REUEL LAWSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1968-11-27
No. 68-279
HOBSON and MANN, JJ., concur.
215 So. 2d 790 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1968) Positive Treatment
Cited by 20 cases

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Synopsis

Reuel Lawson appealed the denial of post-conviction relief under Criminal Procedure Rule 1.850, challenging his 1962 robbery conviction on six grounds including lack of preliminary hearing, denial of counsel at lineup and interrogation, and other trial issues. The court affirmed the denial, finding that most grounds were not cognizable in post-conviction proceedings and others were precluded by lack of retroactive application of subsequent Supreme Court decisions.


Holding

The court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief, holding that: (1) no prejudice from lack of preliminary hearing was shown; (2) Wade/Gilbert retroactivity was limited by Stovall to cases after June 12, 1967; (3) illegal arrest is immaterial in collateral proceedings; (4) Miranda non-capital crimes do not apply retroactively to pre-June 13, 1966 convictions; (5) robbery prosecution by information is constitutional; and (6) jury instruction claims are cognizable only on direct appeal.


Key Quotes

“an accused was entitled to the presence of counsel at a pre-trial identification line-up”

Establishes the rule from Wade and Gilbert, but the court limited it to future cases after June 12, 1967

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Facts & Procedural History

Lawson was charged with robbery on September 28, 1961, tried by jury on February 14, 1962, and convicted and sentenced to state prison the same day. H…

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Opinion of the Court
PIERCE, Acting Chief Judge.

*791PIERCE, Acting Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by appellant Reuel Lawson from an order denying relief under former Criminal Procedure Rule 1, now CrPR 1.850, 33 F.S.A.

On September 28, 1961, Reuel Lawson was charged, along with a co-defendant, by information filed in the Hillsborough County Criminal Court of Record with the offense of robbery. On February 14, 1962, after trial by jury, he' was found guilty, and on the same date was adjudged guilty and sentenced by the Court to a term in the State prison.

Thereafter on July 11, 1967, and on October 9, 1967, and on May 9, 1968, defendant Lawson filed successive motions to vacate the sentence under the aforesaid Criminal Procedure Rule, which motions were respectively denied by the trial Court on July 26, 1967, and on October 17, 1967, and on May 29, 1967. From the last denial order the defendant has appealed to this Court. We affirm.

The contentions made in the last motion to vacate, upon which this appeal is predicated, may be grouped into six catagories, each of which we will briefly label and then dispose of.

1. No hearing before a committing magistrate. Defendant shows no prejudice to him flowing from an absence of preliminary hearing or because he was not taken before a magistrate upon his arrest. Therefore post-conviction relief under the Rule is not available. Wallace v. State, Fla.App.1966, 184 So.2d 443; Murray v. State, Fla.App. 1965, 172 So.2d 487; Smith v. State, Fla.App.1965, 175 So.2d 243; Carey v. State, Fla.App.1965, 176 So.2d 603; Blunt v. State, Fla.App.1967, 203 So.2d 49.

2. Refusal of counsel at line-up. The U. S. Supreme Court, in Gilbert v. State of California, 388 U.S. 263, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178, and in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L. Ed.2d 1149, held that an accused was entitled to the presence of counsel at a pre-trial identification line-up. But the same Court, in Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199, held that the Wade decision aforesaid affects “only those cases and all future cases which involve confrontations for identification purposes conducted in the absence of counsel after this date”, meaning the date of the Gilbert and Wade opinions, which were both on June 12, 1967. Defendant Lawson’s trial was held on February 14, 1962, he was convicted by jury verdict, and adjudged guilty and sentenced by the Court on the same date. Any supposed identification in a line-up must necessarily have antedated such proceedings. Therefore, under Sto-vall, the contention now made with respect thereto comes too late.

3. Illegal arrest. Even if true, this is immaterial in a collateral proceeding under the Criminal Procedure Rule. Childs v. State, Fla.App.1966, 190 So.2d 605; Dozier v. State, Fla.App.1966, 192 So.2d 506.

4. Refusal of counsel during police interrogation. The U. S. Supreme Court, in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, held that presence of counsel at the time of in-custody questioning was a constitutional right. But in Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 86 S.Ct. 1772, 16 L.Ed.2d 882, the same Court refused to extend the rule retroactively so as to be applicable to cases tried prior to the decision in Miranda, which was on June 13, 1966. The conviction here occurred long before this and therefore the rule announced therein is not applicable.

5. Prosecution upon direct information instead of grand jury indictment. The offense of robbery, with which defendant was charged, is a non-capital crime. Therefore, under the organic law of the State, the trial of robbery may be pursuant to the filing of a criminal information by *792the appropriate prosecuting official or by-indictment returned by a grand jury. § 10, Declaration of Rights and Article V, § 9, Constitution of Florida, F.S.A. See also Henderson v. State, Fla.App.1965, 174 So.2d 73; Sawyer v. State, 1927, 94 Fla. 60, 113 So. 736; Davis v. State, Fla.App.1964, 166 So.2d 189.

6. Failure to give a certain charge to the jury. Matters involving the giving, or failure to give, instructions to the jury are matters which may be urged only upon direct appeal from the conviction and are not available as grounds for post-conviction relief. Devlin v. State, Fla.App.1966, 192 So.2d 786; Baxley v. State, Fla.App.1966, 192 So.2d 510.

This appeal was filed by Lawson individually from the State Prison. His court-appointed counsel on the appeal candidly admits the lack of merit herein, for the reason that “the grounds alleged by defendant would be proper under a direct appeal but do not come within the purview of Criminal Procedure Rule 1.-850”.

The Attorney General agrees. We make it unanimous, except to observe that most of the grounds would not be reviewable even upon direct appeal.

Affirmed.

HOBSON and MANN, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Fuller v. Wainwright, 238 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 1970)
    …o a term of 75 years. The first point alleged by petitioner is that he was arrested in violation of his constitutional rights. An arrest without warrant is not a proper basis for a post-conviction attack on a judgment and sentence. Lawson v. State, 215 So. 2d 790 (Fla.App.2d, 1968); Dozier v. State, 192 So. 2d 506 (Fla.App.2d, 1966). However, the transcript of trial proceedings discloses that defendant was taken into custody pursuant to a warrant, even though the arresting officer did not actually inform pet…
  • Johnson v. State, 236 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970)
    …ever taken before a magistrate”. This is not constitutionally necessary in the Florida State Courts, in the absence of an affirmative showing of prejudice resulting therefrom. Murray v. State, Fla.App., 172 So. 2d 487; Lawson v. State, Fla.App.1968, 215 So. 2d 790; Smith v. State, Fla.App.1965, 175 So. 2d 243; Carey v. State, Fla.App.1965, 176 So. 2d 603; Wallace v. State, Fla.App.1966, 184 So. 2d 443; Blunt v. State, Fla.App.1967, 203 So. 2d 49. 2. Johnson also alleges that he “was never informed of his rig…
  • Glenn v. State, 271 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972)
    …motion. Ramos v. State, Fla.App.1971, 249 So. 2d 728. Similarly, the failure to give an instruction is a matter which may be urged only on direct appeal and not in support of a motion for [*24] post-conviction relief. Lawson v. State, Fla.App.1968, 215 So. 2d 790. Accordingly, the order of the trial judge denying relief pursuant to F.R.Cr.P. 3.850 is affirmed. HOBSON and McNULTY, JJ., concur.…

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