ALBERT LOUIS BARNES
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA
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Counsel's failure to call witnesses who refuse to cooperate and are unavailable, and counsel's strategic decisions made after considering alternatives, do not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.
[1] Counsel is not deficient in failing to call witnesses who refuse to cooperate with the defense and are therefore unavailable for trial.
[2] Strategic decisions by counsel do not constitute ineffective assistance if alternative courses have been considered and rejected and the decision was reasonable under the…
Previewing 2 of 2 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“[S]trategic decisions do not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel if alternative courses have been considered and rejected and counsel's decision was reasonable under the norms of professional conduct.”
Occhicone v. State, 768 So. 2d 1037, 1048 (Fla. 2000), cited for the standard governing strategic decisions in ineffective assistance claims.
Albert Louis Barnes appealed from a conviction in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, raising an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The appeal chal…
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Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed September 4, 2024. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D23-0839 Lower Tribunal No. F14-16526A ________________
Albert Louis Barnes, Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida, Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Charles Johnson, Judge.
Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Susan S. Lerner, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and David Llanes, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Before SCALES, MILLER and BOKOR, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
2 Affirmed. See Miller v. State, 161 So. 3d 354, 363-64 (Fla. 2015) (holding, consistent with Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), that a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel must satisfy two criteria: counsel’s deficient performance and prejudice to the defendant); Melton v. State, 949 So. 2d 994, 1004 (Fla. 2006) (holding that counsel is not deficient in failing to call witnesses who refuse to cooperate with the defense and are therefore unavailable for trial; Occhicone v. State, 768 So. 2d 1037, 1048 (Fla. 2000) (“[S]trategic decisions do not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel if alternative courses have been considered and rejected and counsel’s decision was reasonable under the norms of professional conduct.”).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984)
- Occhicone v. State, 768 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 2000)
- Melton v. State, 949 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 2006)
- Miller v. State, 161 So. 3d 354 (Fla. 2015)