JOSEPH REYNOLDS GARCIA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Joseph Garcia appeals the summary denial of his motion to vacate his sentence, arguing that his current sentence was improperly based in part on a prior 1955 breaking and entering conviction obtained without counsel in violation of Gideon v. Wainwright. The court reverses and remands because Garcia's allegations, if true, would entitle him to relief and are not refuted by the record.
Garcia is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to establish whether his 1955 breaking and entering conviction was obtained without counsel and without a knowing waiver of the right to counsel. If the prior conviction is determined to be invalid, Garcia must be resentenced without consideration of that conviction.
[1] A sentence predicated in part on a prior uncounseled conviction is invalid.
[2] A defendant is entitled to relief if their sentence is based on a prior conviction obtained in violation of their right to counsel.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“Since appellant's allegations, if true, would entitle him to relief and since his allegations are not refuted by the record, we must reverse.”
Establishes that unrebutted allegations of a Sixth Amendment violation in a prior conviction warrant reversal and further proceedings.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1974, Garcia was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 199 years in prison. At sentencing, the trial judge relied on Garcia's criminal history as s…
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PER CURIAM.
Joseph Garcia appeals the summary denial of his motion to vacate his sentence, filed pursuant to Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850, wherein he alleged that his present sentence was predicated in part on a prior conviction in a case in which he was without counsel. Since appellant’s allegations, if true, would entitle him to relief and since his allegations are not refuted by the record, we must reverse.
In 1974 appellant was charged with robbery, tried by a jury, and convicted as charged. Immediately following the publishing of the verdict, the trial judge verbally summarized the contents of the F.B.I. “rap sheets” of appellant and his co-defendant, concluded on the basis of their “backgrounds” that they “should never see the light of day again,” and sentenced them each to 199 years in prison. One of the offenses of the trial judge mentioned as included in appellant’s “rap sheet” was “August of ’55 in Tampa, B & E (breaking and entering), grand larceny, three years. Probation second count deferred.”
In his motion appellant alleges that one of his prior convictions upon which the trial judge predicated the sentence imposed in the instant case, a breaking and entering charge, Case No. 42-719, of which appellant was found guilty and for which he was placed on probation in August 1955, is invalid under Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963), because appellant was denied counsel in that case.
Appellant’s allegations are not refuted by the record, and if they are true, appellant is entitled to relief. Wolfe v. State, 323 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Glenn v. State, 338 So. 2d 263 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Lloyd v. State, 346 So. 2d 1075 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). Unless the rap sheet upon which the trial judge relied conclusively demonstrates that the 1955 breaking and entering conviction mentioned by the trial court is not the same conviction described in appellant’s motion, appellant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing at which he should be given an opportunity to present any evidence he has that at the time of his prior felony conviction he was uncounseled, unable to afford counsel, and had not knowingly waived his right to counsel. If the prior conviction is determined to be invalid, then appellant should be resentenced without any consideration of that conviction. Gideon v. Wainwright, supra. *
This case is, therefore, remanded for proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
OTT, Acting C. J., and RYDER and DANAHY, JJ., concur. *
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Parr v. State, 415 So. 2d 1353 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)…deration of that conviction (or if sentence has not been imposed, the trial court is prohibited from considering the invalid conviction). It is not always necessary for the defendant to first have the invalid conviction vacated. See Garcia v. State, 358 So. 2d 561 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978); Lloyd v. State, 346 So. 2d 1075 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). Thus, in the instant context, the trial court was the proper forum for appellant’s claim. As previously discussed, the findings of guilt on which appellant’s treatment as an ad…
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Mann v. Dugger, 817 F.2d 1471 (11th Cir. 1987)…ined in violation of his right to counsel. Washington v. State, 442 So. 2d 382, 382 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1983); Lofton v. State, 442 So. 2d 1091, 1092 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1983); Johnson v. State, 362 So. 2d 465, 465 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1978); Garcia v. State, 358 So. 2d 561, 561 (Fla.Dist. Ct.App.1978); Lloyd v. State, 346 So. 2d 1075, 1076 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1977); Glenn v. State, 338 So. 2d 263, 263 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1976); Hicks v. State, 336 So. 2d 1244, 1245-46 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1976); Wolfe v. State, 323 So. 2d 680 (…
Authorities Cited
- Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (U.S. 1963)
- Whittington v. State, 323 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)
- Wolfe v. State, 323 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)
- Glenn v. State, 338 So. 2d 263 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
- Lloyd v. State, 346 So. 2d 1075 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)