JEREMY FERRARA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Court reversed summary denial of postconviction relief claim alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for misadvising defendant about maximum sentence, which caused rejection of favorable plea offer, but affirmed denial of second claim.
A defendant sufficiently alleges ineffective assistance of counsel when counsel misadvises him about the maximum sentence he faces, causing him to reject a favorable plea offer, even if the sentence ultimately imposed is less than the misstated maximum.
[1] Ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on counsel's misadvice regarding maximum sentence is not conclusively refuted by record when defendant rejected favorable pl…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“where defendant alleged that counsel advised him that he faced maximum sentence of fifteen years in prison when he actually faced life imprisonment and defendant rejected favorable plea offer of two years in prison, defendant sufficiently alleged prejudice even though he only received fifteen-year prison sentence”
Court cited Wright v. State to establish that prejudice can be shown even when the actual sentence imposed is less than the misstated maximum sentence
Ferrara appealed the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief, alleging that his counsel ineffectively advised him regarding the maximum…
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Ferrara appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief. We affirm as to the denial of Ferrara’s second claim, but reverse as to the first claim. We conclude that the record does not conclusively refute Ferrara’s allegation that his counsel was ineffective in misadvising him regarding the maximum sentence he could receive if found guilty after trial, which caused him to reject a favorable plea offer from the State. See Wright v. State, 892 So.2d 1209 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005) (where defendant alleged that counsel advised him that he faced maximum sentence of fifteen years in prison when he actually faced life imprisonment and defendant rejected favorable plea offer of two years in prison, defendant sufficiently alleged prejudice even though he only received fifteen-year prison sentence); see also Parks v. State, 814 So.2d 1135 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); Lester v. State, 773 So.2d 1188, 1189 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (mere fact that defense counsel advised defendant that State had served notice of intent to seek habitualization did not mean counsel had explained to defendant what habitualization meant).
As the attachments to the trial court’s order did not conclusively refute Ferrara’s first claim, we reverse and remand for the trial court to attach portions of the record refuting the claim or to hold an evidentiary hearing.
AFFIRMED, in part; REVERSED, in part; REMANDED.
SAWAYA and COHEN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Thomas v. State, 162 So. 3d 1084 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)…nsel as to gain-time is a cognizable ground for postconviction relief. Pylant v. State, 134 So. 3d 533, 534 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014). Mis-advice as to the maximum possible sentence is also a cognizable ground for post-conviction relief. Ferrara v. State, 114 So. 3d 990 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012). Our review of the record reveals that these two claims are not conclusively refuted by the records attached to the order and are not facially invalid. We, therefore, reverse that part of the order under review that summarily den…
Authorities Cited
- Lester v. State, 773 So. 2d 1188 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Andrews v. State, 892 So. 2d 1209 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
- Parks v. State, 814 So. 2d 1135 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)