State v. Crews

Decision Date27 September 1985
Docket NumberNo. 67699,67699
Citation477 So.2d 984,10 Fla. L. Weekly 538
Parties10 Fla. L. Weekly 538 STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. John T. CREWS, Judge, Respondent.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Gary L. Printy, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for petitioner.

John T. Crews, Circuit Judge, pro se.

James E. Coleman, Jr., Marian E. Lindberg and Jeffrey D. Robinson of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering, Washington, D.C., for Stephen Todd Booker.

ADKINS, Acting Chief Justice.

We have before us the state's application for writ of prohibition and motion to vacate stay. On September 26, 1985, the trial court granted Stephen Todd Booker's motion for an evidentiary hearing and ordered a stay of execution. We deny the state's application for writ of prohibition and motion to vacate stay.

On November 8, 1983, Booker filed a motion for post-conviction relief in the trial court. Booker raised the claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The trial court granted an evidentiary hearing. Following the hearing, the trial court denied Booker's claim for relief. Upon appeal, we affirmed the trial court's order. Booker v. State, 441 So.2d 148 (Fla.1983).

The state asserts that Booker's motion is an "abuse of the post-conviction process" because it is his second motion for post-conviction relief filed in the state court system. See Smith v. State, 453 So.2d 388 (Fla.1984). We disagree. State v. Burton, 314 So.2d 136 (Fla.1975), is controlling. In Burton, we held that since facts disclosed in an affidavit attached to original motion for new trial and accepted as true were basically false and such false statements constituted fraud practiced on the court, the court had authority to entertain a petition for rehearing and vacate a new trial order. In this instance, the trial court concluded that testimony produced at the hearing for post-conviction relief on November 14, 1983, was false and constituted a fraud on the court. As a result, the trial court had authority to entertain defendant's motion in post-conviction relief.

The trial court did not err in granting defendant an evidentiary hearing on the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The movant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing unless the motion or files and records in the case conclusively show that the movant is entitled to no relief. O'Callaghan v. State, 461 So.2d 1354, 1355 (Fla.1984) (citations omitted).

The state has failed to show an abuse of the trial court's...

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7 cases
  • Delap v. Dugger
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • November 20, 1989
    ...conducted on cross-examination at trial. Delap presents no evidence to suggest that Dr. Schofield committed perjury. Cf. State v. Crews, 477 So.2d 984 (Fla.1985). Furthermore, even if Dr. Schofield's strangulation theory was discredited, there was evidence that Paula Etheridge was beaten to......
  • Thompson v. Crawford, 84-428
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • November 20, 1985
    ...occurred and to put justice back on the track?314 So.2d at 138 (emphasis supplied).32 Burton was found to be controlling in State v. Crews, 477 So.2d 984 (Fla.1985). In Crews, the supreme court held that the trial court had the authority to entertain a second motion for post-conviction reli......
  • Booker v. State, SC93422.
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • October 5, 2000
    ...v. Booker, 473 U.S. 935, 106 S.Ct. 30, 106 S.Ct. 3343, 87 L.Ed.2d 706 (1985); State v. Booker, 479 So.2d 118 (Fla. 1985); State v. Crews, 477 So.2d 984 (Fla. 1985) (denying State's petition to vacate stay of execution); Booker v. State, 503 So.2d 888 (Fla.1987); Booker v. Dugger, 825 F.2d 2......
  • State v. Zeigler
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • May 19, 1986
    ...evidentiary hearing unless the motion, files, and records conclusively show that the defendant is entitled to no relief. State v. Crews, 477 So.2d 984, 984-85 (Fla.1985); O'Callaghan v. State, 461 So.2d 1354, 1355 (Fla.1984).3 The defendant alleges in his motion that he was precluded from c......
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