IRA M. AMAZON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Ira Amazon appeals the summary denial of two postconviction relief motions challenging his murder conviction and sentence. The appellate court affirms the trial court's denial of both motions, finding them facially insufficient and procedurally barred.
The court affirms the denial of both postconviction relief motions. The first motion was properly denied because most claims should have been raised on direct appeal and were facially insufficient under Strickland. The second motion was also properly denied because Amazon failed to establish a prima facie claim of fundamental error and was barred by the two-year limitations period established by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.
[1] Claims that should have been raised on direct appeal are generally inappropriate for postconviction relief.
[2] Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel must be facially sufficient to warrant postconviction relief.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“many of which should have been raised, if at all, on direct appeal and were inappropriate for consideration under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850”
Establishes that postconviction motions cannot raise claims that should have been presented on direct appeal
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAmazon was convicted of two counts of first degree murder in case 81-9622 and originally sentenced to death, later reduced to life in prison by the Fl…
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PER CURIAM.
Ira Amazon appeals the summary denial of two motions for postconviction relief. We affirm.
In circuit court case 81-9622, Amazon was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to death. The supreme court later determined that the sentence should be reduced to life in prison. Amazon v. State, 487 So. 2d 8 (Fla.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 914, 107 S.Ct. 314, 93 L.Ed.2d 288 (1986). Amazon included six separate grounds for relief in his motion, many of which should have been raised, if at all, on direct appeal and were inappropriate for consideration under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We agree with the trial court that the remaining arguments, principally Amazon’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, were facially insufficient. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).
Amazon’s motion was denied October 10, 1988. Shortly thereafter the circuit court entered a second order bearing the same case number and styled “order denying second motion for postconviction relief.” This latter order suggests that Amazon had filed a successive rule 3.850 motion attacking the murder convictions, which would be improper unless Amazon could state valid reasons for his failure to include the claims in his first motion. Witt v. State, 465 So. 2d 510 (Fla.1985). However, from the record before us it appears that Amazon’s second motion was directed toward circuit court case 81-9620, wherein he received consecutive ninety-nine year sentences for burglary and sexual battery.
Nevertheless, we conclude that the second motion was also without merit and so was properly denied, if for the wrong reason. In that motion, Amazon presented four interrelated arguments dealing with the retention of jurisdiction over one third of his sentence. § 947.16, Fla.Stat. (1987). Because Amazon does not set out a prima facie claim of fundamental error, he is barred from raising most of these claims via rule 3.850. See Styles v. State, 465 So. 2d 1369 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). As to his contention that ineffective assistance on the part of trial counsel contributed to the alleged sentencing errors, this claim too is barred because of the two year limitations period established by rule 3.850. The judgment and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal, and so became final, over five years before the present motion was filed. Amazon v. State, 436 So. 2d 195 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983).
AFFIRMED.
SCHEB, A.C.J., and SCHOONOVER and PARKER, JJ., concur.
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Irving v. State, 559 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…ded for filing a motion under Rule 3.850. While the lower court denied the motion on other grounds, we find that on its face it indicated it was filed beyond the time allowed under the rule and accordingly affirm on this basis. Cf., Amazon v. State, 537 So. 2d 170 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989), rev. denied 547 So. 2d 1209 (Fla.1989). The order appealed is affirmed. ERVIN and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.…
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Felton B. Green v. State, 578 So. 2d 840 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Woods v. State, 531 So. 2d 79 (Fla.1988); Johnson v. State, 536 So. 2d 1009 (Fla.1988); Amazon v. State, 537 So. 2d 170 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 547 So. 2d 1209 (Fla.1989).…
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Tower v. O.J. Phillips, 979 F.2d 807 (11th Cir. 1992)…mined by the fact that Florida courts routinely address time-barred petitions if only to dismiss them on that basis. See, e.g., Johnson v. State, 536 So. 2d 1009, 1010-11 (Fla.1988); Delap v. State, 513 So. 2d 1050, 1050 (Fla.1987); Amazon v. State, 537 So. 2d 170, 171 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.), petition for review denied, 547 So. 2d 1209 (Fla.1989). See also Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850 (court may summarily dismiss motion if an examination of the motion, in conjunction with the files and records of the case, conclusively sh…
Authorities Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984)
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Est. of Church, 335 U.S. 632 (U.S. 1949)
- Ira Martin Amazon v. State, 487 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 1986)
- Witt v. State, 465 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 1985)
- Oliver v. Wainwright, 479 U.S. 914 (U.S. 1986)
- Amazon v. Florida, 479 U.S. 914 (U.S. 1986)
- Styles v. State, 465 So. 2d 1369 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
- Poole v. State, 436 So. 2d 195 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)
- Lyles v. State, 436 So. 2d 195 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)