Quince v. State, 77610
| Decision Date | 16 January 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 77610,77610 |
| Citation | 592 So.2d 669 |
| Parties | 17 Fla. L. Weekly S56 Kenneth Darcell QUINCE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Robert G. Udell, Stuart, and Russell F. Canan, Washington, D.C., for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Richard B. Martell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
Quince appeals the trial court's summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.; Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850. We remand for an evidentiary hearing.
The facts of the crimes are set out fully in our opinion on direct appeal. Quince v. State, 414 So.2d 185 (Fla.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 895, 103 S.Ct. 192, 74 L.Ed.2d 155 (1982). Quince pled guilty to first-degree felony murder and burglary following the sexual battery and strangulation death of an eighty-two-year-old woman in her home. He waived a sentencing jury and the judge imposed the death penalty, which was affirmed on appeal. Id. Quince filed a motion for postconviction relief in circuit court pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, and while the motion was pending the Governor signed a death warrant. The circuit court issued a stay of execution, granted an evidentiary hearing, but denied relief, which was affirmed on appeal. Quince v. State, 477 So.2d 535 (Fla.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1132, 106 S.Ct. 1662, 90 L.Ed.2d 204 (1986).
Quince subsequently filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, which was denied following an evidentiary hearing. During the pendency of the appeal of the denial in federal circuit court, Quince became aware of litigation pending before this Court in Harich v. State, 542 So.2d 980 (Fla.1989) (hereinafter Harich 1 ), concerning the alleged conflict of interest in trial counsel Howard Pearl's concomitant service as a special deputy sheriff. See also Harich v. State, 573 So.2d 303 (Fla.1990), petition for cert. filed, (Apr. 23, 1991) (No. 90-7789) (). Quince filed a subsequent 3.850 motion in circuit court claiming conflict of interest based on Pearl's representation of him, and successfully moved for dismissal of the federal appeal pending the state action. In November 1989, the circuit court summarily denied Quince's motion, relying on the record adduced in Harich's evidentiary hearing on the same issue. Quince filed a motion to disqualify the judge and a motion for rehearing, which were denied in February 1991. He then filed the present appeal.
Quince moved to disqualify the judge based on a comment the judge made in a public address following the evidentiary hearing on the first 3.850 motion, wherein Quince was represented by a Washington, D.C., lawyer. At a meeting of the Volusia County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the trial judge mentioned out-of-state lawyers or those from other areas of Florida and said that "[t]hey look down their noses at us and tend to think we're a bunch of rednecks." Quince claimed that this comment demonstrated prejudice. The trial court denied the motion and Quince now claims error.
The above comment, made five years prior to the motion to disqualify, was delivered in the context of an educational address in which Judge Foxman was instructing criminal defense lawyers on safeguards--such as maintaining written records and adequate files--against charges of ineffectiveness in collateral proceedings and was not made in specific reference to the Quince proceeding. The trial court properly dismissed Quince's motion as legally insufficient; the motion failed to establish a well-grounded fear that Quince would not receive a fair hearing. See Suarez v. Dugger, 527 So.2d 190 (Fla.1988). In fact, in one of the two affidavits submitted in support of the motion, the affiant, who was a lawyer, swore that Judge Foxman's rulings "are unbiased, equitable and fair, without prejudice, and without regard to whether the attorney is...
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Floyd v. State
...Thus, the trial court did not err in denying Floyd's motion. See Correll v. State, 698 So.2d 522, 524 (Fla.1997); Quince v. State, 592 So.2d 669, 670 (Fla.1992). Likewise, Floyd's claim that the trial court erred in denying his claim that he was denied access to public records is without me......
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Griffin v. State
...fear on the part of the movant that he will not receive a fair hearing. Correll v. State, 698 So.2d 522, 524 (Fla.1997); Quince v. State, 592 So.2d 669, 670 (Fla.1992). To determine if a motion to disqualify is legally sufficient, the court must determine "`whether the facts alleged would p......
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Gaskin v. State
...claims concerning defense attorney Howard Pearl's alleged conflict of interest based on his status as deputy sheriff); Quince v. State, 592 So.2d 669, 670 (Fla. 1992); Wright v. State, 581 So.2d 882, 886 (Fla.1991); Herring v. State, 580 So.2d 135, 138-39 (Fla.1991). Accordingly, on remand ......
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Moore v. State, No. SC00-2483
...on the part of the movant that he will not receive a fair hearing. See Correll v. State, 698 So.2d 522, 524 (Fla.1997); Quince v. State, 592 So.2d 669, 670 (Fla.1992). In determining whether a motion to disqualify is legally sufficient, this Court looks to see "whether the facts alleged wou......