State v. Kaufman

456 So. 2d 531, 9 Fla. L. Weekly 2025, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 15015
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 19, 1984
DocketNo. 84-1173
StatusPublished

This text of 456 So. 2d 531 (State v. Kaufman) 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. Kaufman, 456 So. 2d 531, 9 Fla. L. Weekly 2025, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 15015 (Fla. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

ANSTEAD, Chief Judge.

Relying upon this court’s prior opinions in Cookish v. State, 416 So.2d 53 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982) and Jones v. State, 384 So.2d 736 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980), the state seeks to quash an order of the trial court directing the state to show cause in writing why the respondent’s motion for post-conviction relief based on allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel should not be granted. We decline to grant the petition.

Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 provides in part:

A prisoner in custody under sentence of a court established by the laws of Florida claiming the right to be released upon the ground that the judgment was [532]*532entered or that the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or Laws of the United States, or of the State of Florida, or that the court was without jurisdiction to enter such judgment or to impose such sentence, or that the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or that his plea was given involuntarily, or the judgment or sentence is otherwise subject to collateral attack, may move the court which entered the judgment or imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside or correct the judgment or sentence.,
If the motion and the files and records in the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief, the motion shall be denied without a hearing. In those instances when such denial is not predicated upon the legal insufficiency of the motion on its face, a copy of that portion of the files and records which conclusively shows that the prisoner is entitled to no relief shall be attached to the order. Unless the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief, the court shall cause notice thereof to be served upon the prosecuting attorney of the court, grant a prompt hearing thereon, determine the issues and make findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect thereto.

The state takes the position that before the trial court can direct the state to respond to a motion for post-conviction relief the court itself must first exhaustively review all available files and records and make a determination that those materials do not conclusively negate the allegations of the motion. We cannot agree.

The trial court determined that respondent’s allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, largely predicated on obviously non-record actions or the lack thereof by respondent’s counsel, appeared to state a preliminary basis for relief;1 and the state was ordered to file a written response showing cause why the petition should not be granted. Instead, the state filed a “Motion to Dismiss” the order to show cause, insisting that the court inspect all the records in the case itself before requiring the state to respond. In response the trial court entered the following order:

The State urges that Rule 3.850 requires the Court to review the files and records in the case to determine whether the Defendant is entitled to relief prior to issuing a Show Cause Order to the State Attorney requiring a response to the motion for post-conviction relief. In support of its position, the State cites cases holding that when the trial court denies a motion for post-conviction relief without requiring a response from the State Attorney it must attach the portions of the record which conclusively show that the Defendant is not entitled to relief, see Cookish v. State, 416 So.2d 53 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). From these cases the State reasons that the trial court is therefore required to review the record in all cases where motions for post-conviction relief are filed and affirmatively conclude that the files and records in the case support the motion before ordering the State Attorney to respond to the motion.
The Court finds no such requirement in Rule 3.850 and specifically rejects this reasoning. The purpose in requiring the trial court to attach the portions of the record which support an ex-parte denial of the motion is to insure that the motions receive due consideration before they are denied and that the Appellate Court has a sufficient record to review the trial court’s ex-parte denial. It does not follow that the trial court is therefore required to review the entire record [533]*533in all cases where a motion for post-conviction relief is filed and conclude ex-parte that the motion is well founded prior to requiring a response on behalf of the State. If the State believes that the motion is insufficient, it may file a motion to dismiss or to strike the motion for post-conviction relief.

We agree with the trial court’s observations and order.

Neither of the cases cited by the state, Jones and Cookish, involved the trial court’s authority to direct the state to respond to a motion for post-conviction relief. It is true that both cases did involve this court’s attempt to clarify, for the benefit of the same trial judge, the requirements of Rule 3.850 especially as it pertains to the facilitation of meaningful appellate review of post-conviction proceedings. In Cookish, this court, after having earlier directed the trial court to either conduct an eviden-tiary hearing or attach portions of the record supporting a denial of defendant’s claim, again reversed an inadequate order and explained an apparent misunderstanding on the part of the trial judge that the record upon which the trial judge was apparently relying was not on file in this court as the result of an earlier appeal. If anything, the Cookish decision, by directing the court to either conduct an eviden-tiary hearing or attach portions of the record, is contrary to the state’s position here that an exhaustive review of the record by the trial court must always precede an evidentiary hearing and the obvious participation of the state therein, since an evidentiary hearing was directed without mandating a prior examination of the record.

In Jones, the same trial judge who was involved in Cookish denied a motion based upon allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel explicitly upon the basis of record activities but failed to attach those portions of the record to the order denying relief as expressly required by Rule 3.850. Once again the opinion of this court reflected an effort to resolve a misunderstanding as to proceedings under Rule 3.850 and appellate review thereof. It is true that this court noted that the trial court may, in some instances, have to review the record and attach portions thereof to orders denying relief. After noting the trial court’s erroneous assumption that the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel had been resolved in an earlier appeal, this court concluded that the defendant had made allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel which required an evidentiary hearing. The net result of the Jones decision, however, was that an evidentiary hearing was directed to be held on the allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, notwithstanding that the trial court had detailed record matters justifying the denial of the motion and that this court had no opportunity to review those record matters.

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Related

Cookish v. State
416 So. 2d 53 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1982)
Jones v. State
384 So. 2d 736 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1980)
Knight v. State
394 So. 2d 997 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
456 So. 2d 531, 9 Fla. L. Weekly 2025, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 15015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kaufman-fladistctapp-1984.