EDWARD OTIS LOOMIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1997-04-04
No. 97-00326
PATTERSON, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., concur.
691 So. 2d 34 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1997) Positive Treatment
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

The court reversed a summary denial of a post-conviction relief motion because the trial court failed to comply with the procedural requirements of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(d). The court held that trial courts must either state their rationale for denial or attach specific record portions that refute each claim, and cannot simply attach the trial transcript or state response without explanation.


Holding

The trial court's order was procedurally deficient and did not comply with rule 3.850(d). A trial court must either state its rationale in its decision or attach those specific parts of the record that refute each claim. Simply attaching the trial transcript or the state's response without explanation and substantiating record attachments is insufficient.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must state its rationale or attach specific record parts refuting each claim to support a summary denial of a post-conviction relief motion without a hearin…

[2] Attaching a trial transcript alone, without explanation or specific record references, does not satisfy the procedural requirements for summarily denying a post-convictio…

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“a trial court must either state its rationale in its decision or attach those specific parts of the record that refute each claim presented in the motion”

Establishes the core procedural requirement for summary denial under rule 3.850(d)

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Loomis timely filed a rule 3.850 motion alleging multiple claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The state filed an amended response witho…

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.


Opinion of the Court
LAZZARA, Judge.

LAZZARA, Judge.

The appellant, Edward Loomis, seeks our review of the trial court’s order summarily denying with attachments a motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Because we conclude that the order under review is procedurally deficient, we reverse and remand.

The appellant timely filed a rule 3.850 motion alleging multiple claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The trial court ordered a response from the state which was to include supporting documentation. The state eventually filed an amended response. In its amended response, however, the state did not provide any record attachments substantiating its argument that the appellant’s motion should be denied without a hearing. The trial court later rendered a perfunctory order summarily denying the motion without explanation based solely on its review of the motion and the state’s amended response. In doing so, it attached a copy of the amended response as well as a copy of the trial transcript.

We conclude that the trial court’s order does not comply with the procedural requirements of rule 3.850(d).

As interpreted, in order to support a summary denial without a hearing, this provision of the rule requires that “a trial court must either state its rationale in its decision or attach those specific parts of the record that refute each claim presented in the motion.” Anderson v. State, 627 So. 2d 1170, 1171 (Fla.1993) (emphasis added).

We emphasize that these requirements are not fulfilled by simply attaching to the order a copy of the trial transcript unaccompanied by any reasons for denial based on the attached record. See Hoffman v. State, 571 So. 2d 449, 450 (Fla.1990); accord Jenkins v. State, 595 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992).

We also reiterate that the rule contemplates more than attaching a copy of the state’s response which has no supporting record attachments. See Flores v. State, 662 So. 2d 1350, 1352 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) (disapproving of growing practice of incorporating state responses into orders denying postcon-viction motions as substitute for record attachments).

Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions that the trial court reconsider the merits of the appellant’s motion. In so doing, we further direct the trial court that should it again deny relief on a summary basis, it must attach to its order those portions of the record which conclusively establish that the appellant is entitled to no relief as to the claims advanced along with its reasons for so concluding. Alternatively, it must explain why those claims are facially insufficient or cannot be appropriately considered under rule 3.850. See McGee v. State, 684 So. 2d 241, 242 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996).

If, however, the trial court determines that the record does not conclusively refute one or more of the appellant’s claims which are properly brought under the rule, then it must conduct an evidentiary hearing as to the unrefuted claim or claims. Id.

Finally, we remind the appellant that he has thirty days from rendition of any subsequent order denying relief within which to appeal that order. In closing, we observe that it is not our intention to increase the burden placed on trial courts by rule 3.850 and its strict requirements.

Nevertheless, the rule’s procedural mandates, as interpreted by our supreme court in Anderson and Hoffman, and as interpreted by us in Flores, cannot be circumvented in the way that the trial court attempted to do so in this case.

Accordingly, we have no alternative but to reverse and remand for the entry of a procedurally prop er order which strictly complies with the requirements of the rule.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

PATTERSON, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Bridges v. State, 81 So. 3d 616 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)
    …claim that it is either facially invalid and state a brief reason therefor[ ], or that it is conclusively refuted by the record, attaching relevant portions of the record, or ... making a specific reference to the attached whole.”); Loomis v. State, 691 So. 2d 34, 35 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997) (“[The trial court] must attach to its order those portions of the record which conclusively establish that the appellant is entitled to no relief as to the claims advanced along with its reasons for so concluding. Alternative…
  • Pullum v. State, 893 So. 2d 627 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
    …with the order does not meet the requirements of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(d). According to Hoffman v. State, 571 So. 2d 449, 450 (Fla.1990), rule 3.850(d) requires “[s]ome greater degree of specificity....” See also Loomis v. State, 691 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997) (reversing an order that only incorporated State’s rationale and attached the entire transcript to dismiss a rule 3.850 motion). Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order as to claims two through five of Pullum’s motion. On…
  • Burnett v. State, 933 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)
    …motion, the postconviction court merely adopted and incorporated by reference the State’s response and failed to append any record attachments to its order. Thus the order does not support the summary denial of Burnett’s motion. See Loomis v. State, 691 So. 2d 34, 35 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997); Flores v. State, 662 So. 2d 1350, 1351-52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Accordingly, we reverse the postconviction court’s order and remand for reconsideration of Burnett’s motion. If the postconviction court again denies Burnett’s m…

Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw