Ryan Eugene Severe v. State of Florida

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: April 10, 2026
• Docket: 6D2024-2818
• Status: Published

Opinion

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 6D2024-2818 Lower Tribunal No. 2019-CF-006071 _____________________________

RYAN EUGENE SEVERE,

Appellant, v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee. _____________________________

Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for Polk County. Catherine L. Combee, Judge.

April 10, 2026

PER CURIAM.

Ryan Eugene Severe appeals the summary denial of his nine-ground motion

for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.

Our review is de novo, and we must accept Severe’s factual allegations as true to the

extent the record does not refute them. See Occhicone v. State, 768 So. 2d 1037,

1041 (Fla. 2000); Chambers v. State, 363 So. 3d 1214, 1215 (Fla. 6th DCA 2023).

Here, Severe swore his trial counsel acted ineffectively when he counseled Severe

not to accept the State of Florida’s renewed plea offer after his first trial ended in a mistrial. Severe contends his trial counsel failed to explain his entrapment defense

had no likelihood of success on retrial, and if he had, Severe would have accepted

the State’s offer. Because the record does not refute this sworn contention, we

remand for an evidentiary hearing on the portion of ground one relating to his second

trial. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2)(D). We affirm in all other respects.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.

TRAVER, C.J., and KAMOUTSAS and PRATT, JJ., concur.

Ryan Eugene Severe, Milton, pro se.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Marilyn Frances Muir, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

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