JAMIE BELL, 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.
Jamie Bell appealed a trial court's summary denial of his Rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief. The appellate court affirmed the denial of two claims but reversed and remanded three claims concerning ineffective assistance of counsel, illegal habitual felony offender sentencing, and alleged double jeopardy violations.
The court affirmed the summary denial of claims one and three but reversed and remanded claims two, four, and five. Claim two should have been denied with leave to amend rather than summarily denied. Claim four presented a legally sufficient challenge to habitual offender sentencing based on same-date prior sentences. Claim five presented a colorable double jeopardy challenge regarding dual convictions for resisting arrest with and without violence that required an evidentiary hearing or record attachments.
[1] A post-conviction relief claim alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to call a witness is legally sufficient if it alleges the witness's availability to…
[2] Prior convictions and sentences must be sequential to qualify for habitual felony offender sentencing.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“The trial court erred in summarily denying this otherwise legally sufficient claim, as it should have been denied with leave to amend to supply this required allegation.”
Establishes that claim two should have been allowed amendment rather than summary denial for ineffective assistance of counsel.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJamie Bell was convicted of multiple offenses including armed robbery, violation of probation for aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, resisting ar…
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 Sequential Conviction Requirement cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Jamie Bell appeals a trial court order which summarily denied his motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm without discussion the summary denial of his claims one and three, but reverse and remand on claims two, four and five.
In claim two, Bell alleged ineffective assistance of his trial counsel for failure to call his sister, Felicia Bell, to testify in his defense. Appellant alleged that he told counsel where to contact his sister, but he did not specifically allege that she was available to testify at his trial. The trial court erred in summarily denying this otherwise legally sufficient claim, as it should have been denied with leave to amend to supply this required allegation. See Nelson v. State, 875 So. 2d 579 (Fla.2004).
In claim four, Bell alleged that his habitual felony offender sentences were illegal because the State relied on prior sentences entered on the same date and in the same proceeding, in violation of the law requiring sequential convictions. Appellant alleged that he was convicted and sentenced for armed robbery in the same proceeding as his separate conviction and sentence for violation of probation for aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. He alleged that he was sentenced on these two prior offenses in the same day and in the same proceeding, such that they could not be properly considered as two separate prior sentences for purposes of habitual felony offender sentencing. See Richardson v. State, 884 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) certifying conflict with McCall v. State, 862 So. 2d 807 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (holding that imposition of probation qualifies as a sentence for purposes of the habitual felony offender statute’s requirement of sequential convictions).
We also certify conflict with the fifth district’s Love v. State, 886 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004) and the third district’s State v. Del Castillo, 890 So. 2d 376 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004).
See also Petruny v. State, 884 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004).
We find that the trial court erred in summarily denying relief on this claim. On remand, the state may introduce evidence of other qualifying convictions which would allow for a habitual felony offender sentence, should any exist. See Puskac v. State, 872 So. 2d 1008 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004).
Finally, on claim five, appellant alleged that his convictions for resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence violated double jeopardy, and that his convictions for resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer violated double jeopardy as well. Battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence are separate offenses. State v. Henriquez, 485 So. 2d 414 (Fla.1986); Nelson v. State, 665 So. 2d 382 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).
This refutes half of appellant’s double jeopardy challenge, leaving the claim as to his separate convictions for resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence. Appellant’s challenge on this claim was colorable. See Goodman v. State, 801 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)(holding that defendant could not be convicted of both resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence arising out of continuous single episode involving the defendant’s attempt to avoid one arresting officer, and thus reversal of conviction of resisting arrest without violence was required).
The State has argued in the trial court and here that those counts were for conduct separate and distinct from one another, but the trial court did not attach any portions of the record demonstrating this, so as to refute appellant’s claims on this point.
Therefore, we reverse and remand the trial court’s summary denial on this claim, for either an evidentiary hearing or record attachments refuting the claim.
Consequently, we affirm the trial court’s summary denial of claims one and three, but reverse the trial court’s summary denial of claims two, four and five, and remand for attachment of portions of the record refuting those claims, for an evidentiary hearing or for further proceedings as otherwise stated herein.
KLEIN, TAYLOR and MAY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
State v. Bell, 940 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 2006)…PER CURIAM. We have for review Bell v. State, 912 So. 2d 5 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), in which the Fourth District Court of Appeal cited with approval its decision in Richardson v. State, 884 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003), reh’g granted in part, 884 So. 2d 950, 952 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), quashed, 915 So. 2d 86 (Fl…
Authorities Cited (11 total)
- Nelson v. State, 875 So. 2d 579 (Fla. 2004)
- Erick Richardson v. State, 884 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- McCALL v. State, 862 So. 2d 807 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- State v. Henriquez, 485 So. 2d 414 (Fla. 1986)
- State v. DEL Castillo, 890 So. 2d 376 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)
- Puskac v. State, 872 So. 2d 1008 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Nelson v. State, 665 So. 2d 382 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Goodman v. State, 801 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
- Petruny v. State, 884 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Insko v. State, 884 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)