Vickery v. State

869 So. 2d 623, 2004 WL 534624
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 19, 2004
Docket5D03-3128
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 869 So. 2d 623 (Vickery 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
Vickery v. State, 869 So. 2d 623, 2004 WL 534624 (Fla. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

869 So.2d 623 (2004)

Wylie M. VICKERY, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 5D03-3128.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

March 19, 2004.

*624 Wylie M. Vickery, Crawfordville, pro se.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lamya A. Henry, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

The defendant, Wylie M. Vickery, filed a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, claiming, inter alia, ineffective assistance of his trial counsel. Vickery, convicted of lewd or lascivious assault on a child as charged, asserted that his trial counsel was ineffective because she did not request a jury instruction regarding the lesser included offense of simple battery. The trial court summarily denied Vickery's motion without an evidentiary hearing. "A motion for postconviction relief can be denied without an evidentiary hearing when the motion and the record conclusively demonstrate that the movant is entitled to no relief." Kennedy v. State, 547 So.2d 912, 913 (Fla.1989) (citing Agan v. State, 503 So.2d 1254 (Fla.1987); O'Callaghan v. State, 461 So.2d 1354 (Fla.1984)). We determine that the trial court incorrectly denied Vickery's motion.

The trial court denied Vickery's claim for ineffective assistance of counsel based on the decision in Sanders v. State, 847 So.2d 504 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003). In Sanders, the court held that in collateral proceedings under rule 3.850 regarding a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant cannot establish that there is a reasonable probability that the result would have been different had trial counsel requested and received the instruction regarding the lesser included offense. Instead, the most that the defendant can establish is conjecture and speculation that the jury would decline to follow the law and grant the defendant a jury pardon. However, the decision in Sanders conflicts with our decisions in Bethea v. State, 767 So.2d 630 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000), and Oehling v. State, 659 So.2d 1226 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995), wherein this court held that failure of trial counsel to request a lesser included offense is a basis for a colorable claim of ineffective assistance of counsel under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Because the trial court summarily denied Vickery's motion, we reverse and remand for a hearing regarding this specific claim. As to the other claims raised by Vickery in his motion, we affirm.

AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART.

SHARP, W. and PETERSON, JJ., concur.

SAWAYA, C.J., concurs and concurs specially, with opinion.

SAWAYA, C.J., concurring and concurring specially.

I reluctantly concur in the majority decision to reverse and remand for an evidentiary *625 hearing regarding the ineffective assistance of counsel claim raised by Vickery. I fully concur with the majority that the trial court's denial of the remaining claims raised by Vickery in his motion should be affirmed. As to the ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the issue is whether trial counsel's failure to request a jury instruction regarding a lesser included offense presents a colorable claim that requires an evidentiary hearing under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. For reasons I will now explain, I believe that such a claim may be summarily denied without a hearing.

The reason for the rule that requires the trial court to instruct the jury on lesser included offenses is based on the concept of jury pardons. See State v. Estevez, 753 So.2d 1 (Fla.1999); Amado v. State, 585 So.2d 282, 283 (Fla.1991) ("We still allow juries to convict on lesser offenses under our recognition of the jury's right to exercise its `pardon power.'") (citation omitted); State v. Wimberly, 498 So.2d 929, 932 (Fla.1986) ("The requirement that a trial judge must give a requested instruction on a necessarily lesser included offense is bottomed upon a recognition of the jury's right to exercise its `pardon power.' "); State v. Baker, 456 So.2d 419 (Fla. 1984); see also Firsher v. State, 834 So.2d 921 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 859 So.2d 514 (Fla.2003); Mosley v. State, 482 So.2d 530, 531-32 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) ("It is only because the Supreme Court of Florida has adopted the phenomenon of the `jury pardon' as part of the jurisprudence of our State that a defendant can be heard to complain about the failure to instruct on lesser offenses notwithstanding the fact that he has been properly proved and found guilty of the offense charged.") (footnote omitted); Bufford v. State, 473 So.2d 795, 796 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985) ("The requirement that the jury be charged on lesser included offenses is solely based on the jury's pardon power."), review denied, 482 So.2d 347 (Fla.1986). In Baker, the court described the jury pardon as

"the nonconstitutional right of ... giving the jury an opportunity to find the accused guilty of an offense lesser in severity of punishment than that with which he was charged." Baker, 425 So.2d at 53 (Cowart, J., dissenting). Jury pardons are the province of the jury, and a trial court is not permitted to invade that province. Brown [ v. State, 206 So.2d 377 (Fla.1968)].

Baker, 456 So.2d at 420-21.[1]

The jury pardon concept has become ingrained in the rules of criminal procedure *626 relating to determination of degree of offense and determination of attempts and lesser included offenses. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.490 & 3.510(b). Moreover, the Florida courts have fully embraced it as an integral part of our jurisprudence. See Bufford. Hence, the failure to instruct the jury on a lesser included offense can constitute reversible error per se when the issue is raised on direct appeal. See Piccioni v. State, 833 So.2d 247 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). In Piccioni, the court explained:

When requested by the defendant, an instruction on a category two permissive lesser-included offense must be given where "(1) the information alleges all of the statutory elements of the permissive lesser-included offense, and (2) there is some evidence adduced at trial establishing all of the elements." Wimberly v. State, 697 So.2d 1272, 1273 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); see also Amado v. State, 585 So.2d 282, 282 (Fla.1991).
....
The failure to instruct the jury on a permissive lesser-included offense can sometimes be harmless error. See Henig [v. State], 820 So.2d [1037] at 1039 [Fla. 4th DCA 2002]. Where the absent lesser-included offense is only one step removed from the charged offense, however, the failure to give the requested instruction is reversible error per se. See State v. Abreau, 363 So.2d 1063, 1064 (Fla.1978); Morris v. State, 658 So.2d 155, 156 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).

Piccioni, 833 So.2d at 248. The courts also hold that a colorable claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is presented when trial counsel fails to request instructions on lesser included offenses. See Willis v. State, 840 So.2d 1135 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003); Firsher; Bethea v. State, 767 So.2d 630 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); Oehling v. State, 659 So.2d 1226 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995).

There are, however, very clear differences between the standards that apply in a direct appeal and those applicable in collateral proceedings, as the court explained in Sanders v.

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Related

State v. Vickery
961 So. 2d 309 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2007)
Sanders v. State
946 So. 2d 953 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2006)
State v. Young
932 So. 2d 1278 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Graff v. State
922 So. 2d 1058 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Sanders v. State
912 So. 2d 1286 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2005)
James v. State
881 So. 2d 85 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2004)

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869 So. 2d 623, 2004 WL 534624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vickery-v-state-fladistctapp-2004.