MARCUS L. ISOM, 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.
Appellant Isom challenged a trial court's denial of his postconviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal of some claims but reversed and remanded others due to procedural deficiencies in the trial court's analysis.
The court affirmed the denial of relief on claims heard at the evidentiary hearing and the discharge motion, but reversed the summary denial of grounds 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, and 23, remanding for the trial court to either attach record portions conclusively refuting these claims or hold an evidentiary hearing.
[1] A trial court must attach portions of the record that conclusively refute a claim for postconviction relief when summarily denying the claim.
[2] A trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing on a claim for postconviction relief if the claim is facially sufficient and not conclusively refuted by the record.
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“Although it is clear from the record and the several orders of the trial court that the court attempted to comply with its responsibility under rule 3.850 to review the record and files in this case, the sheer volume of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel resulted in appellant's ground 23 being lost in the glut of pages.”
Explains why ground 23 was reversed—administrative oversight due to volume rather than substantive deficiency
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant filed a 3.850 motion with 22 grounds alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel, later supplemented with a 23rd ground. The trial cour…
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 Refutation of Claims cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Appellant seeks review of a final order denying his postconviction motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm in part; reverse in part; and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Appellant timely filed his motion for postconviction relief, listing 22 grounds alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In a subsequently filed and sworn “Supplement/Addendum,” appellant added an additional claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, which he numbered ground 23.
The trial court ordered the state to respond to all of appellant’s claims. The state did respond, conceding the necessity of an evidentiary hearing on some of the claims and arguing for the summary dismissal of the others. Ultimately, an evidentiary hearing was held on appellant’s grounds 1-5, 9, 12, 14 and 16-22, at which hearing appellant was represented by court-appointed counsel. The remaining grounds 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 were summarily denied. Ground 23 was omitted altogether from the trial court’s several orders.
In the meantime, appellant filed a pro se motion seeking the discharge of his court-appointed counsel on grounds of conflict of interest, professional negligence, unprofessional conduct and general ineffectiveness. Following a hearing at which appellant and his attorney were permitted to testify, the trial court found there was no legal basis to discharge counsel and, therefore, denied the motion.
Appellant raises seven points on appeal, challenging the denial of his motion to discharge appointed postconviction counsel; the failure to address ground 23 of his motion for postconviction relief; the summary denial of grounds 8 and 15, without attaching portions of the record conclusively refuting his claims; the summary denial of grounds 6, 7, 10, 11 and 13, on the basis that those claims were facially insufficient; and the denial of grounds 1-5, 9, 12, 14 and 16-22 following the evidentiary hearing.
We affirm, without discussion, the denial of relief on those claims heard at the evidentiary hearing, as there was competent substantial evidence to support the trial court’s findings that appellant’s trial counsel was not ineffective. We also affirm the summary denial of grounds 8 and 15, because the record conclusively supports the trial court’s conclusion that appellant is not entitled to relief. Cf Bland v. State, 563 So. 2d 794, 794-95 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (holding that the trial court’s failure to attach portions of the record upon which it had relied in summarily dismissing the defendant’s motion was not reversible error where the same portions of the record were relied upon by the defendant on appeal and appeared in the record on appeal).
Lastly, we affirm those points on appeal which challenge the trial court’s denial of the motion for discharge of court-appointed counsel because it is clear from the record that no valid reason for discharge existed.
However, as to the remaining points raised by appellant, we are constrained to reverse. Although it is clear from the record and the several orders of the trial court that the court attempted to comply with its responsibility under rule 3.850 to review the record and files in this case, the sheer volume of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel resulted in appellant’s ground 23 being lost in the glut of pages. In addition, we conclude that grounds 6, 7, 10, 11 and 13 were facially sufficient to require the trial court either to attach portions of the record conclusively supporting their summary denial, or to hold an evidentiary hearing.
Accordingly, we reverse the denial of grounds 6, 7, 10, 11, 13 and 23, and remand for attachment of portions of the record conclusively refuting appellant’s claims, or for an evidentiary hearing.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; and REMANDED, with directions.
BROWNING, C.J., WEBSTER, and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Jones v. State, 69 So. 3d 329 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)…nstitutional right to self-representation at an evidentiary hearing. The postconviction court has discretion as to whether to discharge appointed postconviction counsel, appoint new counsel, or to allow self-representation. See, e.g., Isom v. State, 953 So. 2d 604, 605 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (affirming denial of motion to discharge court-appointed postconviction counsel because “it is clear from the record that no valid reason for discharge existed”); Freeman v. State, 65 So. 3d 553, 557 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (find…
Authorities Cited
- Bland v. State, 563 So. 2d 794 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)