ALVIN MILLER
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A postconviction court cannot summarily deny an ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on DNA evidence when the record does not conclusively refute the defendant's allegations regarding low count number testing, sample contamination, or population frequency statistics.
[1] A postconviction court must either attach record portions that conclusively refute a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel or convene an evidentiary hearing.
[2] A claim that "low count number" DNA testing was inadmissible and that DNA samples were contaminated may not be conclusively refuted by a limited record.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAlvin Miller appealed the denial of his Rule 3.850 postconviction motion challenging his attempted sexual battery conviction. His motion raised two in…
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Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for Polk County; William D. Sites, Judge.
Alvin Miller, pro se.
PER CURIAM.
Alvin Miller appeals the summary denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal
Procedure 3.850 motion for postconviction relief, in which he raised two claims of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding his conviction of attempted sexual battery.
We affirm the denial of his second claim without comment. As to his first claim, Mr.
Miller argues that "low count number" testing had been utilized in his case and was inadmissible under sections 90.7021 and 90.703, Florida Statutes (2015), that possible contamination of the DNA samples had occurred, and that the population frequency statistics were unreliable. The limited record attached to the postconviction court's order does not conclusively refute that claim. See Foster v. State, 810 So. 2d 910, 914 (Fla. 2002); Wesby v. State, 230 So. 3d 939, 941 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017). We therefore reverse the summary denial of Mr. Miller's first claim and remand for the court to either attach portions of the record that conclusively refute the claim or convene an evidentiary hearing.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.
CASANUEVA, LUCAS, and SALARIO, JJ., Concur.
1Section 90.702, which states that an expert may testify in the form of an opinion if: "(1) The testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data; (2) [t]he testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (3) [t]he witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case," codified the test set forth in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and was applicable at the time of Mr. Miller's trial.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Daubert et ux. v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (U.S. 1993)
- Foster v. State, 810 So. 2d 910 (Fla. 2002)
- Wesby v. State, 230 So. 3d 939 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)