How “Ineffective Assistance of Counsel” Can Affect Your Right to a Fair Trial in Florida

We all make mistakes in the course of our daily lives. This includes mistakes made in doing our jobs. Of course, when your job is defending someone accused of a serious crime, a mistake can prove costly for the defendant.

Many Florida criminal appeals are based on allegations of “ineffective assistance of counsel.” Essentially, if a defense attorney made a critical mistake during the trial, that can serve as grounds for appealing a conviction or sentence. To be clear, not every mistake made by a defense attorney is grounds for reversal or a new trial. The error must be so “prejudicial” that it compromised the defendant’s right to receive a fair trial.

Appeals Court Reduces Burglary Conviction Due to Inadmissible Hearsay

A recent decision from the Florida First District Court of Appeal, Cooper v. State, illustrates what we mean by a prejudicial error. In this case, prosecutors charged the defendant in 2009 with burglary of a structure causing $1,000 in damages. This is a first-degree felony under Florida law.

The state’s case was that the defendant burglarized a closed convenience store by breaking down the front door. The prosecution called a district manager for the store as a witness. When asked how much it cost to repair the door, the witness said she “was given an estimate” of about $1,500. The witness did not have personal knowledge of the actual cost, however, nor could she provide any documentation of this alleged estimate.

Defense counsel should have objected to this testimony as inadmissible hearsay. But there was no objection. The trial court then relied on the inadmissible hearsay in denying a defense motion for a judgment of acquittal at the close of the prosecution’s case.

The defendant was subsequently convicted of first-degree felony burglary and received a 30-year prison sentence. His direct appeal failed. Years later, however, the defendant filed a motion for postconviction relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel. While a judge also dismissed this motion, the First District agreed the defendant was entitled to relief.

As the appellate court explained, failing to object to the inadmissible hearsay was not a minor mistake. Without the manager’s testimony, the state could not prove there had been more than $1,000 in damage to the store. This meant that all the state proved was that the defendant committed simple burglary of an unoccupied structure. That is classified as a third-degree felony in Florida, which only carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, as opposed to the 30 years the defendant received for his first-degree felony conviction. As such, the First District said the defendant was entitled to be re-sentenced on the simple burglary charge.

Contact AsiliA Law Firm Today

When mistakes happen in a criminal trial, it is often the person accused who suffers. A qualified Miami criminal appeals attorney can assist you in trying to correct such miscarriages of justice. Call AsiliA Law Firm today at 786-420-3014 or contact us online to schedule an initial consultation.

Source:

https://1dca.flcourts.gov/content/download/2438739/opinion/Opinion_2022-4074.pdf