RONNIE L. JONES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida Supreme Court reversed the trial court's denial of an evidentiary hearing on Jones's Rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief in a capital case, holding that the motion alleged sufficient facts regarding alleged incompetency to stand trial that warranted an evidentiary hearing before execution.
The Court held that the motion, files, and records did not conclusively show that Jones was not entitled to relief, and therefore the trial court erred in denying an evidentiary hearing without addressing the merits of the incompetency claim.
[1] A trial court must grant an evidentiary hearing on a motion for postconviction relief unless the motion, files, and records conclusively show that the prisoner is entitle…
[2] Affidavits from counsel and medical professionals opining on a defendant's incompetence to stand trial are sufficient to require an evidentiary hearing if they are not co…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“trial courts should grant evidentiary hearings on 3.850 motions unless the motion, files, and records conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief”
Establishes the standard for when evidentiary hearings must be granted on post-conviction relief motions.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJones was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, carrying a concealed firearm, and unlawful possession of a firearm whil…
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PER CURIAM.
Jones was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, carrying a concealed firearm, and unlawful possession of a firearm while engaged in a felony. He was sentenced to death following a jury recommendation that death be imposed. This Court affirmed the convictions and sentences. Jones v. State, 449 So. 2d 253 (Fla.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 269, 83 L.Ed.2d 205 (1984). Sitting as the Board of Executive Clemency on September 12, 1985, the Governor and Cabinet determined there was no basis for clemency.
On October 8, 1985, the Governor signed a death warrant effective for the weeks of October 29 through November 5, 1985.
On October 30, 1985, Jones filed a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion and a request for a stay of the death warrant with the trial court which the court denied without holding an evidentiary hearing. Jones now appeals this denial of an evidentiary hearing. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution and previously granted a stay of execution.
We have previously held that trial courts should grant evidentiary hearings on 3.850 motions unless the motion, files, and records conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief. Porter v. State, 478 So. 2d 33 (Fla.1985); Middleton v. State, 465 So. 2d 1218 (Fla.1985); Jones v. State, 446 So. 2d 1059 (Fla.1984).
The gist of Jones’s claim is that he was incompetent to stand trial. In support, Jones has filed affidavits from his lawyers opining that he was incompetent to stand trial and from various doctors opining that he suffers from organic brain damage and was and is incompetent to stand trial. The state urges that these affidavits are refuted by the trial record which shows that Jones was competent to stand trial and that the trial court did not err in denying the motion without an evidentiary hearing. Whatever the ultimate merits of the respective positions, we do not agree that the motion, files, and records conclusively show that Jones is not entitled to any relief.
We reverse and remand with instructions that Jones be granted an evidentiary hearing.
It is so ordered.
BOYD, C.J., and OVERTON, MCDONALD, EHRLICH and SHAW, JJ„ concur. ADKINS, J., dissents.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Nixon v. Singletary, 758 So. 2d 618 (Fla. 2000)…rd does not support this conclusion. On the contrary, the record reflects that at the very least, Nixon was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on whether he was competent to stand trial. See Peede v. State, 748 So. 2d 253 (Fla.1999); Jones v. State, 478 So. 2d 346 (Fla.1985). In fact, the State concedes that because the judge, prosecutor, and defense counsel in this case, as well as some of the experts who evaluated Nixon contemporaneously with the time of trial and who opined that a competency hearing was no…
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Jones v. State, 740 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 1999)…erits of the respective positions, we do not agree that the motion, files, and records conclusively show that Jones is not entitled to any relief. We reverse and remand with instructions that Jones be granted an evidentiary hearing. Jones v. State, 478 So. 2d 346, 347 (Fla.1985) {Jones II). On April 6, 1995, appellant filed an amended motion for postconviction relief. The trial court then ordered an evidentiary hearing on the original competency issue and deferred the remaining issues until after that issue…
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Thompson v. State, 88 So. 3d 312 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…n. Affirmed. WARNER, TAYLOR and CIKLIN, JJ., concur. . Prior decisions appear to have acknowledged the viability of postconviction substantive incompetency claims where the circumstances strongly suggested actual incompetency. See Jones v. State, 478 So. 2d 346, 347 (Fla.1985), on appeal after remand, 740 So. 2d 520 (Fla.1999). The supreme court has distinguished Jones where the circumstances suggesting substantive incompetency were not strong. Bush v. Wainwright, 505 So. 2d 409, 410-11 (Fla.1987); James v…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Jones v. State, 449 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 1984)
- Jones v. State, 446 So. 2d 1059 (Fla. 1984)
- Middleton v. State, 465 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 1985)
- Raleigh Porter v. State, 478 So. 2d 33 (Fla. 1985)