PAUL MYERS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1989-03-02
No. 88-2122
SMITH, C.J., and ERVIN, J., concur.
539 So. 2d 525 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1989) Caution
Cited by 16 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

Paul Myers appealed the summary denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. The trial court denied the motion as untimely, but the appellate court reversed, finding the motion was filed within the two-year statutory period and adequately alleged grounds for relief under Rule 3.850.


Holding

The motion was timely because it was filed within two years after the judgment and sentence became final following direct appellate review. The motion was not facially insufficient because it adequately alleged facts supporting two valid grounds for relief: incompetence to stand trial and ineffective assistance of counsel regarding failure to investigate an insanity defense. Summary denial based on unspecified files and records without attachment to the order was improper.


Headnotes

[1] A motion to vacate a sentence exceeding legal limits may be filed at any time.

[2] A motion for postconviction relief must be filed within two years of the judgment and sentence becoming final, unless an exception applies.

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Key Quotes

“A motion to vacate a sentence which exceeds the limits provided by law may be filed at any time. No other motion shall be filed or considered pursuant to this rule if filed more than two years after the judgment and sentence become final”

Establishes the two-year filing deadline under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 and its exception for sentence vacation motions

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Facts & Procedural History

Myers filed a 3.850 motion challenging his conviction and sentence, alleging incompetence to stand trial, ineffective assistance of counsel regarding …

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Opinion of the Court
NIMMONS, Judge.

NIMMONS, Judge.

Appellant appeals from the summary denial of his 3.850 motion. In the appealed order, the court recited that “the motion and files and records in this case conclusively show that the defendant is entitled to no relief for numerous reasons, but specifically finding that the motion was filed more than two years after the judgment and sentence became final.” We reverse.

First, the motion was not untimely. Fla.R.Cr.P. 3.850 provides in pertinent part:

A motion to vacate a sentence which exceeds the limits provided by law may be filed at any time. No other motion shall be filed or considered pursuant to this rule if filed more than two years after the judgment and sentence become final [with two exceptions not relevant here]. Any person whose judgment and sentence became final prior to January 1, 1985, shall have until January 1, 1987, to file a motion in accordance with this rule, (e.s.)

The judgment and sentence becomes final when direct review proceedings are concluded and jurisdiction to entertain the motion for postconviction relief returns to the trial court. Johnson v. State, 508 So. 2d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). It is clear from the records before us that appellant’s motion was filed well within the two-year period after the judgment and sentence became final subsequent to the defendant’s direct appeal in Myers v. State, 499 So. 2d 895 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).1

With the elimination of that basis for the trial court’s summary denial, we are left with the court’s "reliance upon unspecified “files and records,” copies of none of which were attached to the order. Such is insufficient as a basis for summary denial.

Moreover, we cannot say that the motion is facially insufficient. Indeed, our examination of the motion2 reveals that it adequately alleges facts supporting the following grounds for relief under 3.850: (1) that the defendant was incompetent to stand trial; and (2) that the defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel in that counsel failed to adequately investigate and raise the defense of insanity. See Price v. State, 487 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). The remaining ground asserted by the defendant, that “the trial court erred in allowing insufficient of [sic] evidence for [sic] an attempted burglary to go to jury,” is patently inappropriate as a ground for relief under 3.850.

We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. See Price, 487 So. 2d at 35 (on rehearing).

SMITH, C.J., and ERVIN, J., concur. . This is so only with respect to the charges upon which the defendant went to trial and which were the subject of the above appeal. Most of the defendant’s allegations in his 3.850 motion pertain to those charges. However, his motion also purports to attack as involuntary his plea of nolo contendere entered with respect to other charges. Inasmuch as the latter charges were not the subject of the above appeal, the time was not tolled for the filing of a 3.850 motion as to those charges.

. The motion was filed along with a memorandum which contains both legal argument and factual allegations. The memorandum is separately sworn to, as is the motion itself. Also, the motion specifically incorporates the memorandum by reference. Although it is certainly preferable for the factual allegations to be included within the four corners of the motion, under the above described circumstances, we are willing to regard the factual allegations of the accompanying memorandum as a part of the motion.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Hall v. State, 643 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
    …ments of rule 3.850, including the requirement that the motion be made under oath. Timeliness is not at issue inasmuch as the motion was filed within two years after judgment and sentence became final subsequent to direct appeal. See Myers v. State, 539 So. 2d 525 (Fla. 1st DCA1989).…
  • Peavy v. State, 599 So. 2d 234 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
    …asis for the relief sought. The motion was therefore facially insufficient and correctly denied by the trial court. Daniels v. State, 450 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); McBride v. State, 524 So. 2d 1113 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); see also Myers v. State, 539 So. 2d 525, 526, n. 2 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Accordingly, we affirm the denial of appellant’s motion for' postconviction relief without prejudice to appellant’s right to seek relief upon a properly sworn motion. Any subsequent motion filed, must be considered…
  • Deric L. McAROY v. State, 597 So. 2d 984 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
    …ellant’s allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel by the failure to pursue an insanity defense is intertwined with factual matters concerning the voluntariness of the plea, and accordingly we reverse on this basis as well. See Myers v. State, 539 So. 2d 525 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Price v. State, 487 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with Rule 3.850. ERVIN and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur.…

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