LEONARD LEWIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Leonard Lewis appealed the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 post-conviction motion challenging his conviction for firearm possession by a convicted felon. The court affirmed the denial of claims one through three but reversed and remanded claim four, which alleged ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to object to Lewis appearing before the jury in prison garb.
Lewis stated a valid claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failure to object to his wearing jailhouse clothing before the jury. The trial court erred by summarily dismissing this distinct claim, and the case must be remanded for an evidentiary hearing or attachment of record portions that conclusively refute the claim.
[1] A defendant cannot be compelled to stand trial in identifiable prison clothes as it may impair the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial.
[2] Compelling an accused to stand trial in jail garb may trigger equal protection concerns, particularly for those unable to post bail.
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“a defendant cannot be compelled to stand trial in identifiable prison clothes, see Torres-Arboledo v. State, 524 So.2d 403, 409 (Fla.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 901, 109 S.Ct. 250, 102 L.Ed.2d 239, (1988), because it could impair the defendant's presumption of innocence, which is a basic component of the fundamental right to a fair trial”
Establishes the constitutional prohibition on compelling a defendant to wear identifiable prison clothes at trial
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLewis was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. At trial, Lewis was brought into the courtroom in jailhouse clothing or prison ga…
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[*1212] PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Leonard Lewis, appeals the trial court’s summary denial of his motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. This motion followed Appellant’s conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We affirm the summary denial of his post-conviction claims one through three without the need for discussion, but reverse and remand as to claim four as will be discussed below.
In claim four, Appellant alleged ineffective assistance of his trial counsel for failure to object to his presence in the courtroom with prison garb or jailhouse clothing, as well as the fact that Lewis was chained at the ankles.
The trial court summarily rejected this entire claim on the grounds that the record showed that the jury was not afforded an opportunity to observe him in ankle chains or shackles. Record attachments revealed that Appellant was brought into the courtroom before the jury entered, and that the jury left the courtroom before he stood up from the jury box and returned to sit with counsel. There is no record indication that the jury ever viewed the shackles.
However, the trial court wholly overlooked Appellant’s separate claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to object to his presence before the jury in jailhouse clothing or prison garb.
It is well-settled that a defendant cannot be compelled to stand trial in identifiable prison clothes, see Torres-Arboledo v. State, 524 So. 2d 403, 409 (Fla.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 901, 109 S.Ct. 250, 102 L.Ed.2d 239, (1988), because it could impair the defendant’s presumption of innocence, which is a basic component of the fundamental right to a fair trial. See Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126, reh’g denied, 426 U.S. 954, 96 S.Ct. 3182, 49 L.Ed.2d 1194 (1976).
In addition, equal protection concerns are triggered because “compelling the accused to stand trial in jail garb operates usually against only those who cannot post bail prior to trial.” Id. at 505-06, 96 S.Ct. 1691; see also Waters v. State, 779 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)(finding ineffectiveness of counsel claim facially sufficient where trial counsel failed to object to defendant’s appearance in court in prison garb).
Appellant stated a valid claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failure to object to his wearing jailhouse clothing before the jury. See Palmer v. State, 831 So. 2d 725 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Pineda v. State, 805 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Waters.
Appellant’s claim is not refuted by the record attachments. Accordingly, we reverse that part of the lower court’s order denying relief on this claim and remand for an evidentiary hearing or the attachment of portions of the record that conclusively refute it.
STONE, KLEIN and SHAHOOD, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501 (U.S. 1976)
- Torres-Arboledo v. State, 524 So. 2d 403 (Fla. 1988)
- Ohio Power Co. v. Thomas, 488 U.S. 901 (U.S. 1988)
- Gen. Elec. Co. v. United States, 488 U.S. 901 (U.S. 1988)
- Toia v. Holley, 426 U.S. 954 (U.S. 1976)
- Omernick v. Wisconsin, 426 U.S. 954 (U.S. 1976)
- Pineda v. State, 805 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
- Johnson v. State, 779 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
- Perry v. State, 779 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
- Palmer v. State, 831 So. 2d 725 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)