RONALD HEMPHILL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2002-06-26
No. 2D00-2592
GREEN and DAVIS, JJ., concur.
820 So. 2d 405 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2002) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Hemphill appealed a summary denial of his Rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief, claiming his plea was involuntary due to ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to file motions challenging the statute of limitations. The court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing, finding that the statute of limitations may have barred the prosecution depending on when the offense occurred.


Holding

The court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing because the crime charged may have been barred by the statute of limitations. If the offense occurred before October 1, 1993, the tolling provisions of section 775.15(7) would not have applied to section 794.041, and the four-year statute of limitations would have expired before prosecution commenced in January 1999.


Headnotes

[1] A statute of limitations for a felony offense may be tolled until a victim reaches the age of 16 or the violation is reported to law enforcement, if the statute explicitl…

[2] A prosecution for a violation of section 794.041, Florida Statutes (1991), committed before October 1, 1993, is not subject to the tolling provisions of section 775.15(7)…

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Key Quotes

“Because we conclude that the-crime as charged-by the State may have been barred by the statute of limitations, we reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.”

States the court's holding and basis for reversal

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Facts & Procedural History

Hemphill was charged with sexual activity with a child by a person in familial authority, with the offense alleged to have occurred between November 1…

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Opinion of the Court
CASANUEVA, Judge.

CASANUEVA, Judge.

Ronnie Hemphill appeals the order summarily denying his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm without comment on all issues but one.

Hemphill claims that his plea was involuntary due to ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, he alleges that his counsel failed to file both a motion for a statement of particulars narrowing the time frame set forth in the information and a motion to dismiss asserting the expiration of the statute of limitations. Hemphill also alleges that he would not have pleaded had counsel filed such motions. Because we conclude that the-crime as charged-by the State may have been barred by the statute of limitations, we reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.

The State charged that between November 1992 and November 1993 Hemphill committed a single violation of section 794.041(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1991), which proscribes engaging in sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of familial authority. Absent any tolling provision, the statute of limitations would have expired long before the prosecution commenced in January 1999 upon the filing of the information. See § 775.15(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1993) (providing a four-year statute of limitation for first-degree felonies).

The trial court found that the statute of limitations had been tolled pursuant to section 775.15(7), Florida Statutes (1993), which provides:

If the victim of a violation of s. 7%. Oil, s. 794-05, s. 800.04, or s. 826.04 is under the age of 16, the applicable period of limitation, if any, does not begin to run until the victim has reached the age of 16 or the violation is reported to a law enforcement agency or other governmental agency, whichever occurs earlier. (Emphasis added.) The problem with this analysis is that section 775.15(7) does not and has never included section 794.041 as a statute to which its tolling provisions apply. However, by chapter 93-156, sections 3 and 4, at 909-911, Laws of Florida, effective October 1, 1993, section 794.041 was repealed and reenacted as part of section 794.011, which is a statute to which the tolling provisions of section 775.15(7) apply, Therefore, if Hemphill’s offense occurred on or after October 1, 1993, he could have been properly charged under section 794.011, and the statute of limitations would not have run.

The 1998 criminal affidavit initiating this case reflects that the offense occurred months before October 1, 1993. The tolling provisions of section 775.15(7) are not applicable to violations of section 794.041 committed before October 1, 1993. If Hemphill’s offense occurred before then, his prosecution would have been barred by the statute of limitations.

Hemphill’s allegations of involuntary plea and ineffective assistance of counsel were sufficient to require the trial court either to hold an evidentiary hearing or to attach to its order denying the rule 3.850 motion the portions of the record conclusively showing no entitlement to relief. The trial court attached only the transcript of the plea proceedings, which does not show conclusively that Hemphill is not entitled to relief on this ground.

Therefore, the order of the trial court is reversed and the case remanded for an evidentiary hearing.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

GREEN and DAVIS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Clements v. State, 979 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)
    …imitations for a violation of section 794.041 between 1990 and September 30, 1993, began to run after the offense was committed and that the tolling provision in section 775.15(7), Florida Statutes (1993-1997), would not apply. In Hemphill v. State, 820 So. 2d 405, 406 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), this court held that the tolling provision in “section 775.15(7) does not and has never included section 794.041 as a statute to which its tolling provisions apply.” Although in 1993 section 794.041 became a part of 794.011…

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