Appeals Court Says Trial Court Erred In Summarily Denying 3.850 Motion. Case Reversed & Remanded For Evidentiary Hearing
Client retained The Law Office of Robert Malove to review his case and determine if he had any meritorious claims that can be raised in a 3.850 motion. After reviewing his entire case file, we filed a Rule 3.850 motion that contained several claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The claim that was most significant was that our client was offered a plea of 5-years in prison from the Assistant Sate Attorney.
After receiving this offer, his trial attorney advised our client about the plea. After being advised about the plea, our client (like most criminal defendant’s) consulted his attorney about this offer. He looked to him for advice as to whether he should accept or reject the plea offer from the state. His attorney advised him to reject the plea offer. His attorney reasoning to reject the offer was that in his opinion the only crimes the State could prove were either battery or culpable negligence. Being that both of these charges are only misdemeanors and are subject to a maximum term of one year in the county jail, he advised the client to reject the offer. Relying on the advice of counsel, our client rejected the plea, proceeded to trial and unfortunately was found guilty of attempted second degree murder and was sentenced to 12-years in prison.
After filing the 3.850 motion the State was issued a show cause order and filed a response. The trial court allowed us to file a reply, and after taking all of the filings into consideration the trial court issued an order denying the Rule 3.850 motion. We appealed.
On appeal we argued that the trial court erred in summarily denying the 3850 motion by finding that counsel’s advice to reject a favorable plea offer was a reasonable strategic decision without an evidentiary hearing. Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, reversed and remanded the summary denial and ordered an evidentiary hearing after finding the following:
In Ground One of his Rule 3.850 motion, Mook claimed that his defense counsel was ineffective for misadvising him to reject a plea offer of five years in prison. He alleged that counsel told him the State could prove only a misdemeanor (battery or culpable negligence) because it could not prove premeditation or intent to kill. Mook alleged that counsel’s advice 2 to reject the plea was unreasonable under the facts and circumstances of the case because he failed to properly evaluate the likelihood of a conviction for attempted second-degree murder, which does not require proof of premeditation or intent to kill. See Brice v. State, 162 So. 3d 81, 82–83 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) (reversing the summary denial of a Rule 3.850 motion and remanding for an evidentiary hearing on a claim that counsel’s advice to reject a plea offer was unreasonable because he failed to properly evaluate the strength of the State’s case and explain the likelihood of a conviction). Mook also alleged a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s advice, he would have accepted the plea and it would have been entered without the State withdrawing it or the judge refusing to accept it. See Alcorn v. State, 121 So. 3d 419, 430 (Fla. 2013). Mook’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was sufficiently pled, and the trial court erred by finding without an evidentiary hearing that counsel’s advice to reject the plea offer was a reasonable strategic decision. See, e.g., Washington v. State, 187 So. 3d 244 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015). We therefore reverse the summary denial of Ground One and remand for an evidentiary hearing. We affirm the summary denial of Mook’s other grounds for relief without further discussion. Affirmed in part, Reversed in part, and Remanded.
Luckily for Mr. Mook, he hired the experienced Law Office of Robert Malove to represent him in a motion for post-conviction relief. Since the appellate court reversed the trial court, there will be a hearing conducted to determine whether Mr. Mook’s attorney was ineffective. Stay tuned to see if Mr. Mook prevails.
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