PAUL JOSEPH CLIFFORD, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1987-10-09
No. 87-2231
RYDER, A.C.J., and LEHAN and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.
513 So. 2d 772 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1987) Negative Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Paul Clifford appealed the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 postconviction relief motion, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel regarding parole eligibility information. The Second District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that Clifford made a prima facie showing that prison officials may have delayed mailing his motion and is entitled to a hearing on the timeliness issue and the underlying ineffective assistance claim.


Holding

The court reversed and held that Clifford made a prima facie showing that prison officials may have delayed mailing his motion and is entitled to a hearing on whether he demonstrated reasonable diligence and whether state action unreasonably delayed filing. If the state concedes timeliness, the trial court should determine if the record conclusively demonstrates Clifford is not entitled to relief; otherwise, he is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the underlying ineffective assistance claim.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant may be entitled to withdraw a guilty plea if counsel failed to inform them of mandatory minimum sentences and promised a shorter release date.

[2] A trial court must attach record evidence refuting a defendant's claims when summarily denying a motion for postconviction relief.

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Key Quotes

“There is no rational basis for granting belated appellate review of a 3.850 motion whenever state action has interfered with the timely filing of that appeal, and not extending the same protection to the 3.850 proceeding itself.”

Establishes that the Baggett principle protecting against state interference with appeals should extend to the filing of 3.850 motions themselves

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Facts & Procedural History

Clifford pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for a life sentence. He alleges his attorney failed to inform him that he would be required to serve 25…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Paul Clifford appeals from the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. We reverse.

Clifford, who entered a plea to first degree murder for a life sentence, claims he received ineffective assistance from his attorney. Specifically, he alleges that coun sel did not inform him that he would be required to serve twenty-five years before becoming eligible for parole,1 but instead promised he could be released after serving no more than ten years. If this allegation is true, and Clifford was not otherwise apprised of the mandatory minimum sentence prior to the acceptance of his plea, Clifford might be entitled to withdraw the plea. See, e.g., McLendon v. State, 502 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Perez v. State, 449 So. 2d 407 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984).

Although a review of the plea colloquy might very well have resolved this motion, the circuit court did not attach to its order any evidence from the record refuting Clifford’s claim. Instead, the court found that Clifford’s conviction had become final more than two years before the 3.850 motion was filed, and denied the motion on that ground. Wilkinson v. State, 504 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 2d DCA Í987). In a motion for rehearing Clifford attributed the tardiness to prison officials and claimed that as a result his right of review was frustrated by state action.2 Cf. Baggett v. Wainwright, 229 So. 2d 239 (Fla.1970). The trial court denied the motion for rehearing without explicitly stating its reasons for doing so.

The Baggett principle has been applied to appeals from orders disposing of 3.850 motions. State ex rel. Shevin v. District Court of Appeal, Third District, 316 So. 2d 50 (Fla.1975); O’Malley v. Wainwright, 237 So. 2d 813 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970). It has not heretofore been applied to the filing of a 3.850 motion itself, but until recently that rule did not contemplate any sort of time limitations except the expiration of the sentence under attack or the possible application of laches. Simmons v. State, 485 So. 2d 475 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). There is no rational basis for granting belated appellate review of a 3.850 motion whenever state action has interfered with the timely filing of that appeal, and not extending the same protection to the 3.850 proceeding itself.

We turn, therefore, to the merits of Clifford’s argument that his right of review was frustrated by state action. He alleges that he had his documents notarized and that he withdrew the necessary funds for postage from his inmate account on May 19, 1987 “with the understanding that all documents would be mailed on this date.” Rule 33-3.005(8), Florida Administrative Code, requires that prisons furnish inmates with notaries public whenever the services of a notary are necessary for the preparation of legal documents,3 and that such documents are to be notarized and mailed “immediately.” As of May 19 Clifford would have had three weekdays within which to file (not mail) the motion. It is his opinion that there still was, at this juncture, “ample time” for the trial court to receive the pleadings.

However, as a prison inmate he “loses all control of ... notarized documents” from this point onward “due to this institution’s policy of keeping those documents.” Clifford does not elaborate upon this alleged institutional policy, nor does he state whether he was aware of the policy before his attempt to file the motion presently under consideration. It is not apparent from the record before us when Clifford’s documents were postmarked, but they were received May 26, 1987, or seven days after Clifford claims to have relinquished them.

Prison personnel may fall within the class of state agents whose interference with the timely processing of an appeal cannot foreclose the defendant from having his conviction reviewed. Walker v. Wainwright, 303 So. 2d 321 (Fla.1974); Dennis v. State, 231 So. 2d 230 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).

However, a defendant wishing to hinge a claim for belated review of his conviction upon the prison staff ought to be required to demonstrate not only that his rights would not have been thwarted but for the actions of prison officials, but also that these officials’ actions were undertaken in an unreasonable manner. For example, it is difficult to blame the jailer if the inmate hands him a notice of appeal with one day to spare; it is easier to excuse the inmate when urgent paperwork is allowed to sit for two weeks on someone’s desk. It is also necessary to draw a line between where the responsibilities of the Department of Corrections end and those of the post office begin. Prisoners seeking belated appellate review who have alleged only that they intended to file their notice of appeal in a timely manner but somehow were thwarted by the ordinary delays inherent in the mails have been precluded from relief under Baggett. Walker; Tucker v. Wainwright, 235 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).

A reasonable amount of time for mail to travel from a prison notary to the clerk of the trial court is,'unfortunately, not susceptible to ready calculation.

All previous cases interpreting Baggett have dealt with the relatively short thirty-day period for filing a notice of appeal, whereas Clifford had two years within which to prepare and submit his 3.850 motion. His decision to wait until the eleventh hour to file his 3.850 motion does not entitle him to much sympathy. By waiting he runs the risk that some unavoidable circumstance will intervene to divest the court of jurisdiction to hear his petition.

Nevertheless we must conclude that Clifford has made at least a prima facie showing that the motion could have been filed in time had it been mailed immediately. We stress that we do not pass upon the truthfulness of Clifford’s allegations. After remand, if the state chooses to contest Clifford’s claim that he is entitled to belated treatment of his 3.850 motion, the trial court should conduct a hearing on this question.

If the state concedes the issue of timeliness the court should determine whether the files and records conclusively demonstrate that Clifford is not entitled to relief and, if. so, may again deny the motion, attaching the appropriate documentation. Otherwise, Clifford is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his motion. Any party aggrieved by the subsequent action of the trial court must file a notice of appeal within thirty days to obtain further appellate review.

Reversed.

RYDER, A.C.J., and LEHAN and THREADGILL, JJ., concur. . § 775.082(1), Fla.Stat. (1985).

. Clifford does not suggest that his particular complaint falls under either of the exceptions to the two-year limit authorized by rule-3.850 itself: newly discovered evidence and newly defined constitutional rights which have been held to apply retroactively.

.Motions for postconviction relief must be under oath. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Haag v. State, 591 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 1992)
    …earlier precedent in this jurisdiction. The opinions of the district courts in Lindsay v. State, 579 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), Ruggirello v. State, 566 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 4th DCA), review dismissed, 569 So. 2d 1280 (Fla.1990), Clifford v. State, 513 So. 2d 772 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), and Tucker v. Wainwright, 235 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970), contain re- [*618] suits or analyses inconsistent with our views and accordingly are disapproved to the extent that they conflict with this opinion. We also are receding…
  • Sparre v. State, 164 So. 3d 1183 (Fla. 2015)
    …earlier precedent in this jurisdiction. The opinions of the district courts in Lindsay v. State, 579 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), Ruggirello v. State, 566 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 4th DCA), review dismissed, 569 So. 2d 1280 (Fla.1990), Clifford v. State, 513 So. 2d 772 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), and Tucker v. Wainwright, 235 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970), contain results or analyses incon [*1199] sistent with our views and accordingly are disapproved to the extent that they conflict with this opinion. We also are receding…
  • Lindsay v. State, 579 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
    …(Fla.1973). Until the supreme court changes the law, a prisoner who hands the notice of appeal to prison authorities for mailing the day before it is due cannot blame prison authorities for the notice reaching the court late. See Clifford v. State, 513 So. 2d 772, 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Prisoners must take into account their inability to hand deliver the notice of appeal and prepare and mail the notice sufficiently in advance of the due date to reach the proper tribunal in a timely manner. Finally, we note…

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