Wilson v. State
Citation | 889 So.2d 114 |
Decision Date | 24 November 2004 |
Docket Number | No. 4D03-2775.,4D03-2775. |
Parties | Terris Angelo WILSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Louis G. Carres, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Joseph A. Tringali, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
The issue in this case is whether the trial judge committed reversible error by failing to conduct an inquiry pursuant to Nelson v. State, 274 So.2d 256 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), adopted by Hardwick v. State, 521 So.2d 1071 (Fla.1988)
. We hold that because appellant expressed only a general dissatisfaction with his attorney unrelated to trial strategy, the trial court did not reversibly err in failing to conduct a Nelson hearing.
Appellant Terris Wilson's comments about his trial counsel arose shortly after 9:30 a.m., before jury selection began, while forty-two prospective jurors waited in the hallway. The defense attorney told the judge that Wilson felt that the clothing which the attorney had provided for him did not fit.
[Defense Counsel]: ... I know the shirt he said or the pants, he said didn't fit him. I don't know. I asked, none of the deputies saw him with the clothes on either. The shirt definitely fits him. I told him, I already explained to Mr. Wilson that he needs to put the clothes on, if not, the jury will see him in blues.
Uneasy about keeping the jurors waiting, the judge spoke with Wilson about his sartorial concerns:
Up to this point in the transcript, five themes are apparent. First, with the jurors in the hallway, the judge is understandably concerned about starting the trial. Second, Wilson is unhappy about the clothing that had been provided for him to wear at trial. Third, Wilson does not believe he was adequately notified about the commencement of the trial. Fourth, the judge is worried that because of his anger over the situation, Wilson may be making the rash, unwise decision to wear his jail uniform for jury selection. Fifth, Wilson was evading the judge's questions about his decision concerning his attire.
To question Wilson more closely about his clothing options, the judge placed him under oath:
The trial court's concern was that appellant persisted in talking out of turn. After Wilson was removed from the courtroom, the court granted defense counsel's motion to continue the case until 1:30 p.m. Defense counsel told the judge that she would use the postponement to find Wilson's family: "No matter where they live in Palm Beach County, I should be able [to] do it within two hours and a half."
According to the transcript, court reconvened at 1:40 p.m. later the same day. Apparently, the clothing issue had been resolved to Wilson's satisfaction. He wished the court a "good afternoon." In contrast to the heated exchange from the morning, Wilson complained neither about his attire nor his attorney. Jury selection began. The prosecutor suggested that the court conduct a Nelson inquiry, but the court refused, ruling that appellant had not made a specific request to discharge counsel. Even after the prosecutor's suggestion, Wilson voiced no complaint about his counsel.
From the time jury selection commenced to the end of the trial, the record reveals no further discussion regarding Wilson's unhappiness with defense counsel or his request to discharge her.
The standard of review concerning a trial court's conduct regarding a Nelson inquiry is abuse of discretion. Moore v. State, 778 So.2d 1054, 1056 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). A trial judge "does not abuse its discretion in refusing to conduct a Nelson inquiry when the defendant fails to make an unequivocal request for the discharge of counsel ... [or] where the defendant merely expresses his general dissatisfaction with counsel...." Id. Thus, it is not error to fail to conduct a Nelson hearing where a defendant expresses only general "dissatisfaction with his counsel's trial preparation, his witness development, and his lack of contact with the defendant." Morrison v. State, 818 So.2d 432, 440 (Fla.2002) ( ); Dunn v. State, 730 So.2d 309, 311-12 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). A "lack of communication between the defendant and counsel is not a ground for a claim of incompetency." Bowhey v. State, 864 So.2d 510, 511 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); accord Wallace v. State, 860 So.2d 494, 496, n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
. These holdings rest, in part, on the practical reality that a "trial judge's inquiry can only be as specific as the defendant's complaint." See Logan v. State, 846 So.2d 472, 477 (Fla.2003).
Here, Wilson's complaints about his attorney arose during a heated exchange concerning his unhappiness over his attire and the fact that trial was about to begin, not anything to do with the performance of his attorney. Taken in context, Wilson's statement that his attorney had lied had nothing to do with her competence...
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Holland v. State
...Court reviews a trial court's conduct regarding a Nelson inquiry or hearing under an abuse of discretion standard. Wilson v. State , 889 So. 2d 114, 117 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) ; Boaz v. State , 135 So. 3d 506, 507 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014). However, we review claims of ineffective assistance of coun......
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Milkey v. State
...to determine whether the Nelson inquiry was adequate. Augsberger v. State, 655 So.2d 1202, 1204 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); Wilson v. State, 889 So.2d 114, 118-19 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). However, we have held that a trial court's failure to conduct any preliminary Nelson inquiry in response to a defen......
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C.H. v. State
...(“A trial court must conduct [a Nelson] inquiry only if a defendant questions an attorney's competence.”); Wilson v. State, 889 So.2d 114, 118 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (“[A] Nelson hearing is necessary only where a defendant has specifically expressed ‘formal allegations' about an attorney's com......
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LAHRIZI v. State, 3D03-2268.
...and sentence. Weaver v. State, 894 So.2d 178 (Fla.2004); Maxwell v. State, 892 So.2d 1100 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); Wilson v. State, 889 So.2d 114 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). ...