ARTHUR SCURRY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1997-11-19
No. 97-03112
SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and THREADGILL, J., concur.
702 So. 2d 568 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1997) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 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

Arthur Scurry appealed the denial of his motion for postconviction relief claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The court reversed and remanded because Scurry made a facially sufficient claim that his attorney provided incorrect legal advice about his eligibility for habitual offender enhancement before he pleaded no contest.


Holding

Scurry's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was facially sufficient, and the plea colloquy transcript and Scurry's denial of promises did not conclusively refute his allegation that his attorney misrepresented his habitualization eligibility. The case was remanded for either an evidentiary hearing or production of record portions refuting the claim.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant may be sentenced as a habitual felony offender even if prior convictions used for habitualization are not sequential.

[2] Ineffective assistance of counsel can be established by an attorney's misrepresentation to a defendant regarding their eligibility for habitual offender status and the po…

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Key Quotes

“In State v. Barnes, 595 So.2d 22 (Fla.1992), the Florida Supreme Court held that the convictions used to habitualize a defendant do not have to be sequential.”

Establishes that the attorney's legal advice to Scurry that sequential convictions were required was incorrect under controlling case law.

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Facts & Procedural History

Scurry pleaded no contest to an escape charge and was sentenced as a habitual felony offender to thirty years imprisonment. His attorney allegedly ass…

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Opinion of the Court
NORTHCUTT, Judge.

NORTHCUTT, Judge.

We reverse the summary demal of Arthur Scurry’s motion for posteonvietion relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Scurry’s motion argued several grounds for relief, one of which has merit.

Scurry pleaded no contest to an escape charge, and was sentenced as a habitual felony offender to thirty years’ incarceration. In his motion for postconviction relief, Scurry alleged that his attorney had provided ineffective assistance of counsel when she advised him to enter an open plea despite the fact that the State had filed a notice of intent to seek habitual offender status. Scurry recounted that Ms attorney had assured him that he did not qualify as a habitual felony offender because there was no intervening release from custody on his two prior convictions, and therefore the convictions were related and could not be used to habitualize him. Allegedly, the attorney then told Scurry that if he pleaded no contest he could anticipate a sentence of three years’ incarceration.

If Scurry’s allegations are accurate, Ms attorney gave him incorrect advice. In State v. Barnes, 595 So. 2d 22 (Fla.1992), the Florida Supreme Court held that the convictions used to habitualize a defendant do not have to be sequential.1 In his motion for posteon-viction relief, Scurry sought to withdraw Ms plea. He asserted that he would not have entered the plea if his attorney had not misinformed him about his eligibility for habitu-alization and about his possible sentence.

In its order denying Scurry’s motion, the trial court posited that the transcript of Scurry’s plea colloquy refuted each material allegation of the motion. The court attached a transcript of the plea colloquy to its order. The transcript reflects that at the start of the proceeding Scurry’s attorney advised the court that he wished to change his plea, and that the State was asking that Scurry be sentenced as a “career criminal.” During the plea colloquy itself, the court informed Scurry that the maximum sentence for escape normally is fifteen years’ incarceration:

But as you’ve got in the hand there, a notice that the State intends to have you sentenced as a career criminal. If in fact the Court sentences you as a career criminal, you are facing a maximum sentence of thirty years Florida state prison. Do you understand the maximum sentence that could be imposed?

Scurry answered in the affirmative. The court also asked Scurry whether anyone had made any promises to him to induce his plea, to which Scurry responded in the negative.

The plea colloquy documents Scurry’s understanding that the State was attempting to have him declared a habitual felony offender, with a possible sentence of as much as thirty years in prison. But it does not disprove Scurry’s allegation that his attorney had told him the State’s endeavor would fail because his prior convictions were not sequential. In fact, our record reflects that at Scurry’s subsequent sentencing hearing, his attorney unsuccessfully argued against habitualization on that ground.

Scurry’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was facially sufficient under Davis v. State, 697 So. 2d 957 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997), and the court’s order and attachments of record fail to refute his claim. See State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235 (Fla.1996) (misrepresentation by counsel as to the length of a sentence or eligibility for gain time can be the basis for postconviction relief; defendant’s negative response to question whether anything was promised him to induce plea did not conclusively refute postconviction claim based on counsel’s misrepresentations regarding sentence). Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Scurry’s motion for postconviction relief as to this issue only. On remand, the trial court may either hold an evidentiary hearing to address Scurry’s claim or attach portions of the record that refute the claim. In all other respects the order denying the motion for postconviction relief is affirmed.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and THREADGILL, J., concur. . The legislature later amended the habitual offender statute to require sequential convictions as the predicate to habitualization. Ch. 93-406, § 2, Laws of Florida. Because the crime for which Scurry was convicted occurred before the amendment became effective, the amendment does not apply to his case.


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Citator

Cited By

  • ASH v. State, 767 So. 2d 1260 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)
    …ant was not required to allege or prove that the trial judge would have actually accepted the plea arrangement offered by the state. See Cottle v. State, 733 So. 2d 963 (Fla.1999); Lewis v. State, 751 So. 2d 715 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); Scurry v. State, 702 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing. REVERSED and REMANDED with directions. BARFIELD, C.J., BOOTH and WOLF, JJ., CONCUR.…
  • Tooley v. State, 727 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)
    …entence. See Tooley v. State, 675 So. 2d 984 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). These allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel are facially sufficient; therefore, summary denial of Mr. Tooley’s 3.850 motion was inappropriate. See, e.g., Scurry v. State, 702 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997) (holding that defendant’s claim of ineffective assistance was facially sufficient where defendant alleged that his trial counsel erroneously assured defendant he could not be sentenced as an habitual felony offender in the absence…
  • Martin v. State, 884 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
    …gree to the sentence. The plea agreement is attached to the trial court’s order. However, such an acknowledgment by a defendant does not preclude a claim of affirmative misadvice by trial counsel regarding gain-time entitlement. See Scurry v. State, 702 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997); Regan v. State, 730 So. 2d 828 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). We appreciate the trial court’s frustration with this case and the attempt to resolve this matter without further delay. However, on the record before this court, we are unable…

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