Brooks v. State

172 So. 2d 876
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 16, 1965
DocketG-64
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 172 So. 2d 876 (Brooks v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brooks v. State, 172 So. 2d 876 (Fla. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

172 So.2d 876 (1965)

Wayne H. BROOKS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. G-64.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. First District.

March 16, 1965.

*877 Wayne H. Brooks in pro. per.

Earl Faircloth, Atty. Gen., and George R. Georgieff, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

RAWLS, Judge.

Wayne Brooks, in proper person, has perfected an appeal in this cause from a conviction of breaking and entering and grand larceny.

We first consider Brooks' complaint about the quality of the lawyer furnished to him by the trial court. The Public Defender for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, pursuant to Court Order, represented defendant prior to and during the trial of this cause. After a verdict of guilty was rendered by the jury and upon being adjudged guilty by the trial court, the defendant decided that "court appointed counsel during the trial of the cause had been ineffective and ineffectual."

We are by no means the first jurisdiction to be confronted with the problem posed by Brooks's allegations of "ineffectual and ineffective counsel." It is significant in reviewing federal and state cases dealing with analogous situations, that in almost every instance the complainant is one well seasoned and versed in court procedure as a result of prior bouts with trial courts.

*878 The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in disposing of a similar complaint in Frand v. United States,[1] stated:

"Lack of effective assistance of counsel in the trial of a criminal case constitutes impingement upon a constitutional right of the accused and lays the judgment and sentence open to collateral attack by motion under the statute. But the constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel does not vest in the accused the right to the services of an attorney who meets any specified aptitude test in point of professional skill. And common mistakes of judgment on the part of counsel, common mistakes of strategy, common mistakes of trial tactics, or common errors of policy in the course of a criminal case do not constitute grounds for collateral attack upon the judgment and sentence by motion under the statute. It is instances in which resulting from the substandard level of the services of the attorney the trial becomes mockery and farcical that the judgment is open to collateral attack on the ground that the accused was deprived of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. Mitchell v. United States, 104 U.S.App. D.C. 57, 259 F.2d 787, certiorari denied, 358 U.S. 850, 79 S.Ct. 81, 3 L.Ed.2d 86; Black v. United States, 9 Cir., 269 F.2d 38, certiorari denied, 361 U.S. 938, 80 S.Ct. 379, 4 L.Ed.2d 357."

And a like decision was reached in Hickock v. Crouse wherein it was held:[2]

"Of course, as said in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799, 93 A.L.R.2d 722, the right to counsel in criminal cases is a fundamental right guaranteed by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This means good-faith representation, with all the skill which counsel possesses, but it does not contemplate that miracles will be performed or that counsel, court-appointed or otherwise, should be subject to criticism by the courts when a guilty client is convicted and brought to justice, if he has performed his duty to the best of his ability. Counsel's duty in a criminal case is to demand and obtain a fair trial for the accused.
Although it may often appear otherwise, he has no duty to use devious means to secure an acquittal of a guilty person or to harass a court with unwarranted objections and motions. What we said in Hester v. United States, 10 Cir., 303 F.2d 47, 49, cert. denied 371 U.S. 847, 83 S.Ct. 80, 9 L.Ed.2d 82, is appropriate here: (Emphasis supplied.)
"`* * * Neither vigor nor skill can overcome truth. Success is not the test of effective assistance of counsel. Mitchell v. United States, 104 U.S.App.D.C. 57, 259 F.2d 787.' See, also, Floyd E. Johnson v. Crouse, Warden, 10 Cir., 332 F.2d 417."

We pause to note that the transcript of this trial reveals able and vigorous representation on the part of the public defender. Further, the record supports the sagacity of the jury in reaching its verdict of guilty. We paraphrase an excerpt from Reid v. United States[3] in holding that a review of the record indicates that Brooks was provided adequate trial representation and that his conviction was not due to the lack of such representation but to the evidence which was overwhelmingly against Brooks.

The next grievance lodged by Brooks is that the trial court deprived him *879 of a basic constitutional right in that it did not furnish him counsel for taking a direct appeal. Brooks was duly adjudged to be insolvent. It is well settled that an indigent is entitled to be provided with counsel for taking a direct appeal when he makes known to the trial court his intention to appeal.[4] In disposing of this grievance, it is necessary to examine certain proceedings that occurred in the trial court. On June 9, 1964, immediately after being adjudicated guilty by the trial judge, Brooks moved the court for appointment of counsel, other than the public defender, for purposes of appeal. Subsequently, in proper person, he filed notice of appeal, directions to the clerk, and directions to the court reporter. On July 10, 1964, the court entered an order appointing R.A. Green, Jr., Public Defender for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, as counsel for defendant for purposes of appeal, and on the same date Brooks again moved the court to appoint someone other than the Public Defender. On August 10, 1964, the trial judge discharged the court-appointed counsel by an order stating:

"1. * * * That this Court on the 10th day of July, 1964, entered an Order appointing R.A. GREEN, JR., Public Defender for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, counsel for Defendant for purposes of appeal.
"2. That in the above mentioned Motion for Appointment of Counsel other than the Public Defender and in Defendant's Assignment of Errors, petitioner, R.A. GREEN, JR., was charged with incompetence and negligence in handling of the Defendant's case; That these Assignment of Errors are those which the Defendant intends to rely on in his appeal and that to put petitioner, R.A. GREEN, JR., in a position of having to argue to the Court of Appeals his own incompetence would be incomprehensible and would not serve the best interest of justice.
"3. The Court finds that each and every complaint filed against petitioner in Defendant's Assignment of Errors by Defendant is completely without merit or foundation; That petitioner, R.A. GREEN, JR., rendered Defendant Brooks competent, zealous, and enthusiastic legal counsel from the day of his first appointment up to and through the day of Defendant's trial. That from the first, Defendant Brooks was incorrigible, stubborn, and completely uncooperative with petitioner, and this Court was advised before trial that petitioner was unable to induce Defendant to follow his legal advice.

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Bluebook (online)
172 So. 2d 876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooks-v-state-fladistctapp-1965.