DAVID LEE FUGATE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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David Fugate was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. He sought post-conviction relief claiming his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to object to the admission of a handgun that had no connection to the crime. The appellate court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether counsel's decision not to object was reasonable trial strategy or ineffective assistance.
The court held that the trial court erred in denying the Rule 3.850 motion without an evidentiary hearing, as the trial transcript portions attached did not conclusively refute Fugate's ineffective assistance claim. The court determined that because the gun was irrelevant and inadmissible, and victim testimony was equivocal regarding whether the defendant carried a weapon, the error would be prejudicial if it occurred. The determination of whether counsel's decision was reasonable strategy should not be made without an evidentiary hearing.
[1] Evidence that cannot be linked to the defendant or the crime charged is irrelevant and inadmissible.
[2] A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on the failure to object to inadmissible evidence requires an evidentiary hearing when the record does not conclusively…
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“Because there was nothing to connect the gun to the crime charged, the evidence was irrelevant and inadmissible.”
Establishes the core legal principle that the handgun should not have been admitted as evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFugate was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. A handgun was found some distance from the crime scene but there was no evi…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant David Fugate was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. He filed a rule 3.850 motion claiming that his trial attorney should have objected to the admission into evidence of a handgun that had been found some distance from the crime scene. There was no evidence to link that particular gun to either the defendant or the crime. The trial court denied the post-conviction motion, finding that an objection would have been pointless because the gun was admissible. The trial court went on to find that even if the gun should have been excluded, the error was harmless.
The portions of the trial transcript that were attached to the order denying the motion do not conclusively refute Fugate’s allegation. Because there was nothing to connect the gun to the crime charged, the evidence was irrelevant and inadmissible. Sosa v. State, 639 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); Huhn v. State, 511 So. 2d 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). The victims’ testimony about whether Fugate was carrying a weapon when he threatened them was equivocal and contradictory, so if counsel erred, that error was prejudicial.
The state argues that the decision not to raise an objection was a reasonable trial strategy. That determination should not be made in the absence of an evidentiary hearing. Anthony v. State, 660 So. 2d 374, 376 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995).
The order denying the motion is reversed and the case is remanded for an evidentiary hearing or for attachment of excerpts from the record that conclusively disprove the ineffective assistance claim. We agree with the trial court that Fugate was not entitled to any relief on the remainder of his allegations.
GUNTHER, C.J., and PARIENTE, J., concur. STONE, J., dissents with opinion.
STONE, Judge,
dissenting.
I would affirm. The trial court could conclude, as it did, that the record reflects that the gun was admissible in evidence. Therefore, even if the failure to move in limine to exclude the evidence was not a matter of strategy, counsel’s failing to do so did not affect the outcome of the ease as such motion would, in any event, be denied.
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Nyka O'Connor v. State, 835 So. 2d 1226 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…erefore inadmissible, this court wrote that “it served the purpose only of conveying to the jury that [the defendant’s] having guns tended to support the testimony that he had a gun when engaged in the charged crimes.” Id.; see also Fugate v. State, 691 So. 2d 53, 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (finding trial court committed error in admitting into evidence a handgun owned by the defendant which was found some distance from the crime scene of an aggravated assault, where there was no link to the charged offense); So…
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Atari Pierre Downs v. State, 65 So. 3d 594 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)…police found under the defendant’s bed. We reasoned that the “exhibit did not tend to prove or disprove a material fact as it had no connection whatsoever to the charged offense.” Id. at 478. O’Connor, 835 So. 2d at 1231; see also Fugate v. State, 691 So. 2d 53, 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (holding that trial court erred in admitting into evidence a handgun owned by the defendant which was found some distance from the crime scene of an aggravated assault, where there was no link to the charged offense); Sosa v.…
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Lensky Jeanbart v. State, 299 So. 3d 3 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)
Authorities Cited
- Huhn v. State, 511 So. 2d 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
- Sosa v. State, 639 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Anthony v. State, 660 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)