Mackinnon v. State Of Fla., 5D09-1244.
| Decision Date | 16 July 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D09-1244.,5D09-1244. |
| Citation | 39 So.3d 537 |
| Parties | Robert C. MACKINNON, Appellant,v.STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Noel A. Pelella, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Robin A. Compton, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
Robert C. MacKinnon appeals from the denial of his motion for postconviction relief, filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Finding that MacKinnon is entitled to relief, we reverse.
After pleading guilty to the charge of possession of methamphetamine on the day of his scheduled trial, MacKinnon filed a motion for postconviction relief claiming that he was forced to enter an ill-advised plea of guilty after his attorney failed to timely file a motion to suppress the methamphetamine, despite having a valid basis for pursuing suppression of the drugs. At the evidentiary hearing on MacKinnon's 3.850 motion, trial counsel confirmed that she believed a valid basis existed for suppressing the drugs, but explained that she had not had time to prepare the motion before the trial date. She further explained that even after the trial judge continued the trial for two days to afford time for filing the suppression motion, she was unable to draft the motion because she was in court on other cases.
“A trial attorney's failure to investigate a factual defense or a defense relying on the suppression of evidence, which results in the entry of an ill-advised plea of guilty, has long been held to constitute a facially sufficient attack upon the conviction.” Williams v. State, 717 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); see also Spencer v. State, 889 So.2d 868, 870 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) ().
Because the uncontroverted evidence at the hearing supported MacKinnon's claim for relief, we are perplexed by the trial court's unelaborated ruling that MacKinnon's counsel “did not omit anything that would be shown to be outside the broad range of reasonable assistance under prevailing professional standards.” MacKinnon's motion should have been granted. We reverse the order on appeal, and remand with directions to grant MacKinnon's motion and set aside his plea, conviction and sentence.
REVERSED AND...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Madison v. State
...due to a lack of factual investigation or legal research can constitute deficient performance under Strickland. See MacKinnon v. State, 39 So. 3d 537, 538 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) ("A trial attorney's failure to investigate a factual defense or a defense relying on the suppression of evidence, w......
-
Guzman-Aviles v. State
...an ill-advised plea of guilty, has long been held to constitute a facially sufficient attack upon the conviction." MacKinnon v. State , 39 So.3d 537, 538 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) (quoting Williams v. State , 717 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) ). In Hampton v. State , 217 So.3d 1096 (Fla. 5th DCA ......
-
Hampton v. State
...by an entry of a plea." Spencer v. State , 889 So.2d 868, 870 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (citations omitted); see also MacKinnon v. State , 39 So.3d 537, 538 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010). Thus, the postconviction court erred when it relied on legal insufficiency in summarily denying Appellant's first ground......
-
Brown v. State, 1D18-3623
...a facially sufficient attack upon the conviction." Fry v. State , 217 So.3d 1139, 1140 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017) (quoting MacKinnon v. State , 39 So.3d 537, 538 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) ). "A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to advise a defendant of a potential defense can state ......
-
Post-conviction relief
...motion but failed to file due to an overload of cases, the court errs in refusing to allow the plea to be withdrawn. MacKinnon v. State, 39 So. 3d 537 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) Defendant was charged with aggravated assault for an incident in which he was charged with holding a knife to his stepfa......