WALTER PALMER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE.
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Walter Palmer appeals the denial of his Rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief, challenging his convictions for possessing/introducing contraband and methamphetamine on double jeopardy grounds and claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District, reversed and remanded on two grounds but affirmed the trial court's summary denial on other respects.
The court reversed and remanded on the double jeopardy claims and the HFO notice claim because the trial court's summary denials relied on inadmissible evidence (arrest affidavit hearsay) and incomplete records (missing transcripts and proof of actual notice) insufficient to conclusively refute Palmer's allegations. The court affirmed the trial court's summary denial of all other grounds.
[1] When one offense contains all the elements of another offense, the two offenses are not separate for purposes of prosecution.
[2] A conviction for simple possession of a controlled substance is subsumed within the offense of introducing or possessing a controlled substance into a county detention fa…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the prohibition against double jeopardy does not prohibit multiple convictions and punishments where a defendant commits two or more distinct criminal acts.”
Establishes the governing legal standard that double jeopardy does not bar multiple convictions for distinct acts.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePalmer pleaded no contest to five counts: possessing/introducing contraband into a county detention center, possession of methamphetamine, driving wit…
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Walter Palmer appeals the denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. Palmer pleaded no contest to possessing/introducing contraband into a county detention center (count I); possession of methamphetamine (count II); driving while license canceled/suspended/revoked (count lll); possession of paraphernalia (count IV); and no motor vehicle registration (count V).1 The court sentenced Palmer as a habitual felony offender (HFO).
We write to address the summary denial of three grounds raised in Palmer's motion for postconviction relief: violation of double jeopardy for his convictions of count I and count II, ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to inform him of the double jeopardy violation, and ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to inform him of the State's intent to seek an HFO sentence.2
As to Palmer's double jeopardy claims, "the prohibition against double jeopardy does not prohibit multiple convictions and punishments where a defendant commits two or more distinct criminal acts." Hayes v. State, 803 So.2d 695, 700 (Fla. 2001). Palmer argues that he committed *826one criminal act of possession, which was insufficient to support convictions for both counts I and II. The trial court, relying on Palmer's arrest affidavit, concluded that Palmer committed two distinct criminal acts of possession of two sets of contraband, one occurring during Palmer's initial arrest and another occurring at the detention facility. However, arrest affidavits are hearsay and "insufficient to conclusively refute a claim of ineffective assistance for failing to assert a double jeopardy challenge." See Lopez-Valente v. State, 951 So.2d 65, 66 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007).3 The State concedes error. Therefore, we reverse and remand for the trial court to include attachments to its order conclusively refuting Palmer's claims regarding double jeopardy or to hold an evidentiary hearing.
In summarily denying Palmer's ineffective assistance claim based on counsel's failure to inform him that the State intended to seek an HFO sentence, the court attached a copy of the State's notice of intent and referred to a pretrial conference where the State advised the court in Palmer's presence that it had filed the notice. However, no pretrial transcripts were attached to the order denying this claim. In addition, the attached notice does not conclusively refute Palmer's allegation. While a copy of the notice was provided to counsel, it was not served on Palmer. No other records demonstrate whether Palmer had actual notice of the State's intent to seek an HFO sentence. See Hartwell v. State, 12 So.3d 892, 893 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009) (noting that "lack of written notice of habitualization can be harmless error if the defendant had actual notice"). Therefore, we reverse and remand for the trial court to include attachments to its order conclusively refuting Palmer's claims set forth above or to hold an evidentiary hearing. We affirm the trial court's order in all other respects.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; and REMANDED.
COHEN, C.J., SAWAYA and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Hayes v. State, 803 So. 2d 695 (Fla. 2001)
- Turner v. State, 661 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)
- Hartwell v. State, 12 So. 3d 892 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009)
- Lopez-Valente v. State, 951 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007)