Savage v. State, 87-1306
| Decision Date | 13 September 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-1306,87-1306 |
| Citation | 530 So.2d 1077,13 Fla. L. Weekly 2129 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 2129 Ernest Curtis SAVAGE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ernest Curtis Savage, pro se.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Elizabeth Masters, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
Ernest Savage appeals the trial court's summary denial of his motion for post-conviction relief, asserting as grounds therefor that (1) his conviction was based on an involuntary plea, and (2) he received ineffective assistance of counsel. We reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.
On December 9, 1982, Savage pled nolo contendere to armed robbery charges filed in three separate cases. Pursuant to a plea bargain, the trial court imposed concurrent 30-year sentences, the sentences to run concurrently with a prior 10-year sentence Savage was serving on an unrelated charge.
Savage's motion alleges that his plea was involuntary in that it had been entered without a clear understanding of the nature of the plea and its consequences. The motion states Savage has been incompetent since receiving a head injury at the age of twelve. The motion further alleges that since his incarceration, Savage has been hospitalized for periods of time due to incompetency.
The trial court found the record demonstrated that Savage freely and voluntarily entered a plea of nolo contendere and attested to his complete understanding of the consequences. The trial court further found the record demonstrated that Savage was satisfied with the services provided by his counsel. Accordingly, the trial court denied relief, and attached the transcript of the plea and sentencing proceeding to the order denying relief.
There are no set criteria to determine whether a prisoner's allegation that he was incompetent at the time of the plea or the trial is sufficient to require an evidentiary hearing. For the most part, the determination will be based on an examination of the record before the trial court. Bush v. Wainwright, 505 So.2d 409 (Fla.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 873, 108 S.Ct. 209, 98 L.Ed.2d 160 (1987); James v. State, 489 So.2d 737 (Fla.), cert. denied, 477 U.S. 909, 106 S.Ct. 3285, 91 L.Ed.2d 574 (1986); DeFriest v. State, 448 So.2d 1157 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); State v. Williams, 447 So.2d 356 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Nevertheless, the court will also consider evidence subsequent to the plea or trial, when it appears the record does not satisfactorily resolve the allegations of incompetency. Blanco v. Wainwright, 507 So.2d 1377 (Fla.1987); Campbell v. State, 488 So.2d 592 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Livingston v. State, 383 So.2d 947 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980).
In circumstances somewhat analogous to those present in the instant case, in Campbell v. State, supra, the court found an evidentiary hearing was required. In Campbell, the prisoner alleged his guilty plea was not entered with full understanding of the consequences, because he was under the influence of medication at the time of the plea. The trial court attached a transcript of the plea colloquy to the order denying relief. This transcript indicated that prior to accepting the plea, the trial court conducted a brief competency hearing, during which counsel asked the court to rule on the fact that Campbell was under medication. Although the trial court's questioning was thorough, Campbell only replied affirmatively to most of the questions posed. When the trial court asked Campbell if his medication hampered his understanding, Campbell at first said he did not know, then answered, "yeah," when asked if he understood. The court recognized that the trial court was in the best position to observe Campbell's demeanor and level of awareness, but concluded, nevertheless, that the record did not sufficiently overcome Campbell's allegations to permit summary denial of the motion. Therefore, the case was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Similarly, in Livingston v. State, the...
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Long v. State, 95-4515
...for attachment of further portions of the record conclusively refuting this claim, or for an evidentiary hearing. See Savage v. State, 530 So.2d 1077 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Gunn v. State, 379 So.2d 431 (Fla. 2d DCA As his second ground, appellant claims that his conviction was obtained in vio......
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Ortiz v. State
...a defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his contention that he was incompetent to enter a plea. Savage v. State, 530 So.2d 1077, 1078 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). Typically, a trial court must rely on the record for this determination. Id. Here, the transcript of the plea colloquy seem......
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Schenck v. State, 95-2785
...the plea colloquy was limited almost entirely to one-word responses to questions posed by the trial court. See, e.g., Savage v. State, 530 So.2d 1077 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). In Krawczuk v. State, 634 So.2d 1070, 1073 (Fla.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 216, 130 L.Ed.2d 143 (1994), o......
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Irving v. State, 98-04891.
...involuntary due to his incompetency and that his attorney was ineffective in failing to investigate this. See, e.g., Savage v. State, 530 So.2d 1077 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Jones v. State, 421 So.2d 55 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Therefore, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. We note that ......