Ford v. State, s. 61440

Decision Date04 December 1981
Docket Number61450,Nos. 61440,s. 61440
Citation407 So.2d 907
PartiesAlvin Bernard FORD, Petitioner/Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent/Appellee.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Laurin A. Wollan, Jr., Tallahassee and Raymond W. Russell, Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner/appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Joy B. Shearer, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for respondent/appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We have for consideration an appeal from an order of the circuit court denying a motion for post-conviction relief, an original petition for writ of habeas corpus, and an application for stay of execution.

Petitioner Ford was convicted of murder in the first degree. A separate sentencing proceeding was held before the trial jury, which recommended that petitioner be sentenced to death. The trial judge, in accordance with the jury's recommendation, sentenced him to death. The judgment and sentence were affirmed by this Court. Ford v. State, 374 So.2d 496 (Fla.1979).

The Supreme Court of the United States denied a petition for writ of certiorari. Ford v. Florida, 445 U.S. 972, 100 S.Ct. 1666, 64 L.Ed.2d 249 (1980).

Petitioner has also challenged his conviction by filing a habeas corpus proceeding in this Court, in which he joined 122 other persons under sentence of death, challenging this Court's purported review of extra record material in capital appeals. Relief was denied in Brown v. Wainwright, 392 So.2d 1327 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. ----, 70 L.Ed.2d ----, 30 Cr.L. 4066 (Nov. 2, 1981).

Petitioner further challenged his conviction and sentence in a motion for post-conviction relief filed in the circuit court. Petitioner has appealed from the order denying this motion for post-conviction relief. The state has filed a motion to quash this appeal and a motion to affirm the trial judge.

Petitioner has also filed with this Court a petition for writ of habeas corpus arguing that counsel for him failed to present to this Court meritorious issues relating directly to the validity of the conviction and sentence in this case and thereby deprived him of a meaningful direct appeal in contravention of the sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States. He asks that we grant him a belated appellate review from the judgment and death sentence of the trial court.

Rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, authorizes the use of post-conviction relief procedures to challenge a once final judgment and sentence in limited instances, and for limited reasons. An error that may justify reversal on direct appeal will not necessarily support a collateral attack on the final judgment. Witt v. State, 387 So.2d 922 (Fla.1980), citing U. S. v. Addonizio, 442 U.S. 178, 99 S.Ct. 2235, 60 L.Ed.2d 805 (1979).

Finality is an important element of the criminal justice system. This doctrine of finality should be abridged only when a more compelling objective appears, such as insuring fairness and uniformity in individual adjudication. Witt v. State.

Petitioner's motion to vacate filed with the trial court alleged five grounds for relief. Only one of these-the claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel-was properly raised. The other four issues pertaining to the admissibility of the confession, jury selection under Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968), jury instructions during the sentencing phase, and the standard of proof used in the sentencing phase, were all matters known at the conclusion of the trial which could have been, but were not, raised on direct appeal. Accordingly, collateral attack through a Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion was properly determined by the trial court not to be an appropriate remedy pursuant to this Court's decisions in Witt v. State and Hargrave v. State, 396 So.2d 1127 (Fla.1981). See also Wainwright v. Sikes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977).

The standard by which the effectiveness of counsel is to be measured is whether counsel was reasonably likely to render and rendered reasonably effective assistance. Meeks v. State, 382 So.2d 673 (Fla.1980). In Knight v. State, 394 So.2d 997 (Fla.1981), this Court set out a four-pronged test for determining whether there was reasonably effective assistance:

1. The specific act or omission upon which the claim is based must be detailed in the appropriate pleading.

2. The defendant has the burden to show it was a substantial and serious deficiency measurably below that of competent counsel.

3. The defendant has the burden to show that under the circumstances of his case, he was prejudiced to the extent that there is a likelihood that the deficient conduct affected the outcome of the court proceedings.

4. If the defendant shows this, the state may rebut by showing beyond a reasonable doubt that there was no prejudice in fact even if a constitutional violation was involved.

In his 3.850 motion to vacate petitioner presented four categories of "specific omissions" to support the claim of ineffectiveness of trial counsel: (i) failure to adequately present the motion to suppress petitioner's statement made to law enforcement officers after he indicated he wanted...

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15 cases
  • Ford v. Wainwright
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 26, 1986
    ...454 U.S. 1000 (1981). Petitioner filed a motion for postconviction relief in state court, and relief was again denied. Ford v. State, 407 So.2d 907 (Fla.1981). Following these unsuccessful attempts to obtain relief from his conviction or execution in state court, petitioner filed a petition......
  • Ford v. Strickland
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • January 7, 1983
    ...pursuant to Rule 3.850 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure and applied for a stay of execution. Relief was denied. Ford v. State, 407 So.2d 907 (Fla.1981). Finally, petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2254 in the United States District Court f......
  • Rohan ex rel. Gates v. Woodford
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • June 25, 2003
    ...at 402, 106 S.Ct. 2595. Ford's federal petition appears to have been filed at the end of 1981 or very early in 1982. Compare Ford v. State, 407 So.2d 907 (Fla.1981) (December 4, 1981, denial of state postconviction relief), with Ford v. Strickland, 676 F.2d 434 (11th Cir. 1982) (April 15, 1......
  • Ford v. Strickland
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • April 15, 1982
    ...pursuant to Rule 3.850 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure and applied for a stay of execution. Relief was denied. Ford v. State, 407 So.2d 907 (Fla.1981). Finally, petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 in the United States District Court for ......
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