HENRY R. MONDY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Henry Mondy appeals the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 postconviction motion claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The court affirms the denial of his first claim but reverses and remands his second claim regarding counsel's failure to move to suppress allegedly coerced custodial statements.
Mondy's claim that counsel failed to move to suppress a coerced confession states a facially sufficient claim of ineffective assistance. The postconviction court erred in concluding the plea colloquy conclusively refutes this claim because Mondy did not indicate he knew about the suppression remedy at the time of his plea. Mondy adequately alleged facts satisfying the prejudice prong of Strickland by asserting he would have insisted on trial but for counsel's errors.
[1] A claim that counsel failed to move to suppress a coerced confession states a facially sufficient claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
[2] A defendant cannot voluntarily waive defenses of which they are not informed.
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“Counsel may be ineffective for not moving to suppress a defendant's statement made during a police interrogation if the statement was involuntary or the defendant did not receive adequate Miranda warnings.”
Establishes the legal standard for ineffective assistance based on failure to suppress coerced statements
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMondy pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery with a weapon and one count of possession of cocaine, receiving concurrent sentences of 30 years for r…
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Henry Mondy appeals the summary denial of his motion for posteonviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. In his motion, he raised two claims. We affirm the postconviction court’s denial of relief as to claim one without further comment. As to claim two, we reverse for further proceedings.
Mondy entered a negotiated guilty plea to three counts of robbery with a weapon and one count of possession of cocaine. In accordance with his plea, he was sentenced as a prison releasee reoffender to concurrent terms of thirty years in prison for the robbery counts and five years for the possession count. He did not file a direct appeal.
In claim two of his pro se motion for postconviction relief, Mondy asserted, inter alia, that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to make a motion to suppress Mon-dy’s post-Miranda 1 custodial statements *1252given under duress and compulsion.2 He asserted that he told counsel that he confessed to two St. Petersburg police detectives after he was subjected to direct threats. He asserted that he advised counsel that the detectives told him if he did not confess he would be charged with several robberies regardless of whether he did them. He contends that he would have insisted on going to trial but for counsel’s errors.
The postconviction court found that the claim was refuted by the plea colloquy, during which Mondy acknowledged he was satisfied with the representation of his counsel. The postconviction court reasoned that Mondy was aware of any potential issue regarding his custodial statement at the time of his plea but that he nonetheless acknowledged satisfaction with his counsel and chose to enter a plea.
Mondy’s claim that his counsel failed to move for suppression of a coerced confession states a facially sufficient claim of ineffective assistance. See Rouzard v. State, 952 So.2d 1290, 1292 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (“Counsel may be ineffective for not moving to suppress a defendant’s statement made during a police interrogation if the statement was involuntary or the defendant did not receive adequate Miranda warnings.”); see also Brown v. State, 967 So.2d 440, 443 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (reversing summary denial of claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress statements made to police after an inadequate Miranda warning). The postconviction court erred in concluding that the plea colloquy conclusively refutes this claim. Mondy claimed that he advised his counsel of the officers’ threats and coercion; however, he did not indicate that he knew about the remedy of suppression at the time he entered the plea, which the postconviction court’s ruling assumes. “[A] defendant cannot voluntarily waive defenses of which he is not informed.” Rouzard, 952 So.2d at 1292; see also Wilson v. State, 871 So.2d 298, 299 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (finding that plea colloquy did not refute claim that counsel failed to file a motion to suppress incriminating custodial statements made without benefit of Miranda warnings).
By alleging that he would have insisted on going to trial but for counsel’s errors, Mondy sufficiently alleged facts to satisfy the prejudice prong of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). See Deck v. State, 985 So.2d 1234, 1237-38 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Brown, 967 So.2d at 443. Therefore, we reverse and remand for the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing at which Mondy will be given the opportunity to prove his claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress coerced statements.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
WHATLEY and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.
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Ira E. Jenkins, Jr. v. State, 44 So. 3d 243 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…hree. Jenkins’ motion does not state when he learned that counsel failed to investigate the robbery crime scene or witness Hall. Thus, at the time Jenkins entered his plea, he could have been satisfied with counsel’s performance. See Mondy v. State, 6 So. 3d 1251, 1252 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (holding that court erred in determining that a postconviction claim was refuted by the defendant’s statement in the plea colloquy that he was satisfied with counsel’s representation because it was not clear the defendant kn…
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Harrell v. State, 21 So. 3d 166 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)…nted which was unknown to Harrell at the time of the plea and which could have impacted Harrell’s decision to plead guilty. We disagree with the postconviction court’s conclusion that the claims are refuted by the plea colloquy. See Mondy v. State, 6 So. 3d 1251, 1252 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (finding that plea colloquy did not refute claim that counsel failed to move for suppression of coerced confession). However, Harrell’s claims are facially insufficient as they are lacking sufficient factual details for a pr…
Authorities Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984)
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (U.S. 1966)
- Wilson v. State, 871 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)
- Sutton v. State, 985 So. 2d 1234 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)
- Perez v. State, 967 So. 2d 440 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)
- Diansky Rouzard v. State, 952 So. 2d 1290 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)
- Tobias Brown v. State, 967 So. 2d 440 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)