JAMES RUSSELL BARNES, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 2d DCA | 2008-01-16
No. 2D07-2520
DAVIS and KELLY, JJ„ Concur.
993 So. 2d 1012 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2008) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

James Barnes petitioned for postconviction relief arguing that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise that the trial court committed fundamental error by inserting the conjunction 'or' between his name and his codefendant's name in jury instructions on attempted carjacking. The court granted the petition and ordered a new appeal on this issue, finding that appellate counsel had a duty to raise the issue based on controlling precedent from other district courts.


Holding

The court held that appellate counsel was ineffective because it had a duty to raise the issue, which was supported by case law from other district courts of appeal predating Barnes' direct appeal, even though this court had not yet ruled on the specific issue. The court granted the petition and ordered a new appeal limited to this issue.


Headnotes

[1] Ineffective assistance of appellate counsel can be established by the failure to raise an issue supported by case law from other district courts of appeal when the appell…

[2] A jury instruction that uses the conjunction "or" between the names of co-defendants when describing the elements of an offense may constitute fundamental error.

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Key Quotes

“Appellate counsel has a duty to raise an issue that is supported by case law from other district courts of appeal where this court has not yet ruled on the issue.”

Establishes the legal standard that appellate counsel must raise issues supported by precedent from other districts even if the current court has not addressed the issue.

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Facts & Procedural History

A jury convicted James Barnes of attempted carjacking and giving a false name. The trial court reinstructed the jury on the essential elements of atte…

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Opinion of the Court
LaROSE, Judge.

LaROSE, Judge.

A jury convicted James Barnes of attempted carjacking and giving a false name. We affirmed the judgment and sentence on direct appeal. Barnes v. State, 875 So. 2d 599 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (table decision).

Mr. Barnes now contends that his appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that the trial court fundamentally erred when it inserted the conjunction “or” between his name and that of his codefen-dant when reinstructing the jury1 on the essential elements of attempted carjacking. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.141(c). We have held that such a failure constitutes ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Santiago v. State, 962 So. 2d 416, 416-17 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Zeno v. State, 922 So. 2d 431, 432 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006). Accordingly, we grant the petition and allow Mr. Barnes a new appeal on this issue only.

In Cabrera v. State, 890 So. 2d 506, 507-08 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), we held that the trial court’s use of “and/or” between Cabrera’s name and that of his co-defendant when instructing the jury on the elements of the offenses constituted fundamental error.2 Although we decided Cabrera subsequent to our per curiam af-firmance of Mr. Barnes’ judgment and sentence, Cabrera relied on Davis v. State, 804 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), and Williams v. State, 774 So. 2d 841 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), both of which predated Mr. Barnes’ notice of appeal. “Appellate counsel has a duty to raise an issue that is supported by case law from other district courts of appeal where this court has not yet ruled on the issue.” Zeno, 922 So. 2d at 433 (citing Kist v. State, 900 So. 2d 571 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)).

In Williams, the use of the conjunction “or” between Williams’ name and that of his codefendant in instructing the jury on cocaine trafficking constituted fundamental error because it may have misled the jury into thinking that it could convict Williams based solely on his codefendant’s conduct. 774 So. 2d at 843. The Davis court ruled similarly regarding the use of the “and/or” conjunction when the trial court instructed the jury on entrapment.3 804 So. 2d at 404-05.

A determination as to whether the instruction constituted fundamental error requires a full review of the record. See Zeno, 922 So. 2d at 433. Therefore, we instruct the trial court, within thirty days from the issuance of the mandate in this case, to appoint an appellate attorney to file a brief limited to this issue. Appellate counsel shall, within thirty days from the issuance of the mandate, file a new notice of appeal, referencing this opinion.

DAVIS and KELLY, JJ„ Concur. . Neither a transcript of the instructions nor the written instructions initially read to the jury is part of the record.

. The Fourth District certified conflict with Cabrera and Zeno v. State, 910 So. 2d 394 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), in Garzon v. State, 939 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). The supreme court has accepted review of this conflict. Garzon v. State, 956 So. 2d 455 (Fla.2007) (table decision). Garzon held that the use of the “and/ or” conjunction between the codefendants’ names was not fundamental error where the principals instruction was given. Garzon, 939 So. 2d at 283-87. The court recognized that in Zeno we rejected the State's argument that the principals instruction cured the erroneous instructions. Garzon, 939 So. 2d at 287.

. Although the inclusion of the "and/or” conjunction between Davis’ name and her code-fendant’s name was fundamental error, the error was harmless because Davis admitted to the crimes when she raised an entrapment defense. Davis, 804 So. 2d at 405. Davis was decided before the supreme court held that fundamental error is, by nature, harmful and not subject to a harmless error analysis. See Reed v. State, 837 So. 2d 366, 369-70 (Fla. 2002).


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Citator

Cited By

  • Dooley v. State, 206 So. 3d 87 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)
    …tifiable use of deadly force were fundamentally erroneous. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(d). The failure to argue on appeal that jury instructions were fundamentally erroneous constitutes ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. See Barnes v. State, 993 So. 2d 1012, 1013 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008). For the reasons that follow, we grant the petition and afford Dooley a new appeal on this issue. At trial, Dooley testified that he intentionally shot the victim in justifiable self-defense. However, he asserts that the tr…
  • Kenyon Harrison v. State, 62 So. 3d 1229 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011)
    …thirty days of the mandate in this case, to appoint an appellate attorney to file a brief limited to this issue. After appointment, appellate counsel shall promptly file a new notice of appeal referencing this opinion. See generally Barnes v. State, 993 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008). Petition GRANTED. ORFINGER and LAWSON, JJ., concur. . § 90.610 Conviction of certain crimes as impeachment— (1) A party may attack the credibility of any witness, including an accused, by evidence that the witness has been co…

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