WALTER CLAYTON MORRIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Walter Clayton Morris appeals a trial court's summary denial of his Rule 3.850 post-conviction motion asserting ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of most claims but reversed and remanded portions concerning two facially insufficient claims and one claim regarding counsel's misadvice regarding a plea offer.
The court affirmed denial of most claims as either conclusively refuted or lacking prejudice establishment. However, the court reversed the summary denial of claims two and three for facial insufficiency, requiring the trial court to allow amendment. The court also reversed and remanded claim nine regarding counsel's misadvice on the plea offer for an evidentiary hearing or attachment of conclusively refuting record portions.
[1] A claim of prosecutorial misconduct is not cognizable in a post-conviction motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.
[2] A trial court abuses its discretion when it fails to allow a defendant at least one opportunity to amend a post-conviction motion that is facially insufficient.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“when an initial rule 3.850 motion is determined to be legally insufficient for failing to "meet the rule's or other pleading requirements, the trial court abuses its discretion when it fails to allow the defendant at least one opportunity to amend the motion.”
Establishes the standard requiring trial courts to allow amendment of facially insufficient post-conviction motions
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMorris was convicted pursuant to plea agreements in two cases: aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer (5-year sentence) and aggravated batter…
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Walter Clayton Morris appeals the trial court’s order summarily denying his post-conviction claims filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Appellant’s postconviction motion asserted ten grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel and one claim of prosecutorial misconduct. The prosecutorial misconduct claim is not cognizable in a postconviction motion and was properly denied. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850(c); Sampson v. State, 845 So.2d 271, 272 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). With the exception of the grounds raised in claims two, three and nine, Appellant’s claims were correctly denied because they were either conclusively refuted by the record or Appellant did not establish prejudice. Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Appellant was convicted in one case1 of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and received a five-year sentence; in a second case,2 he was convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated assault with a firearm and received ten-year and five-year sentences, respectively.
The trial court denied Appellant’s second and third claims as facially insufficient. However, when an initial rule 3.850 motion is determined to be legally insufficient for failing to “meet the rule’s or other pleading requirements, the trial court abuses its discretion when it fails to allow the defendant at least one opportunity to amend the motion. [T]he proper procedure is to strike the motion with leave to amend within a reasonable period.” Spera v. State, 971 So.2d 754, 761-62 (Fla.2007). We therefore reverse the portions of the trial court’s order denying relief as to Appellant’s second and third claims, and direct that the trial court strike the claims with leave to amend within a reasonable period if Appellant can do so in good faith.
We also find merit to Appellant’s ninth claim that his counsel misadvised him regarding the State’s three-year plea offer in case number 2008-CF-520. Appellant alleged that his counsel advised him not to accept the three-year offer because he could negotiate a sentence of twenty-four to thirty months at the most. He also alleged that he was willing to accept the three-year plea offer, but does not articulate whether he unequivocally told his counsel to accept the offer, which counsel failed to do. Following a three-month defense continuance, he returned to court to learn that the State had withdrawn the three-year offer and the new offer was ten years. Neither assertion is refuted by the record. The trial court denied this claim because the State, in fact, withdrew the offer before it was accepted.
Counsel’s failure to convey a client’s acceptance of a plea offer to the State can constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. White v. State, 731 So.2d 74 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). Further, an ineffective assistance of counsel claim can be based on counsel’s advice to reject a plea offer. Morgan v. State, 991 So.2d 835 (Fla.2008); Colon v. State, 909 So.2d 484 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). In Birch v. State, 961 So.2d 1112 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007), we *698held that a defendant was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on a claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to accept a plea offer before the State withdrew it because the claim was not conclusively refuted by the record. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the trial court’s order denying relief as to his ninth claim and remand for the trial court to either attach those portions of the record that conclusively refute Appellant’s claims, or to hold an evidentia-ry hearing. Bland v. State, 25 So.3d 600 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009).
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED.
TORPY and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Fournier v. State, 204 So. 3d 976 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…768 So. 2d 1037, 1041 (Fla. 2000) (citing Peede, 748 So. 2d at 257 (additional citations omitted)). “Counsel’s failure to convey a client’s acceptance of a plea offer to the State can constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.” Morris v. State, 50 So. 3d 696, 697 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) (citing White v. State, 731 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)). In Birch v. State, 961 So. 2d 1112 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007), we determined that allegations in a rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief that were similar to those ra…
Authorities Cited
- Spera v. State, 971 So. 2d 754 (Fla. 2007)
- Morgan v. State, 991 So. 2d 835 (Fla. 2008)
- Colon v. State, 909 So. 2d 484 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
- Fulvio Regalado v. State, 25 So. 3d 600 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)
- Thearon Sampson v. State, 845 So. 2d 271 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- White v. State, 731 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
- Bland v. State, 25 So. 3d 600 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)
- Birch v. State, 961 So. 2d 1112 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007)