NICHOLAS M. DUNGEY vs STATE OF FLORIDA

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: April 28, 2023
• Docket: 22-2603
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

NICHOLAS M. DUNGEY,

Appellant,

v. Case No. 5D22-2603 LT Case No. 2016-CF-000687

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

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Opinion filed April 28, 2023

3.850 Appeal from the Circuit Court for St. Johns County, R. Lee Smith, Judge.

Nicholas M. Dungey, Moore Haven, pro se.

No Appearance for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, Nicholas M. Dungey, appeals the summary denial of his

Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion in which he alleged that

counsel was ineffective by failing to convey multiple favorable plea offers to him. Appellant further alleges that he was prejudiced because he accepted

a plea offer that is less favorable than the offers that counsel failed to convey.

Finally, he claims in his motion that: (1) he would have accepted the more

favorable offers, (2) the State would not have withdrawn the offers, and (3)

the court would have accepted a plea involving one of the more favorable

offers.

The trial court summarily denied the claim, reasoning that the motion

was legally insufficient and, alternatively, that exhibits attached to the motion

and the documents attached to the order of denial conclusively refuted the

claim. We conclude that the motion, although inartfully drafted, is legally

sufficient and that the exhibits attached to the motion and order do not

conclusively refute the claim. See, e.g., Tribbitt v. State, 339 So. 3d 1029

(Fla. 2d DCA 2022); Petit-Homme v. State, 205 So. 3d 848 (Fla. 4th DCA

2016). We therefore reverse the denial and remand for an evidentiary

hearing or the attachment of other records conclusively refuting the claim.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

LAMBERT, C.J., EDWARDS and EISNAUGLE, JJ., concur.