsel in each instance. The misdemeanor co…
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GRIMES, Chief Judge.
Appellant challenges the circuit court’s summary denial of his motion to vacate three misdemeanor convictions and an adjudication of delinquency. In each claim, appellant alleged that he was denied the right to counsel.
We first consider the claims arising from the misdemeanor convictions. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 requires the defendant to seek relief from “the court which entered the judgment or imposed the sentence.” Appellant was convicted of the misdemeanors in county court. Consequently, the circuit court had no jurisdiction to review the legality of those convictions.
It was the circuit court which adjudicated appellant to be a delinquent; so that court did have jurisdiction over appellant’s motion with respect to the delinquency proceedings. Moreover, indigent juveniles are entitled to have counsel provided to them during such proceedings. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967). Nevertheless, to sustain a claim for denial of counsel, appellant had to allege that he was indigent at the time he appeared before the juvenile court. Savage v. State, 156 So. 2d 566 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963). This he did not do. Therefore, his motion did not state grounds for relief.
AFFIRMED.
HOBSON and OTT, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Breen v. State, 801 So. 2d 271 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)…tate v. Perry, 786 So. 2d 554 (Fla.2001). While the motion to set aside was filed in county court, the circuit court entered the order denying relief. We reverse, as the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to rule on Breen’s motion. Sutton v. State, 384 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). On remand, the county court shall consider the merits of Breen’s claim including the application of Wood to misdemeanors, whether the state’s challenge is barred by the law of the case doctrine, and if not, whether Breen’s claim…
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Dilallo v. State, 903 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…from the court which entertained his prosecution. That would be the county court in this case. Thus, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the 3.850 motion filed. See Breen v. State, 801 So. 2d 271 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Sutton v. State, 384 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). We reverse and remand to the county court to entertain the appellant’s pending post-conviction motion. Reversed and remanded. STONE, SHAHOOD and MAY, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1967)
- Savage v. State, 156 So. 2d 566 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963)