ANTHONY G. CHATTIN, 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 Chattin appeals the trial court's summary denial of his Rule 3.850 motion for ineffective assistance of counsel. The court affirms the denial of six grounds but reverses and remands two grounds involving counsel's failure to preserve challenges to prospective jurors for cause and counsel's failure to preserve an objection to a racially-motivated peremptory challenge.
The court holds that both claims are cognizable in a Rule 3.850 motion, contrary to the trial court's rulings. The failure to challenge a juror for cause and the failure to preserve objections to peremptory challenges can constitute grounds for ineffective assistance claims. Both issues must be remanded for evidentiary hearings to determine whether counsel's conduct was based on reasonable tactical decisions.
[1] A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to properly preserve a challenge for cause to a prospective juror is cognizable in a motion filed pursuant to Flo…
[2] A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to preserve an objection to a peremptory strike of a juror is cognizable in a motion filed pursuant to Florida Ru…
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“those jurors exhibited a clear unwillingness to follow the law on voluntary intoxication and should have been struck for cause”
Establishes that the trial court should have removed the jurors and that the issue is cognizable on Rule 3.850 review
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceChattin was convicted of robbery after a trial where he relied on a voluntary intoxication defense. Two prospective jurors were seated despite exhibit…
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 Voluntary Intoxication Defense cases and more on FLexlaw
GREEN, Judge.
Anthony Chattin challenges the order of the trial court summarily denying his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Chattin raises eight grounds for relief in his motion. We affirm, without comment, the trial court’s denial of six of the grounds contained in the motion, but we reverse and remand for further proceedings on the remaining two grounds.
Chattin was convicted of robbery. His defense at trial was that he was too intoxicated to form the necessary specific intent to commit the crime. Chattin’s conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. Chattin v. State, 779 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). One of Chattin’s issues on direct appeal was the failure of the trial court to strike two of the prospective jurors for cause.' Although we determined that “those jurors exhibited a clear unwillingness to follow the law on voluntary intoxication and should have been struck for cause,” we concluded that trial counsel had not properly preserved the issue for appellate review. Id. at 416.
We affirmed the judgment and conviction “without prejudice to the defendant to raise any appropriate issues on a motion pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.” Id.
In his ensuing rule 3.850 motion, Chattin alleged that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to properly preserve the challenges for cause.
The trial court inexplicably denied this claim finding that it was not cognizable in a rule 3.850 motion. The failure to challenge a juror for cause is cognizable in a rule 3.850 motion. See Thompson v. State, 796 So. 2d 511 (Fla.2001). In Thompson, Thompson claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to challenge a juror for cause. The supreme court noted that the record indicated that the juror “had extreme difficulty accepting the notion that a defendant has a right to not testify.” Id. at 517.
However, the supreme court concluded that it could not “foreclose the possibility that counsel’s failure to challenge juror Wolcott for cause was the product of some reasonable tactical decision.” Id. The supreme court remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the issue. In the present case, Chattin’s trial counsel initially challenged the jurors for cause but failed to demonstrate that he used all his peremptory challenges, that he requested additional peremptory challenges but that request was denied, and that an objectionable juror was seated. The likelihood that this was a reasonable tactical decision is more remote than the likelihood that trial counsel’s failure to challenge the juror for cause in Thompson was based on tactical concerns, especially given the fact that the jurors in the present case indicated unwillingness to follow the law regarding the specific defense Chattin employed at trial.
However, pursuant to Thompson, we reverse that portion of the trial court’s order denying this claim, and we remand for an evidentiary hearing.
Chattin also alleged that counsel was ineffective because he failed to preserve his objection to the State’s peremptory challenge of an African American juror. In Chattin, we noted that we had “serious concerns about the manner in which the State articulated its allegedly race-neutral explanation for the strike,” but held that the issue was waived “when the defense attorney failed to renew his objection before the jury was sworn.” Chattin, 779 So. 2d at 416.
The trial court denied this claim in Chattin’s motion, also finding that this issue was not cognizable in a rule 3.850 motion.
The trial court is again incorrect. See Crumbley v. State, 661 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).
We reverse the trial court’s denial of this claim and remand for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether counsel’s failure to preserve the objection to the peremptory strike was the product of a reasonable tactical decision.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
ALTENBERND, A.C.J., and NORTHCUTT, J., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Allen v. State, 875 So. 2d 734 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…did not testify and that they were likely to believe the testimony of the child victim. The failure of trial counsel to challenge a juror for cause is a cognizable rule 3.850 claim. See Thompson v. State, 796 So. 2d 511 (Fla.2001); Chattin v. State, 800 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). In the present case, the trial court denied Allen’s claim, finding that under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), the claim did not satisfy the prejudice prong of Strickland because All…
-
State v. Chattin, 877 So. 2d 747 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…preserve these issues for appeal. The trial court summarily denied both claims, ruling they were not cognizable on a rule 3.850 motion. Chattin appealed the summary denial, and we reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing. Chattin v. State, 800 So. 2d 665, 665-66 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (citing Thompson v. State, 796 So. 2d 511 (Fla.2001) (holding failure to challenge a juror for cause is cognizable in a rule 3.850 motion), and Crumbley v. State, 661 So. 2d 383, 384-85 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (“[T]he allegati…1 / 3
-
Kendrick B. James v. State, 807 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)…effective in failing to strike for cause a juror who admitted that he was related to appellant because, contrary to the trial court’s holding, such a claim is facially sufficient and may be raised by a rule 3.850 motion. See, e.g., Chattin v. State, 800 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). On remand, should the trial court again deny this claim, it shall attach to its order portions of the record sufficient conclusive [*733] ly to refute it; otherwise, it shall hold a hearing on the claim. In all other respects, th…
Authorities Cited
- Bolin v. State, 796 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 2001)
- Crumbley v. State, 661 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
- Chattin v. State, 779 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)