MICHAEL MCCORD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2001-04-27
No. 5D00-1776
COBB, SAWAYA and PLEUS, JJ., concur.
795 So. 2d 101 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

Michael McCord, a mentally retarded defendant, appealed the summary denial of his post-conviction relief motion under Florida Rule 3.850, challenging his nolo contendere plea to two counts of attempted sexual battery. The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial, rejecting claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, coerced confession, and involuntary plea.


Holding

The court affirmed the trial court's summary denial of McCord's Rule 3.850 motion on all grounds: (1) the ineffective assistance claim was refuted by the record showing experts were appointed and found him competent; (2) the confession claims lacked sufficient factual allegations of coercion and were not affected by lack of Miranda warnings since he was not in custody; and (3) the plea was voluntarily and knowingly made as evidenced by the trial court's thorough plea colloquy.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on the failure to seek a psychological evaluation is refuted by the record when the record shows that a psy…

[2] The failure to provide Miranda warnings is not a basis for reversal when the defendant was not in custody at the time the statements were made.

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Key Quotes

“McCord claims to have the emotional and educational level of a preteen child. The trial court, in its order denying McCord's rule 3.850 motion, attached a copy of his trial attorney's motion for psychiatric examination and the court's order appointing two experts to examine McCord. Each expert filed a report finding that McCord was competent to proceed to trial.”

Establishes that despite McCord's mental retardation, expert evaluations found him competent to proceed, refuting the ineffective assistance claim regarding failure to obtain psychological evaluation.

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Facts & Procedural History

McCord, who is mentally retarded with the emotional and educational level of a preteen child, was charged with attempted sexual battery against two ch…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We grant Appellant’s motion for clarification, withdraw our previous per curiam affirmed decision dated August 22, 2000, and substitute the following opinion.

Appellant, Michael McCord (McCord), appeals the summary denial of his motion for post conviction relief filed pursuant to rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. We affirm.

This is a very sad case for all concerned because McCord, who is mentally retarded, was alleged to have engaged in homosexual acts with two children who were placed in the foster care of McCord’s mother. After he entered a plea of nolo contendere to two counts of attempted sexual battery, McCord was sentenced to twenty years’ incarceration followed by four years of probation. McCord filed a rule 3.850 motion to vacate or set aside the judgment, raising four issues.

First, McCord alleges ineffective assistance of counsel based on his attorney’s failure to move for appointment of a psychologist to evaluate him in the trial proceedings. McCord claims to have the emotional and educational level of a preteen child. The trial court, in its order denying McCord’s rule 3.850 motion, attached a copy of his trial attorney’s motion for psychiatric examination and the court’s order appointing two experts to examine McCord. Each expert filed a report finding that McCord was competent to proceed to trial. Thus, we conclude that McCord’s first claim is refuted by the record. See Watts v. State, 593 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1992) (holding that the failure to appoint the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services diagnosis and evaluation team to perform the mental evaluation pursuant to section 916.11(l)(d), Florida Statutes (1997) was harmless if the defendant re ceived a constitutionally adequate hearing regarding his competency).

In his second and fourth issues, McCord claims that his trial attorney should have moved to suppress his pretrial statements because they were the product of coercion and promises made by law enforcement to induce McCord to confess. However, McCord does not allege sufficient facts to establish that his confession was coerced. Further, the failure to give McCord Miranda warnings is not a proper basis to reverse the trial court’s denial of his motion because the record reveals that McCord was not in custody when he gave his statements. See Caso v. State, 524 So. 2d 422 (Fla.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 870, 109 S.Ct. 178, 102 L.Ed.2d 147 (1988); State v. Alioto, 588 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991).

The remaining issue raised in McCord’s rule 3.850 motion is a claim that his plea was involuntary. McCord alleges that because of his mental retardation, he did not have the mental capacity to understand, during the plea colloquy, the rights he was waiving by entering the plea. The trial court attached a copy of the transcript of the plea colloquy which indicates that the trial court carefully explained the rights McCord would be waiving by entering his plea. The transcript also reveals that where McCord indicated confusion, the trial court repeated and attempted to simplify the areas of confusion. Additionally, McCord was advised of the nature of the charges against him and the maximum term of imprisonment he could receive if convicted, and McCord indicated that he understood. McCord was also advised that the prosecutor recommended twenty years’ imprisonment followed by probation. We conclude that the plea entered by McCord was freely and voluntarily made.

We find no basis to reverse the trial court’s summary denial of McCord’s rule 3.850 motion, and accordingly, we affirm.

AFFIRMED.

COBB, SAWAYA and PLEUS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Treon D. Patrick v. State, 830 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
    …r, because the plea colloquy did not clearly establish that Appellant freely and voluntarily entered his plea, he is not barred under the circumstances of this case from raising this issue in a motion for post-conviction relief. See McCord v. State, 795 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001); Carter v. State; 801 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). Ill In ground five, Appellant claims trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and examine defense witnesses. Appellant claims that had his trial counsel inter…
  • Tippens v. State, 837 So. 2d 1088 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
    …PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See McCord v. State, 795 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 797 So. 2d 586 (Fla.2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1020, 122 S.Ct. 1612, 152 L.Ed.2d 626 (2002). SHARP, W., PETERSON and ORFINGER, JJ., concur.…
  • Fla. Dep't OF Corr. v. Watts, 800 So. 2d 225 (Fla. 2001)
    …cutting inmate’s hair because of his religious beliefs). Based upon this rationale, the Third District Court of Appeal quashed a trial court order requiring DOC to administer particular medical treatment to a confined prisoner. See Moore v. Wilson, 795 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001). Florida courts have also concluded that trial courts act in derogation of the doctrine of separation of powers when they order an inmate to be placed in a specific treatment facility following an involuntary commitment under chap…

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