JOSHUA DUKES
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The appellate court affirmed the trial court's denial of postconviction relief, despite the trial court improperly relying on extra-record documents. The court found the error harmless because other record documents sufficiently refuted the appellant's claim.
The trial court's reliance on extra-record documents was improper. However, this error was harmless because other documents from the appellant's case file conclusively refuted the claim of newly discovered evidence.
[1] A trial court may summarily deny a Rule 3.850 postconviction motion only by reliance upon records in the case, and may not rely upon extra-record materials from separate…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Several exhibits the trial court attached to its order were records and transcript excerpts from separate criminal proceedings against two of the witnesses who testified at Appellant’s trial. There is no indication these documents were ever made a part of the record in Appellant’s case, nor is there any indication the trial court followed the proper procedure for taking judicial notice of the documents.”
Establishes the factual basis for the improper reliance on extra-record documents.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe appellant challenged the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief. The trial court attached and relied on documents from separate cr…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant challenges the trial court’s summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm as to all issues raised but write only to address Appellant’s argument on appeal that the trial court erred in attaching and relying on extra-record documents to summarily deny his claim of newly discovered evidence. Several exhibits the trial court attached to its order were records and transcript excerpts from separate criminal proceedings against two of the witnesses who testified at Appellant’s trial. There is no indication these documents were ever made a part of the record in Appellant’s case, nor is there any indication the trial court followed the proper procedure for taking judicial notice of the documents. The trial court’s reliance on these extra-record materials was improper. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850(f)(5) (providing for summary
denial of a postconviction claim only where it “can be conclusively resolved either as a matter of law or by reliance upon the records in the case” (emphasis added); see also Jones v. State, 35 So. 3d 73, 74 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (“[T]he trial court, in summarily denying relief, relied upon court records for one of the State’s witnesses. There is no indication, however, that these documents were made part of the record in this case or that the trial court utilized the proper procedure in taking judicial notice of the documents.”). We conclude, however, that the error here was harmless given that the trial court attached additional exhibits consisting of files and records from Appellant’s case that were sufficient to refute the newly discovered evidence claim. Because the trial court’s order is supported by record attachments that conclusively show Appellant is not entitled to relief, we affirm. AFFIRMED. LEWIS, NORDBY, and LONG, JJ., concur. _____________________________