FORREST MOTT, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Mott appealed the denial of his Rule 3.850 post-conviction motion claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The trial court found, after a five-day evidentiary hearing, that counsel's performance was competent and vigorous, and that Mott failed to establish prejudice under the Strickland standard. The appellate court affirmed the denial.
The appellate court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief, finding no merit to any of the seven alleged errors raised on appeal. Mott failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel because he did not show that counsel's performance was substantially deficient or that but for counsel's errors there would have been a reasonable probability of a different trial outcome.
[1] A defendant seeking post-conviction relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel must demonstrate both deficient performance and resulting prejudice under the Strickland v. …
[2] To establish prejudice in an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, a defendant must show a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the outcome of the tr…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“That the defendant failed to establish that, but for the errors of his counsel, there would be a reasonable probability of a different outcome to the trial.”
States the required Strickland prong of prejudice that Mott failed to satisfy.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMott filed a Rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. A full evidentiary hearing lasting approximately…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from denial of a 3.850 motion after a full evidentiary hearing which consumed approximately 5 days. In an order denying the post-conviction relief, among other things, the trial court found:
(4) That the defendant was not denied effective assistance of counsel, according to the guidelines set out in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).
(5) The evidence presented by the defendant failed to establish that the acts or omission of his counsel caused prejudice to him or that the acts were substantial and of such serious deficiency as to be measurably below that of competent counsel.
(6) That the defendant failed to establish that, but for the errors of his counsel, there would be a reasonable probability of a different outcome to the trial.
(7) That in its evaluation of the testimony of all witnesses who testified at the evidentiary [hearing] the court found the testimony of the defendant, in large part, unbelievable. This is based upon the [court’s] ability to see and hear the defendant during the course of the trial and subsequent evidentiary hearing. The court believes the defendant to be intelligent and sophisticated in the ways of court procedure and defense strategy, and the court finds it wholly unbelievable that the defendant was not an active participant in the strategic decisions and plea decisions that affected his ease.
(8) That as to all the claims made by the defendant, the court is of the opinion that either individually or as a group that they are without merit and that the defendant has not been denied the due process of law.
(9) That as the trial judge, this court had a unique opportunity to observe the actions of defense counsel. This court determines that in all respects counsel conducted themselves professionally, competently and presented a vigorous defense. The court is satisfied that the attorneys representing this defendant provided a defense that was vastly superior to [a] “marginally competent performance”, which might justify a new trial for the defendant.
We have examined the some seven alleged errors by the trial court in the entry of this denial, and find no merit to any of them. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); O’Callaghan v. State, 542 So. 2d 1324 (Fla.1989); Craig v. State, 510 So. 2d 857 (Fla.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1020, 108 S.Ct. 732, 98 L.Ed.2d 680 (1988); State v. Lowry, 498 So. 2d 427 (Fla.1986); Booker v. State, 441 So. 2d 148 (Fla.1983); Steinhorst v. State, 412 So. 2d 332 (Fla.1982); Knight v. State, 394 So. 2d 997 (Fla.1981); Cooley v. State, 642 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); Young v. State, 608 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992).
Therefore, the order denying the post-eon-viction relief be and the same is hereby affirmed.
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited (11 total)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984)
- Knight v. State, 394 So. 2d 997 (Fla. 1981)
- Steinhorst v. State, 412 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1982)
- Craig v. State, 510 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 1987)
- Soliman v. Ebasco Servs., Inc., 484 U.S. 1020 (U.S. 1988)
- Ward v. Sentry Title Co., Inc., 484 U.S. 1020 (U.S. 1988)
- Young v. State, 608 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
- Booker v. State, 441 So. 2d 148 (Fla. 1983)
- Cooley v. State, 642 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- O'Callaghan v. State, 542 So. 2d 1324 (Fla. 1989)