THOMAS A. WYATT, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 5th DCA | 1997-08-15
No. 97-1421
W. SHARP and ANTOON, JJ., concur.
697 So. 2d 1289 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1997) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

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Synopsis

Thomas Wyatt challenges the dismissal of his 1989 robbery appeal for failure to pay filing fees or file an affidavit of indigency. The court grants his petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to seek a remand to obtain an insolvency order despite explicit court warnings, and authorizes a belated appeal.


Holding

The court held that the appellate counsel's failure to pay the filing fee or file an order of insolvency, despite explicit court direction and threat of dismissal, constituted ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The court granted the writ of habeas corpus and authorized the belated appeal, finding that the two-year limitations period does not bar habeas relief and that appellate counsel should have sought a remand to obtain the insolvency order.


Headnotes

[1] Dismissal of an appeal for failure to pay a filing fee or obtain an order of insolvency, after being warned of dismissal, constitutes ineffective assistance of appellate…

[2] A petition for writ of habeas corpus is an appropriate remedy for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel.

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Key Quotes

“the failure of an attorney to appeal a trial court's decision is ineffective trial attorney action”

establishes that failure to appeal constitutes ineffective trial counsel

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Facts & Procedural History

Wyatt was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in 1989. Trial counsel mailed an affidavit of indigency to Wyatt at the county jail but it was nev…

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Opinion of the Court
HARRIS, Judge.

HARRIS, Judge.

Thomas A. Wyatt was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in 1989. His trial counsel mailed a letter to him addressed to the Vero Beach county jail where he was then incarcerated, enclosing an affidavit of indigency for the purpose of appeal. The affidavit was never returned to the attorney, and Wyatt now claims that it' was never returned because he never received the letter. The attorney filed a timely notice of appeal, but it was dismissed by this court in 1990 for failure to pay the filing fee or to file an order of insolvency after this court ordered the attorney to do so under penalty of dismissal.

In 1996, the Volusia County Public Defender’s Office filed a motion to reinstate the appeal. This court then ordered the State to respond to defendant’s motion and address the applicability of State v. District Court of Appeal, First District, 569 So. 2d 439 (Fla.1990) (holding that petitions for belated appeal because of ineffective assistance of trial counsel should be filed in the trial court by motion under Rule 3.850, rather than in appellate courts by petition for writ of habeas corpus).

The State’s position was that since the notice of appeal was filed by trial counsel without the appropriate affidavit of indigency and since there was no order appointing Wyatt an appellate counsel, then ineffective assistance of appellate counsel was not before the court; therefore, habeas corpus was unavailable and defendant would have to apply to the trial corat by way of a 3.850 motion. We denied the reinstatement of the appeal.

Whether we are facing ineffective assistance of trial counsel or appellate counsel is critical because the two-year period for bringing a 3.850 motion has long since run. While we agree with those courts which have held that the failure of an attorney to appeal a trial court’s decision is ineffective trial attorney action, we believe that having an appeal, timely filed, dismissed because the filing fee is not paid or an order of insolvency is not filed even after counsel is told by the appellate court to pay the fee or file the order or face dismissal is the epitome of ineffective appellate counsel. It is, after all, the filing of the notice of appeal that makes one counsel of record and submits the lawyer to the authority of this court. After our denial of Wyatt’s motion to reinstate his appeal, he filed his current petition for writ of habeas corpus. The new two-year time limitation on petitions for writ of habeas corpus do not apply in this case. See Fla.R.App.P. 9.140(j)(3).

Further, the fact that we could not reinstate the appeal on Wyatt’s previous motion because the filing fee had not been paid nor had the court order of insolvency been filed, does not now, on this petition for writ of habeas corpus, prevent us from determining that appellate counsel was ineffective in not seeking a remand to the circuit court in order to obtain the order of insolvency.

We grant the writ and authorize the belated appeal. When filed in the lower court, this opinion shall serve as defendant’s Notice of Appeal. Fla.R.App.P. 9.140Q(5)(D).

WRIT GRANTED; BELATED APPEAL AUTHORIZED.

W. SHARP and ANTOON, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Wyatt v. State, 714 So. 2d 663 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)
    …d no abuse of that discretion has been shown. AFFIRMED. GRIFFIN, C.J., and DAUKSCH, J., concur. . § 812.13(1), (2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1987). . . We granted defendant's petition for writ of habeas corpus to file a belated appeal. See Wyatt v. State, 697 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997).…
  • Alton Pugh v. State, 793 So. 2d 1100 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
    …t’s order to pay the filing fee or obtain a certificate of indigency. The result was dismissal of the direct appeal. This constitutes ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. McClain v. Moore, 775 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001); Wyatt v. State, 697 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). Accordingly, we grant the petition, reinstate petitioner’s appeal in case number 1D99-2825 and relinquish jurisdiction to the trial court for 30 days to determine whether petitioner is entitled to court appointed counsel in ca…
  • Hardy v. State, 822 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
    …t’s order to pay the filing fee or obtain a certifícate of indigency. The result was dismissal of the direct appeal. This constitutes ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. McClain v. Moore, 775 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001); Wyatt v. State, 697 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). Accordingly, we grant the petition, reinstate petitioner’s appeal in case number 1D01-0366 and relinquish jurisdiction to the trial court for 30 days to determine whether petitioner is entitled to be certified as an indigent o…

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