ANTHONY V. LEE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
Anthony V. Lee appealed his convictions for resisting arrest with violence and battery, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel and improper prosecutorial comments. The court found that defense counsel was ineffective in requesting a jury instruction on resisting arrest with violence as a lesser included offense to battery on a law enforcement officer, since resisting arrest with violence is actually a more severe offense, and reversed that conviction while affirming the battery conviction.
Lee's trial counsel was ineffective because resisting arrest with violence is not a lesser included offense of battery on a law enforcement officer; rather, it is a more severe offense under Florida's offense severity ranking chart. Therefore, the conviction for resisting arrest with violence is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial on the battery on a law enforcement officer charge. The battery conviction is affirmed because the alleged prosecutorial comments were not preserved for review and were not so improper as to constitute ineffective assistance cognizable on direct appeal.
[1] Ineffective assistance of counsel claims are cognizable on direct appeal when the ineffectiveness is apparent on the face of the record and it would be a waste of judicia…
[2] Resisting arrest with violence is not a lesser included offense of battery on a law enforcement officer.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“To establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, both deficient performance and prejudice caused by that deficient performance must be demonstrated.”
Establishes the two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel claims under Strickland v. Washington
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLee was charged with possession of cocaine, battery, and battery on a law enforcement officer. Defense counsel requested that the jury be instructed o…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Chart cases and more on FLexlaw
WHATLEY, Judge.
In this appeal of his convictions of resisting arrest with violence and battery, Anthony V. Lee contends that reversal is required because his trial counsel was ineffective and because the prosecutor allegedly made improper comments during closing arguments. We agree that Lee’s trial counsel was ineffective with regard to his resisting arrest conviction and reverse that conviction only.
To establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, both deficient performance and prejudice caused by that deficient performance must be demonstrated. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2062, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). An ineffective assistance claim is cognizable on direct appeal when the ineffectiveness is apparent on the face of the record and it would be a waste of judicial resources for the trial court to address the issue. Blanco v. Wainwright, 507 So. 2d 1377, 1384 (Fla.1987); Ross v. State, 726 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998).
Lee was originally charged with possession of cocaine,1 battery, and battery on a law enforcement officer. As to the latter charge, defense counsel specifically asked the trial court to instruct the jury on resisting arrest with violence as a lesser included offense. However, resisting arrest with violence is not a lesser included offense of battery on a law enforcement officer. State v. Henriquez, 485 So. 2d 414 (Fla.1986). Furthermore, it is on a more severe level of the offense severity ranking chart, § 921.0012(3), Fla. Stat. (1997), which entails the assessment of more points on Lee’s scoresheet. § 921.0014(l)(a). Accordingly, we reverse Lee’s conviction of resisting arrest with violence and remand for a new trial on the charge of battery on a law enforcement officer. Lee also contends that the prosecutor made several prejudicial comments during closing argument. This issue was not preserved for review because trial counsel made no objections to the subject comments. Furthermore, those comments were not so improper that counsel’s failure to object constituted ineffective assistance cognizable on direct appeal. Accordingly, we affirm Lee’s conviction for battery.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
FULMER, A.C.J., and DAVIS, J., Concur. . Lee was found not guilty of the charge of possession of cocaine.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
S.J. v. State, 831 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)…to support guilt of the uncharged crime of resisting an officer with violence and entered an order of delinquency. Apparently the court believed that the crime of resisting was a lesser included offense of the original charge. See e.g. Lee v. State, 779 So. 2d 607, 608 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). The conviction of a crime not charged constitutes fundamental error and we vacate the order of delinquency. A trial judge has no authority to issue an order amending a charge. Snipes v. State, 733 So. 2d 1000 (Fla.1999).…
-
Earle West v. State, 791 So. 2d 527 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)…ective assistance of counsel claim.2 See generally Perry v. State, 787 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (stating ineffective assistance of counsel claim established where counsel failed to object to prosecutor’s improper closing argument); Lee v. State, 779 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (finding that ineffective assistance of counsel claim was sufficient where counsel requested a jury instruction for an uncharged offense). We also conclude that under the circumstances of this case, West has adequately alleged pr…
-
Clavon D. Perry v. State, 817 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)…ppellant contends this otherwise admissible prior inconsistent statement was improperly used during closing arguments. This point was not raised below, and where this court cannot find fundamental error, is deemed waived on appeal. See Lee v. State, 779 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Mogavero v. State, 744 So. 2d 1048 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984)
- Blanco v. Louie L. Wainwright, 507 So. 2d 1377 (Fla. 1987)
- State v. Henriquez, 485 So. 2d 414 (Fla. 1986)
- Ross v. State, 726 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)