State v. Bouchard

922 So. 2d 424, 2006 WL 568725
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 10, 2006
Docket2D03-4928
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 922 So. 2d 424 (State v. Bouchard) 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
State v. Bouchard, 922 So. 2d 424, 2006 WL 568725 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

922 So.2d 424 (2006)

STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
Steven BOUCHARD, Appellee.

No. 2D03-4928.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

March 10, 2006.

*425 Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Katherine Coombs Cline, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellant.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Clark E. Green, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellee.

EN BANC

SILBERMAN, Judge.

This is the second appeal resulting from the postconviction court's consideration of Steven Bouchard's motion for postconviction relief. The State appeals the order summarily granting Bouchard's motion. We consider this case en banc in order to recede from our holding in Van Loan v. State, 872 So.2d 330 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), as to the appropriate standard to be used to determine prejudice in a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. We also recede from our decision in Bouchard v. State, 847 So.2d 598 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (Bouchard I), to the extent that it is inconsistent with our decision here. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

BOUCHARD'S MOTION AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

After Bouchard was convicted of aggravated assault and grand theft of a motor vehicle, he filed a pro se motion for postconviction relief. He alleged that after the trial court instructed the jury and the jury began its deliberations, the jury requested copies of the elements of the crimes. The trial court stated to counsel that it would furnish the jury with copies of the standard instructions relating to the elements of the crimes and the instruction on voluntary *426 intoxication. The jurors were returned to the courtroom, and the trial court told the jurors it was providing them the instructions "with regard to the elements." The court made no reference to the instruction on voluntary intoxication. No objections were raised.

In his motion, Bouchard claimed that his counsel was ineffective by not objecting when the trial court gave the jury a partial set of instructions during its deliberations. He alleged that it appeared "the judge did not even include or reinstruct on the voluntary intoxication [defense] that he earlier told counsel he was going to include." Bouchard argued that the validity of the jury's verdict was in doubt and that "[h]aving all the instructions assures that the jurors will not put more weight in one part of the instructions while ignoring other parts." He claimed that "counsel's ineffectiveness created a prejudice of 1) not assuring that the jury gave the same emphasis to all of the instruction [sic] where it was evident they were confused, and; 2) disallowed the defendant a new trial by failing to preserve this issue for direct appeal."[1]

The postconviction court summarily denied the motion, stating Bouchard did not show that counsel's performance was deficient and that he "has not proven that he suffered prejudice." On appeal, we reversed, stating as follows:

The failure to preserve a potentially reversible error for appeal may constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. Under certain circumstances, it is reversible error for the trial court to provide the jury with a copy of only a portion of the jury instructions; if the trial court provides the jury with any written instructions, it must provide the jury with all of the instructions. Therefore, if only partial written instructions were given to the jury, and trial counsel failed to preserve the issue for appeal, trial counsel was ineffective.

Bouchard I, 847 So.2d at 599 (citations omitted). We noted that the record indicated copies of the instructions on the elements and on voluntary intoxication were given to the jury, but we acknowledged the State's concession "that other jury instructions were not provided to the jury." Because the record did not refute Bouchard's claim, we reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing or for the postconviction court to provide record attachments conclusively refuting the claim. Id.

On remand, the postconviction court requested memoranda from the parties. The court then summarily granted Bouchard's motion, attaching to its order several pages of the trial transcript and a copy of the judgment and sentence. The postconviction court stated that "it seems only partial jury instructions were given" and concluded that because Bouchard's counsel did not object to or affirmatively approve the trial court's providing partial instructions to the jury, Bouchard was entitled to relief. The State argues, and we agree, that reversal is again required.

THE STRICKLAND STANDARD FOR POSTCONVICTION RELIEF

The burden on a defendant who claims ineffective assistance of counsel is to establish that trial counsel's performance was deficient and that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Further, *427 "[a]n error by counsel, even if professionally unreasonable, does not warrant setting aside the judgment of a criminal proceeding if the error had no effect on the judgment." Id. The Supreme Court added that "[t]he purpose of the Sixth Amendment guarantee of counsel is to ensure that a defendant has the assistance necessary to justify reliance on the outcome of the proceeding." Id. at 691-92, 104 S.Ct. 2052.

When deficient performance by counsel is established, a court must determine whether "there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The Court explained as follows:

The governing legal standard plays a critical role in defining the question to be asked in assessing the prejudice from counsel's errors. When a defendant challenges a conviction, the question is whether there is a reasonable probability that, absent the errors, the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt.

Id. at 695, 104 S.Ct. 2052.

CASES DISCUSSING INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE DUE TO THE FAILURE OF COUNSEL TO PRESERVE AN ISSUE FOR APPELLATE REVIEW

This court, in Van Loan v. State, 872 So.2d 330 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), determined that postconviction relief was warranted due to counsel's failure to object when the trial court provided the jury with incomplete jury instructions for use during deliberations, in violation of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.400(a)(3). We stated that "if defense counsel had properly objected to the incomplete jury instructions, the issue would have been preserved for appellate review and a reversal would have resulted." Id. at 332.

Outside the context of rule 3.400, several cases have addressed claims of ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel's failure to preserve for appeal an error that would have resulted in a reversal on direct appeal. See, e.g., State v. Chattin, 877 So.2d 747, 749 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (stating that to obtain postconviction relief based on counsel's failure to preserve jury selection issues, Chattin had to "show that had his counsel preserved the issues, this court likely would have reversed his conviction on direct appeal"); Eure v. State, 764 So.2d 798, 801 (Fla.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
922 So. 2d 424, 2006 WL 568725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bouchard-fladistctapp-2006.