Albert Louis Barnes v. the State of Florida

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed September 4, 2024.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D23-0839

Lower Tribunal No. F14-16526A

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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.

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.”).