ANTONIO WRIGHT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1999-08-06
No. 99-01095
PARKER, A.C.J., and NORTHCUTT, J., Concur.
741 So. 2d 1146 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1999) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Antonio Wright appealed the summary denial of his postconviction motion to withdraw his guilty plea, which the trial court had dismissed as an impermissible successive motion. The court reversed, finding that Wright's prior motions were not decided on the merits and remanded for proper consideration of his claims.


Holding

The court reversed and remanded, holding that because Wright's prior motions were not denied on the merits but rather summarily rejected without explanation, the March 1998 motion could not be properly dismissed as successive. The trial court must now reconsider the motion on its merits.


Headnotes

[1] A successive postconviction motion may not be dismissed if the grounds raised were not previously adjudicated on their merits.

[2] A trial court's summary rejection of prior attempts to withdraw a plea, without explanation or adjudication on the merits, may preclude dismissal of a subsequent motion a…

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Key Quotes

“Thus, a successive motion that raises the same grounds as a prior motion may not be dismissed if those grounds were not previously adjudicated on their merits.”

Establishes that successive motions can only be dismissed under Rule 3.850(f) if prior motions were decided on the merits.

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Facts & Procedural History

Wright entered an open plea to all charges in a ten-count information in June 1997 and was sentenced in August 1997 as a habitual violent felony offen…

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Opinion of the Court
ALTENBERND, Judge.

ALTENBERND, Judge.

Antonio E. Wright appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The trial court denied the motion as being impermissibly successive. We reverse.

In June 1997, Mr. Wright entered an open plea to all the charges in a ten-count information. On August 1, 1997, he was sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender to a total of 25 years in prison with a 15-year minimum mandatory. On the same day Mr. Wright was sentenced, he filed a pro se motion to withdraw his plea. Three days later, he filed a second motion in which he also requested to withdraw his plea. This second motion is a more typical postconviction motion.

On August 12, 1997, the trial court held a very brief hearing to determine whether Mr. Wright’s counsel should be permitted to withdraw from representing Mr. Wright because Mr. Wright had filed the pro se motion to withdraw his plea. After this hearing, the court denied without explanation Mr. Wright’s first motion to withdraw his plea.

In September 1997, the trial court considered Mr. Wright’s postconviction motion that had been filed three days after sentencing. The trial court dismissed this motion on the ground that Mr. Wright alleged he had an appeal pending before this court. The court specifically stated that Mr. Wright could refile his motion once this appeal was concluded. It appears that, contrary to Mr. Wright’s representation, no appeal was pending before this court. In March 1998, Mr. Wright filed the motion for postconviction relief that is the subject of this appeal.

Rule 3.850(f) provides that a second or successive motion may be dismissed if the judge finds that it fails to allege new or different grounds for relief and that the court’s determination of the prior motion was made on the merits. Thus, a successive motion that raises the same grounds as a prior motion may not be dismissed if those grounds were not previously adjudicated on their merits. See Browning v. State, 687 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).

In this case, the trial court denied Mr. Wright’s March 1998 motion as being successive because it had previously denied Mr. Wright’s motion filed on the day of sentencing. Under the procedural complexities of this case, we cannot say that either the first motion or Mr. Wright’s postconviction motion filed three days after sentencing was denied on the merits. Rather, from the record before us, it appears that the trial court has summarily rejected, without explanation, all of Mr. Wright’s previous attempts to withdraw his plea. Our conclusion is buttressed by the fact that in September 1997 the trial court told Mr. Wright he could refile a postconviction motion.

Accordingly, we remand this case to the trial court to reconsider Mr. Wright’s March 1998 postconviction motion. On remand, unless the case files and records conclusively show Mr. Wright is not entitled to relief, the trial court shall order the State to file an answer. Thereafter, the trial court shall determine whether an evidentiary hearing is required. If the trial court summarily denies the motion again, it shall attach those portions of the record that conclusively refute Mr. Wright’s claims.

Reversed and remanded.

PARKER, A.C.J., and NORTHCUTT, J., Concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Harris v. State, 818 So. 2d 567 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
    …rris’s attorney. Our decision is without prejudice to Harris’s filing a timely, legally sufficient motion pursuant to rule 3.850 on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. Such a motion will not be considered successive. See Wright v. State, 741 So. 2d 1146, 1147 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); Wallace v. State, 463 So. 2d 467, 468 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Affirmed. ALTENBERND and FULMER, JJ., Concurs. . On its face, rule 3.170(Z) refers to the grounds specified in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(b)(2)(B)(…
  • Frew v. State, 947 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)
    …P. 3.850(f). However, this power is not absolute. This discretionary ability does not apply when the previous motion was summarily denied or dismissed for legal insufficiency. See McCrae v. State, 437 So. 2d 1388, 1390 (Fla.1983); Wright v. State, 741 So. 2d 1146, 1147 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); Hyacinthe v. State, 940 So. 2d 1280, 1281 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Moreover, nothing in the record before this court suggests that Mr. Frew abused judicial procedures by adding grounds to his motion when he made a second attemp…
  • Dino K. Crescenzo v. State, 987 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
    …rounds for relief and that the prior motion was decided on its merits. “Thus, a successive motion that raises the same grounds as a prior motion may not be dismissed if those grounds were not previously adjudicated on their merits.” Wright v. State, 741 So. 2d 1146, 1147 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (citing Browning v. State, 687 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)); see also Cabrera v. State, 721 So. 2d 1190, 1191 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Wallace v. State, 463 So. 2d 467, 468 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). We reverse the postconviction c…

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