THOMAS WEEMS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1994-11-30
No. 92-3141
GLICKSTEIN and KLEIN, JJ., concur.
645 So. 2d 1098 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1994) Caution
Cited by 23 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.


Holding

The appellate court affirmed the conviction and sentence, finding no reversible error in the trial court's denial of the motion to withdraw appointed counsel, the inquiry into the request to discharge counsel, or the failure to advise the appellant about the consequences of discharging counsel.


Facts & Procedural History

The appellant sought to discharge his appointed counsel due to disagreements over case strategy and communication difficulties, which were exacerbated…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Other
STONE, Judge.

STONE, Judge.

Appellant’s motion for rehearing is denied. However, we withdraw our opinion of September 9, 1994, and substitute the following opinion.

Appellant’s conviction and sentence are affirmed. We find no error or abuse of discretion as to any issue raised, including the trial court’s denial of appointed counsel’s motion to withdraw, the extent of the inquiry into Appellant’s request to discharge counsel, or the court’s failure to advise Appellant that upon discharge of his attorney the court would not be required to appoint substitute counsel.

The conflict between client and counsel involved Appellant’s complaints about how the attorney was handling the case and the lawyer’s concerns about Appellant’s, attitude, communication difficulties and lack of cooperation.

The record is replete with evidence demonstrating the client’s mental and emotional instability, including expert testimony as to his competency to stand trial.

The record reflects a reasonable inquiry by the trial court. The decision denying the motions should not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of discretion. E.g., Sanborn v. State, 474 So. 2d 309 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). A generalized loss of confidence or lack of cooperation alone is insufficient to mandate withdrawal by counsel. See Johnston v. State, 497 So. 2d 863 (Fla.1986). Here, it is highly unlikely that a substitute public defender would have fared any better, as counsel candidly acknowledged to the court.

Further, as the court did not discharge counsel, it was not per se reversible error to fail to advise Appellant that if his lawyer were discharged the court was not required to appoint a new attorney. See generally Hardwick v. State, 521 So. 2d 1071 (Fla.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 871, 109 S.Ct. 185, 102 L.Ed.2d 154 (1988). See also Causey v. State, 623 So. 2d 617 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), rev. denied, 634 So. 2d 623 (Fla.1994). Such a warning is required where counsel is discharged. Nelson v. State, 274 So. 2d 256, 259 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), approved in Hardwick v. State, 521 So. 2d at 1074-75.

However, we can discern no reason to reverse upon the failure to give such a warning when the court denies the discharge motion and the failure to so advise Appellant is patently harmless.

We note that in this case, Appellant was not seeking to represent himself; therefore, Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), is inapposite.

We have considered, and do not believe this opinion is in conflict with, our decisions in Graves v. State, 642 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Dunn v. State, 640 So. 2d 201 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); and Lewis v. State, 623 So. 2d 1205 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993).

In Graves, the issue was failure to conduct an otherwise required Nelson inquiry because the defendant’s motions were made pro se while represented by counsel. In Dunn, there was no inquiry at all. In Lewis, as here, there was an inquiry but the state did not contend that any error in failing to completely advise the defendant was harmless error.1 Further, this opinion is consistent with Causey, where the court did fully inquire into a motion to withdraw but stopped short of advising Appellant that if appointed counsel were discharged, the court would not be required to appoint substitute counsel. In Causey, we said:

[t]he requirement to give this advice when a defendant seeks to discharge counsel does not mandate per se reversal every time a court may fail to do so upon learning that the defendant has expressed dissatisfaction with counsel, a daily occurrence in many trial courts. Here there was no question of Appellant’s wish to be represented by court-appointed counsel. 623 So. 2d at 618. In Causey, we also found any error was harmless.

There is record support for the court’s conclusion, albeit on conflicting evidence, that Appellant was competent to stand trial. Carter v. State, 576 So. 2d 1291 (Fla. 1989), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 879, 112 S.Ct. 225, 116 L.Ed.2d 182 (1991). Further, we find no abuse of discretion in the court’s failing to conduct an additional competency hearing at trial, three months after the initial competency finding, as nothing in the record suggests a demonstrable change in Appellant’s condition during the 90-day interim. See White v. State, 548 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), rev. denied, 562 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 1990).

Concerning the sentencing issues raised, we affirm on the authority of State v. Rucker, 613 So. 2d 460 (Fla.1993). Additionally, it was Appellant’s responsibility to bring to the court’s attention evidence, if any, that a prior conviction used in imposing habitual offender status was set aside or the subject of a pardon.

As to all other issues raised, we also find no error, or that any error was harmless. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986).

GLICKSTEIN and KLEIN, JJ., concur. . We do not address here the question of whether the court can consider a harmless error analysis when not raised by the state.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • Roberts v. State, 670 So. 2d 1042 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …U.S. 871, 109 S.Ct. 185, 102 L.Ed.2d 154 (1988); Johnston; Nelson v. State, 274 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973). In this case, we are presented with more than just defendant’s dissatisfaction with counsel’s handling of his trial. See Weems v. State, 645 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), review denied, 654 So. 2d 920 (Fla.1995). While rejecting the notion that trial counsel should be permitted to withdraw merely because a client failed to follow counsel’s advice, our supreme court in Johnston observed that: Sig…
    1 / 2
  • Weaver v. State, 894 So. 2d 178 (Fla. 2004)
    …; and there was no conflict of interest. This Court has never addressed removal of counsel under these circumstances.7 A court’s decision involving withdrawal or discharge of counsel is subject to review for abuse of discretion. See Weems v. State, 645 So. 2d 1098, 1099 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (stating that denial of appointed counsel’s motion to withdraw will not be disturbed absent clear abuse of discretion); Sanborn v. State, 474 So. 2d 309, 314 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985) (same); Anderson v. State, 439 So. 2d 961, 962…
  • Augsberger v. State, 655 So. 2d 1202 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
    …Watts v. State, 593 So. 2d 198 (Fla.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 112 S.Ct. 3006, 120 L.Ed.2d 881 (1992). All he was seeking was an opportunity to hire private counsel. Thus, the trial court was not obligated to comply with Faretta. See Weems v. State, 645 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (where defendant not seeking self-representation, Faretta inapposite). Accordingly, for the reasons expressed, we affirm appellant’s judgments and sentences. Affirmed. PARKER, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., concur. . We note tha…

Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited (16 total)

View all 16 cited authorities →

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw