OLIVER THOMAS, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Oliver Thomas appealed the trial court's denial of his motion for postconviction relief, arguing the court erred by failing to appoint counsel at the evidentiary hearing. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed, finding no duty to appoint counsel where the defendant filed pro se, made no request for appointed counsel, and raised issues not requiring counsel's assistance.
The court held there was no error because there is no constitutional duty to appoint counsel in postconviction proceedings. The defendant filed his motion pro se without requesting appointed counsel, did not object below, and the issues raised regarding whether his plea was free and voluntary did not require counsel's assistance.
[1] A trial court is not required to appoint counsel in a postconviction proceeding unless the issues raised are complex or require substantial research.
[2] A defendant must request the appointment of counsel to assist in a postconviction proceeding.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“there is no duty to appoint counsel in a postconviction proceeding and some of the factors that should be considered are the complexity of the issues raised and the need for substantial research”
Establishes the legal principle that postconviction relief does not trigger an automatic right to appointed counsel, with complexity and research needs as relevant factors.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn July 14, 2007, the defendant entered an open plea, pleading guilty to charges in four separate felony cases and no contest in one felony case, resu…
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Oliver Thomas (“the defendant”) appeals the trial court’s order denying his motion for postconviction relief. We affirm.
On July 14, 2007, the defendant entered an open plea to the court, wherein he pled guilty to the charges in four separate felony cases and no contest in one felony case, resulting on September 24, 2008, in adjudications and concurrent thirty-year sentences to at least eight armed robberies. On May 4, 2009, the defendant filed a motion seeking postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered an order denying relief on July 17, 2009.
*985On appeal, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to appoint counsel to assist the defendant at the evi-dentiary hearing. A review of the record, however, reflects that the defendant’s motion was filed pro se, he did not request that a lawyer be appointed to assist him, he did not object to the proceedings below, and the issues he raised in his motion did not require the assistance of counsel. The issues raised revolved around whether the defendant’s plea was a free and voluntary plea. Accordingly, we affirm. See Graham v. State, 372 So.2d 1363, 1366 (Fla.1979) (holding that there is no duty to appoint counsel in a postconviction proceeding and some of the factors that should be considered are the complexity of the issues raised and the need for substantial research); Castor v. State, 365 So.2d 701, 703 (Fla.1978) (holding that “[t]he requirement of a contemporaneous objection is based on practical necessity and basic fairness in the operation of a judicial system. It places the trial judge on notice that error may have been committed, and provides him an opportunity to correct it at an early stage of the proceedings.”).
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Castor v. State, 365 So. 2d 701 (Fla. 1978)
- The Petition of Andrew A. Graham v. State, 372 So. 2d 1363 (Fla. 1979)