DRAKE PRITCHETT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2004-09-29
No. 2D03-5161
SILBERMAN and CANADY, JJ„ Concur.
884 So. 2d 417 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2004) Positive Treatment
Cited by 7 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

Drake Pritchett appealed the trial court's denial of his rule 3.850 postconviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The court affirmed the denial of four claims on the merits but reversed the denial of a fifth claim because the trial court erred in refusing to consider an amended motion filed within the two-year statutory period.


Holding

The court held that under Gaskin v. State, when both the original and amended 3.850 motions are filed within the two-year statutory limitation and before trial court disposition of the original motion, it was error for the trial court to refuse to consider the merits of the new allegations based on a good cause requirement. The court affirmed the denial of claims one through four on the merits but reversed the denial of the motion to amend regarding the fifth claim.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court errs by denying a motion to amend a postconviction motion if the amended motion is filed within the statutory time limit and before the trial court rules on…

[2] Good cause for failure to include new allegations in an original postconviction motion is not required if the amended motion is filed within the statutory time limit and…

Previewing 2 of 3 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

Key Quotes

“If the two-year time period has not expired, the trial court should consider whether there was cause for failure to include the new allegations in the original motion.”

Establishes the McConn standard for amendments that was later overruled by Gaskin

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Pritchett was sentenced on July 27, 2000. He filed an initial rule 3.850 postconviction motion on February 4, 2002, alleging ineffective assistance of…

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.


Opinion of the Court
DAVIS, Judge.

DAVIS, Judge.

Drake Pritchett challenges the trial court’s denial of his postconviction motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, in which he alleged several claims of ineffectiveness of trial counsel. The trial court summarily denied claims two through four of Pritchett’s motion, denied claim one after an evidentiary hearing, and denied Pritchett’s fifth claim on procedural grounds. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Because we conclude that claims one through four of Pritchett’s postconviction motion have no merit, we affirm the trial court’s denial of these claims without further comment. Pritchett, however, raised a fifth claim in a motion to amend his postconviction motion.

In denying Pritchett’s motion to amend his postconviction motion, the trial court found that “the defendant has failed to allege a reason or reasons, beyond his general statement that he just discovered the grounds for the new claim, for his failure to include these claims in his original [mjotion.” As such, the trial court concluded that Pritchett had failed to demonstrate good cause to amend as required by McConn v. State, 708 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). In McConn, this court addressed amendments to rule 3.850 motions and held: “If the two-year time period has not expired, the trial court should consider whether there was cause for failure to include the new allegations in the original motion.” Id. at 310. This court then included a partial list of reasons that might constitute good cause.

However, in Gaskin v. State, 737 So. 2d 509 (Fla.1999), receded from on other grounds, Nelson v. State, 875 So. 2d 579 (Fla.2004), the Florida Supreme Court impliedly overruled McConn. In' Gaskin, where the appellant had filed an amended motion before the trial court ruled on the original motion and before the two-year time limit had expired, the supreme court determined that when “both the original and amended 3.850 motions were filed within the statutory two-year time limitation ... it was error for the trial court not to consider the merits of the new allegations.” 737 So. 2d at 518. Here, Pritchett was originally sentenced on July 27, 2000. He filed his initial rule 3.850 motion on February 4, 2002. On February 21, 2002, Pritchett, a DOC inmate, signed and gave to an institutional officer for mailing his “Motion for Leave to Amend and/or Supplement Defendant’s Postconviction Motion,” in which he sought to add a claim of ineffectiveness for counsel’s failure to object to the trial court’s failure to place the panel of prospective jurors under oath pri-or to voir dire. Because Pritchett sought to file his amended motion within the two-year period, as well as before the trial court had ruled on his original claims, it was error under Gaskin for the trial court not to consider the additional claim.

Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of Pritchett’s motion to amend with instructions that the trial court address the new allegation.

Affirmed in part; reversed in part.

SILBERMAN and CANADY, JJ„ Concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Davel M. Ross v. State, 64 So. 3d 1283 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011)
    …reverse for the postconviction court to address the merits of Mr. Ross’ amended motion, which was filed after the original motion, within the two-year time period, and prior to the trial court’s ruling on the original motion. See Pritchett v. State, 884 So. 2d 417, 418 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). Affirmed in part; reversed in part. NORTHCUTT and CRENSHAW, JJ., Concur.…
  • Larson v. State, 247 So. 3d 26 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)
  • Bennett v. State, 905 So. 2d 270 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
    …r Bennett’s additional claims because he filed his second motion to supplement prior to the end of the two-year time limit for filing a rule 3.850 motion and prior to the trial court’s order on his original rule 3.850 motion. See Pritchett v. State, 884 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). Accordingly, we reverse the order of the trial court denying Bennett’s second motion to supplement and remand for the trial court to determine if the motion is otherwise facially sufficient and, if so, consider the claims raised…

Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw