Sirota v. State

95 So. 3d 313, 2012 WL 2913168, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 11671
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 18, 2012
DocketNo. 4D10-1318
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 95 So. 3d 313 (Sirota 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
Sirota v. State, 95 So. 3d 313, 2012 WL 2913168, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 11671 (Fla. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Keith Sirota appeals the denial of his Rule 3.850 motion for posteonvietion relief. On appeal, Sirota presents argument as to only three issues. The unargued issues are waived. Hammond v. State, 34 So.3d 58 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010); Hedrick v. State, [315]*3156 So.3d 688, 692 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (citing Doorbal v. State, 983 So.2d 464, 482-83 (Fla.2008)).

We affirm without discussion thé denial of all claims except appellant’s claim that ineffective assistance of counsel regarding the maximum penalty caused him to reject a favorable plea offer. As to this claim, we are bound by Morgan v. State, 991 So.2d 835 (Fla.2008), to reverse and remand for further proceedings.1 We certify to the Florida Supreme Court a question of great public importance regarding the scope and proper application of Morgan following two recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States which prescribe the minimum requirements of the Sixth Amendment as to these types of claims. Lafler v. Cooper, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1376, 182 L.Ed.2d 398 (2012); Missouri v. Frye, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1399, 182 L.Ed.2d 379 (2012).

Factual Background

In an internet chatroom called “I Love Older Men,” Sirota contacted a police officer who was posing as a thirteen-year-old girl and over a period of months repeatedly discussed in graphic detail his desire to have sex with her. He sent her photographs of his erect penis and was arrested when he went to meet the girl at a church. He confessed to police.

Sirota’s defense at trial was that he believed he was roleplaying with an adult. He testified about his depression and how it led him to engage in sexual fantasies regarding older women because he had always fantasized about sex with his mother. He alleged that he went into the “I Love Older Men” chatroom after he could not get into the “I Love Older Women” chatroom which he frequented but which was full on that particular day. He alleged that he went into the “I Love Older Men” chatroom because he “wondered if women role-play and act out these fantasies that men do.”

In 2007, a jury convicted Sirota of soliciting a child under sixteen years of age via the internet and three counts of transmission of material harmful to a minor. The court sentenced him to a composite sentence of five years in prison followed by ten years of sexual offender probation. This court affirmed the conviction but remanded for correction of a scrivener’s error. Sirota v. State, 977 So.2d 700 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008).

In the postconviction claim at issue, Si-rota argued that trial counsel misadvised him causing him to proceed to trial with a prohibited “diminished capacity” defense. In support of his defense, Sirota was permitted to testify at trial about events in his life that had caused him to suffer from depression and that his depression had led to destructive behavior such as participating in roleplaying fantasies involving older women in internet chat rooms. The trial court ultimately ruled, however, that Siro-ta could not present testimony from his therapist regarding Sirota’s depression having led to his sexual fantasies and role-playing. Counsel argued that the therapist’s testimony was relevant to Sirota’s state of mind and whether his depression caused him to slip further into his sexual fantasies. The court determined that the testimony was inadmissible evidence of di[316]*316minished capacity and that Sirota had failed to show how the testimony was otherwise relevant to an issue in the case.

The trial court’s refusal to allow this testimony was argued on direct appeal and affirmed. Sirota alleges that counsel led him to believe the therapist’s testimony would be admissible and that any refusal to admit the testimony would lead to automatic reversal on appeal. He also claims that counsel told him that the maximum sentence he could receive after trial was 3.5 years in prison and that he relied on these statements in rejecting a plea offer for five years of probation. He claimed generally that counsel misled him to believe that “he had a viable defense, viable evidence, viable witnesses, strong issues on appeal, and the risk of only having to face and serve 3.5 years in state prison should he lose.” He claimed that he would have accepted the alleged offer for five years of probation if properly advised.

In its response to this court’s order to show cause, the State contends that the claim was not sufficiently pleaded because Sirota did not allege specifics regarding the alleged plea offer, such as the precise terms of the offer, when the offer was allegedly made, or whether the offer had an expiration date. The State argues that, even if the claim was sufficiently pleaded, the record refutes the allegation that counsel asserted a prohibited diminished capacity defense at trial. The defense at trial was that Sirota lacked the specific intent to communicate with a minor because he believed he was roleplaying with an adult pretending to be a minor. The State’s response does not address appellant’s allegation that his attorney misadvised him about the maximum sentence he could receive if convicted after trial.

Analysis

Florida courts have recognized claims of ineffective assistance of counsel where an attorney’s specifically-described deficient performance results in the loss of a favorable plea offer which the defendant would have accepted. To state a sufficient claim, the defendant must establish: “(1) counsel failed to convey a plea offer or misinformed the defendant concerning the possible sentence he faced, (2) the defendant would have accepted the plea but for counsel’s failures, and (3) acceptance of the plea would have resulted in a lesser sentence than was ultimately imposed.” Morgan v. State, 991 So.2d 835, 839-40 (Fla.2008). Pursuant to Cottle v. State, 733 So.2d 963, 969 (Fla.1999), to establish prejudice, a defendant was not required to show that the trial court would have accepted the plea arrangement.

In two recent decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States recognized that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel encompasses a right to effective assistance of counsel during plea bargaining. In Lafler v. Cooper, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1376, 182 L.Ed.2d 398 (2012), an attorney’s bad advice about the merits of a defense caused the defendant to reject a favorable plea offer, and the defendant received a harsher sentence following a conviction after jury trial. The defendant in Cooper had corresponded with the trial court and expressed a willingness to admit guilt and accept the prosecutor’s plea offer, but rejected the offer in open court apparently because counsel had convinced the defendant to do so. Id. at 1383. The parties in Cooper stipulated that counsel had performed deficiently in advising defendant about the plea offer, and the Court decided only whether prejudice to state a sufficient claim could be established. Id. at 1384. The Court did not explore whether counsel’s conduct truly amounted to constitutionally deficient performance in that case. Id.

[317]*317The Court recognized the sufficiency of the ineffective assistance claim in this situation, but held that the proper remedy was not necessarily to compel the prosecutor to re-extend the plea offer.

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Related

Jessie Floyd v. State of Florida
257 So. 3d 1148 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
Keith Sirota v. State
162 So. 3d 88 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2014)
State of Florida v. Keith Sirota
147 So. 3d 514 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2014)
Santos v. State
125 So. 3d 962 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2013)
Hernandez v. State
112 So. 3d 580 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
95 So. 3d 313, 2012 WL 2913168, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 11671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sirota-v-state-fladistctapp-2012.