Can Appellate Counsel be Ineffective?

Yes.

Defendants in Florida can petition the court in which the appeal was taken if they believe their appellate attorney was ineffective.

For example, if a person was convicted of a felony in circuit court and appealed to the district court of appeals, then lost the appeal, they could petition for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel in the district court of appeals.

Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(d), Petitions Alleging Ineffective Assistance of Appellate Counsel, provides:

(1) Applicability. This subdivision governs petitions alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel.

(2) Treatment as Original Proceedings. Review proceedings under this subdivision shall be treated as original proceedings under rule 9.100, except as modified by this rule.

(3) Forum. Petitions alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel shall be filed in the court to which the appeal was taken.

(4) Contents. The petition shall be in the form prescribed by rule 9.100, may include supporting documents, and shall recite in the statement of facts:

(A) the date and nature of the lower tribunal’s order subject to the disputed appeal;

(B) the name of the lower tribunal rendering the order;

(C) the nature, disposition, and dates of all previous court proceedings;

(D) if a previous petition was filed, the reason the claim in the present petition was not raised previously;

(E) the nature of the relief sought; and

(F) the specific acts sworn to by the petitioner or petitioner’s counsel that constitute the alleged ineffective assistance of counsel.

(5) Time Limits. A petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel on direct review shall not be filed more than 2 years after the judgment and sentence become final on direct review unless it alleges under oath with a specific factual basis that the petitioner was affirmatively misled about the results of the appeal by counsel. In no case shall a petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel on direct review be filed more than 4 years after the judgment and sentence become final on direct review.

(6) Procedure.

(A) The petitioner shall serve a copy of the petition on the attorney general.

(B) The court may by order identify any provision of this rule that the petition fails to satisfy and, pursuant to rule 9.040(d), allow the petitioner a specified time to serve an amended petition.

(C) The court may dismiss a second or successive petition if it does not allege new grounds and the prior determination was on the merits, or if a failure to assert the grounds was an abuse of procedure.

 

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