KEITH ROBERT PAGLIARO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Pagliaro appeals the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 post-conviction relief motion, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to investigate his mental health status. The appellate court found his claim facially sufficient and not conclusively refuted by the record, requiring an evidentiary hearing on the mental health claim while affirming denial of his other claims.
The court held that Pagliaro's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on failure to investigate mental health was facially sufficient and not conclusively refuted by the record. The trial court's two questions during the plea colloquy—asking whether Pagliaro was under the influence of alcohol or intoxicants and whether he had been found insane or incompetent—were insufficient to refute his claim that combined psychotropic and pain medications prevented him from understanding the plea's nature and consequences.
[1] A Rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief is facially sufficient if it raises a claim that is not conclusively refuted by the record.
[2] A defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel's failure to investigate mental health status may not be conclusively refuted by a plea colloquy…
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“We find this exchange was insufficient to conclusively refute Pagliaro's claim that he did not understand the nature and consequences of the plea hearing because of the combined effects of his psychotropic medications and his pain medication.”
Establishes that the trial court's two questions during plea colloquy were insufficient to conclusively refute the defendant's mental health claim.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePagliaro originally pled guilty to robbery and drug possession offenses and was sentenced to 39 months incarceration plus five years probation. Releas…
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EVANDER, J.
Pagliaro appeals the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief.1 We find his motion raised a facially sufficient claim that was not conclusively refuted by the record.
Pagliaro originally pled guilty to robbery, possession of heroin, and possession of cannabis. He was sentenced to 39 months incarceration, followed by five years of probation. In April 2005, Paglia-ro was released on probation. He was arrested for violating his probation on December 5, 2005, for failure to pay costs of supervision. He was released on his own recognizance on December 19, 2005. Subsequently, he tested positive for cannabis in his urine sample. Pagliaro admitted to violating his probation at a hearing held in April, 2006. The trial court sentenced Pagliaro to nine years incarceration. His subsequent motion to withdraw plea was denied.
Pagliaro raised four claims in his Rule 3.850 motion. We affirm, without discussion, the summary denial of his first, third and fourth claims. In his second claim, Pagliaro alleged that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to investigate his mental health status. Pagliaro claimed he had a long history of mental illness. He had been diagnosed as bi-polar and had been involuntarily committed on, at least, two occasions. The most recent occasion was in November, 2005. In December, 2005, he alleged the trial court released him on his own recognizance so that he would be able to attend his social security disability hearing scheduled for December 22, 2005.
The Social Security Administration’s hearing officer’s report was attached to Pagliaro’s Rule 3.850 motion. The hearing officer apparently found Pagliaro had the following impairments, which were considered to be “severe” under Social Security Regulations: “degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, cervical spondylosis, bipolar disorder, personality disorder and substance abuse disorder, in remission.” Pagliaro alleged that he was taking various psychotropic medications as well as pain-management medications for his herniated disc. Significantly, he asserted that as a result of the combined effects of these medications, he was unable to understand the nature and consequences of his YOP plea hearing.
The trial court found this claim was conclusively refuted by Pagliaro’s answers to two questions during his plea colloquy. The trial judge’s questions and Pagliaro’s answers were as follows:
Q. Are you presently under the influence of any alcohol or intoxicant that would negatively effect your good judgment here today?
A. No, Sir. Q. Have you ever been found to be insane, incompetent, mentally challenged and not restored to your capacity-
A. No. We find this exchange was insufficient to conclusively refute Pagliaro’s claim that he did not understand the nature and consequences of the plea hearing because of the combined effects of his psychotropic medications and his pain medication. In the course of the plea colloquy, Pagliaro was never asked whether he was under the influence of any medications. In the substantially similar case of Randall v. State, 885 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), we held that an evidentiary hearing was required because the defendant’s mental status, at the time of the plea hearing, was not conclusively refuted by the record. See also Rivera v. State, 746 So. 2d 542 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). Accordingly, Paglia-ro is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on this claim.
AFFIRMED, in part; REVERSED, in part; REMANDED.
GRIFFIN and MONACO, JJ., concur. . Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850.
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Citator
Cited By
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Rappaport v. State, 24 So. 3d 1211 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)…aring). While questions asked and answered at a recorded meeting concerning the substantial assistance agreement refuted any claim of mental illness, similar questions were not asked of Rappaport as part of the plea colloquy. See Pagliaro v. State, 963 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) (defendant’s claim in his 3.850 motion that he could not understand the nature and consequences of his plea due to the use of psychotropic medications was not refuted by the record as the court did not ask the defendant if he was…
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Whitley A. McRAE v. State, 204 So. 3d 103 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…2001). Because the written plea form and colloquy attached to the trial court’s order does not conclusively refute a claim that counsel was -ineffective for failing to ensure McRae’s plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered, see Pagliaro v. State, 963 So. 2d 902, 904 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) (finding evidentiary hearing was required where defendant was never asked whether [*104] he was under the influence of any medications), we reverse the summary denial of Ground One and remand for attachment of portions of th…
Authorities Cited
- Rivera v. State, 746 So. 2d 542 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
- Randall v. State, 885 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)