GEORGE WALKER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
Trial court erred in summarily denying postconviction relief for ineffective assistance of counsel where defendant claimed counsel failed to request jury instruction on right not to testify, requiring evidentiary hearing or transcript review.
A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on failure to request a jury instruction on the defendant's right not to testify is facially sufficient and cannot be summarily denied without an evidentiary hearing or conclusive documentary evidence.
[1] A postconviction claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel's failure to request a jury instruction on the defendant's right not to testify is facially s…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“when a court is confronted with a claim of ineffective assistance, a finding that some action or inaction by defense counsel was tactical is generally inappropriate without an evidentiary hearing”
Court explaining the standard for evaluating tactical decisions in ineffective assistance claims
Appellant Walker filed a postconviction motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 claiming his trial counsel failed to request a jury inst…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Right Not To Testify cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The trial court summarily denied appellant’s motion for posteonviction relief that was filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. In the motion, appellant claimed that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at his jury trial where counsel failed to request a jury instruction on appellant’s right not to testify. This was a facially sufficient claim that should not have been subject to summary denial. See Simpson v. State, 479 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). The trial court seems to have concluded that it was a tactical decision of defense counsel whether or not to request the instruction, and the state has alleged that some portion of the trial transcript reflects a considered decision of counsel not to request the instruction on appellant’s right not to testify. However, when a court is confronted with a claim of ineffective assistance, a finding that some action or inaction by defense counsel was tactical is generally inappropriate without an evidentiary hearing. Robinson v. State, 637 So. 2d 998, 999 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). Moreover, the transcript relied upon by the state was not attached to the order denying relief, nor is it otherwise included in the record. Given the state’s assurances concerning the contents of the transcript, we leave to the trial court the decision whether to hold an evidentiary hearing, or to attach the referenced portion of the transcript in the event it conclusively establishes that appellant is not entitled to relief.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
MINER and LAWRENCE, JJ., and SMITH, Senior Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Costa T. Vathis v. State, 859 So. 2d 517 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)…n was wise under the circumstances is a matter of trial tactics, and this court has said that postconviction motions should not generally be denied based on tactical decisions by counsel in the absence of an evidentiary hearing. See Walker v. State, 678 So. 2d 924, 925 [*521] (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (“when a court is confronted with a claim of ineffective assistance, a finding that some action or inaction by defense counsel was tactical is generally inappropriate without an eviden-tiary hearing”). As for the pre…
Authorities Cited
- Robinson v. State, 637 So. 2d 998 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Prentiss Simpson v. State, 479 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)