Slade v. State

129 So. 3d 461, 2014 WL 26044, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 94
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 3, 2014
DocketNo. 2D13-914
StatusPublished

This text of 129 So. 3d 461 (Slade 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
Slade v. State, 129 So. 3d 461, 2014 WL 26044, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 94 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Ryan S. Slade appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm the order summarily denying relief as to Ground I without comment. However, we reverse as to Grounds II, III, and IV and remand the case for further proceedings.

Mr. Slade entered an open plea of no contest to burglary of a dwelling and grand theft. At a later sentencing date, Mr. Slade was sentenced to eight years in prison as a habitual felony offender followed by ten years of probation for the burglary and to a concurrent term of five years in prison for the grand theft. Mr. Slade did not appeal his convictions and sentences.

Mr. Slade filed a timely rule 3.850 motion raising four claims for relief which allege ineffective assistance of counsel. The postconviction court summarily denied Mr. Slade’s motion by adopting the State’s response and found all the grounds “are without merit, conclusively refuted by the record, or attempts to go behind the plea.”

To state a prima facie case of ineffective assistance of counsel, Mr. Slade must establish both counsel’s deficient perform-[463]*463anee and prejudice to his defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). To prove deficient performance, Mr. Slade must identify particular acts or omissions by counsel that are outside the broad range of reasonable assistance under prevailing professional standards. Id. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Because Mr. Slade pleaded, to prove prejudice he must establish that, but for defense counsel’s deficient performance, he would have insisted upon going to trial. See Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 59, 106 S.Ct. 866, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985). Because Mr. Slade’s rule 3.850 motion was summarily denied without an evidentiary hearing, we are required to accept as true his allegations that are not conclusively refuted by the record. See Hamilton v. State, 979 So.2d 420, 422 (Fla.2d DCA 2008).

In Ground II, Mr. Slade argues that trial counsel was deficient for failing to advise him that the evidence was probably insufficient to support the grand theft charge. Mr. Slade took thirty to thirty-five DVDs from the victim, and he contends that because the DVDs were used, their market value would not reach or exceed $300. Mr. Slade further contends that he would not have pleaded to grand theft but for the deficient performance. The State responded that Mr. Slade was challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and that his claim was procedurally barred.

The State’s theory is erroneous, and the postconviction court erred in adopting it. See Bruno v. State, 807 So.2d 55, 63 (Fla.2001) (“Whereas the main question on direct appeal is whether the trial court erred, the main question in a Strickland claim is whether trial counsel was ineffective. Both claims may arise from the same underlying facts, but the claims themselves are distinct and—of necessity—have different remedies: A claim of trial court error generally can be raised on direct appeal but not in a rule 3.850 motion, and a claim of ineffectiveness generally can be raised in a rule 3.850 motion but not on direct appeal.” (footnotes omitted)). Mr. Slade was charged under section 812.014(2)(c)(l), Florida Statutes (2009), so the State would have had to prove at trial that the fair market value of the stolen DVDs exceeded $300. See Newland v. State, 117 So.3d 482, 484 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) (holding that replacement cost is not an appropriate measure of value under the theft statute “ ‘unless the State first presents evidence that the market value could not be satisfactorily ascertained’ ” (quoting AD. v. State, 30 So.3d 676, 678 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010))). Mr. Slade established a legally sufficient claim of ineffective assistance of counsel that is not conclusively refuted by the record, so the postconviction court erred in summarily denying this claim.

In Ground III, Mr. Slade alleges that counsel was ineffective for not moving to suppress his confession on the basis that he was too intoxicated to make a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602,16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). In response, the State attached the motion to suppress that Mr. Slade’s attorney filed. The State further contended that Mr. Slade could not prove prejudice because the victim and his next door neighbor could have testified to Mr. Slade’s guilt.

Again, the State’s theory does not conclusively refute Mr. Slade’s claim, so the postconviction court erred in adopting it. Defense counsel’s motion to suppress did not argue that Mr. Slade did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive his Miranda rights because he was intoxicated; it argued that Mr. Slade [464]*464asked the police to stop the interrogation, so his subsequent confession should be suppressed on that ground. Yet the transcript defense counsel attached in support of the motion, as well as the witnesses’ statements and the arresting officer’s observations, clearly indicate that Mr. Slade was likely intoxicated when he was interrogated. Although, as a general rule, intoxicants or narcotic drugs affect the credibility rather than the admissibility of a confession, in some circumstances their influence may be so severe as to render the confession involuntary. See Reddish v. State, 167 So.2d 858, 862-63 (Fla.1964). Accordingly, the State’s attachment does not conclusively refute Mr. Slade’s legally sufficient claim of deficient performance. See Harrison v. State, 562 So.2d 827, 827-28 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (reversing summary denial where the defendant’s claim that his attorney was ineffective for not moving to suppress his confession given under the influence of crack cocaine was not conclusively refuted by the record).

Further, the postconviction court also erred in adopting the State’s theory that Mr. Slade could not prove the outcome of his trial would have differed if his confession were suppressed. Mr. Slade “was not required to allege that his motion to suppress would have been granted in order to state a facially sufficient claim of ineffective assistance.” Deck v. State, 985 So.2d 1234, 1238 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008). Rather, his burden on the prejudice prong was to show only that without his counsel’s misadvice, there was a reasonable probability that he would have chosen to go to trial instead of pleading. Id. Mr. Slade’s motion alleges that if defense counsel had challenged the admissibility of his confession on this basis, he would not have pleaded and would have insisted on going to trial instead. Accordingly, the postconviction court erred in summarily denying relief on this ground.

In Ground IV, Mr. Slade contends that defense counsel told him that if he entered an open plea, the court would sentence him according to the guidelines rather than as a habitual felony offender, concurrent with the sentence he was currently serving on another case. But for the misleading advice, Mr. Slade contends, he would not have pleaded and would have insisted upon going to trial. The State argued that based on Alfred v. State, 998 So.2d 1197 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009), the plea colloquy and signed plea form conclusively refute Mr. Slade’s claim.

In Ely v. State,

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Hill v. Lockhart
474 U.S. 52 (Supreme Court, 1985)
AD v. State
30 So. 3d 676 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
Ely v. State
13 So. 3d 167 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Deck v. State
985 So. 2d 1234 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
Harrison v. State
562 So. 2d 827 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1990)
Reddish v. State
167 So. 2d 858 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1964)
Johnson v. State
757 So. 2d 586 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2000)
Alfred v. State
998 So. 2d 1197 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Scheele v. State
953 So. 2d 782 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2007)
Hamilton v. State
979 So. 2d 420 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
Bruno v. State
807 So. 2d 55 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2001)
Newland v. State
117 So. 3d 482 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 So. 3d 461, 2014 WL 26044, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slade-v-state-fladistctapp-2014.