DARIAN JAMES, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 2d DCA | 2011-05-27
No. 2D10-4256
DAVIS and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.
61 So. 3d 492 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2011) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Darian James petitioned for relief claiming ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for failing to raise a double jeopardy claim on direct appeal. The court agreed that counsel was ineffective in not arguing that convictions for both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine violated double jeopardy protections, as the two conspiracies had identical participants and time periods.


Holding

Appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to raise the double jeopardy claim, which constitutes fundamental error that may be raised for the first time on appeal. Because the conspiracy to traffic in cocaine was subsumed into the conspiracy to commit racketeering with identical participants and duration, the dual convictions violated double jeopardy protections.


Headnotes

[1] Convictions for both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance violate double jeopardy protections when the conspiracy to traf…

[2] A double jeopardy violation constitutes fundamental error that may be raised for the first time on appeal.

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Key Quotes

“a double jeopardy violation constitutes fundamental error which may be raised for the first time on appeal”

Establishes that the double jeopardy issue can be addressed even though not preserved at trial

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Facts & Procedural History

James was convicted by jury of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, and trafficking in cocaine. Both the…

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Opinion of the Court
KHOUZAM, Judge.

KHOUZAM, Judge.

Darían James, in a petition filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(c), raises four grounds alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. We agree with James’s contention that counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that his convictions for both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine were barred by the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. We deny the remaining grounds without comment.

Following a jury trial, James was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, and trafficking in cocaine. Count two of the information charged conspiracy to commit racketeering. It listed various participants in the conspiracy, including the petitioner. The conspiracy to commit racketeering charged conspiracy to traffic in cocaine as one of the goals of the conspiracy. Count four charged the same fifteen defendants with conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. No other persons were listed. The information alleged that both the conspiracy to commit racketeering charged in count two and the conspiracy to traffic in cocaine charged in count four were committed between August 1, 2005, and November 10, 2005. There was no evidence presented at trial that the petitioner or his coconspirators engaged in a conspiracy to traffic in cocaine outside the dates alleged, and the State, in its response to the petition, acknowledges both conspiracies had the same duration and participants. Thus, the time period for the conspiracy to commit racketeering incorporated the time period for the conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, and the conspiracy to traffic in cocaine was subsumed into the conspiracy to commit racketeering. James contends that because of this, his convictions for both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine were violative of double jeopardy protections and that counsel was ineffective in failing to raise this claim on direct appeal.

As James correctly states, a double jeopardy violation constitutes fundamental error which may be raised for the first time on appeal. See Rios v. State, 19 So.3d 1004, 1006 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009); Gisi v. State, 848 So.2d 1278 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). In this instance, we are governed by our opinion in Rios, which issued before the initial brief in the direct appeal was *494filed in the present case. Rios was convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in heroin. 19 So.3d at 1005. The conspirators were the same in both counts, and the time period for the conspiracy to commit racketeering incorporated the time period for the conspiracy to traffic in heroin. This court in Rodriguez v. State, 36 So.3d 177, 179 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010), summarized the Rios decision as follows:

In Rios v. State, 19 So.3d 1004, 1006-07 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009), this court held that counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that Rios’s convictions for both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in heroin violated double jeopardy protections.... Rios did not preserve the issue in the trial court. However, we held that because a double jeopardy violation constitutes fundamental error, it may be raised for the first time on appeal. Id. at 1006. Thus, we found that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that Rios’s dual conspiracy convictions were prohibited by double jeopardy considerations and we granted Rios relief on this claim. Id. at 1006-07.

Here, it was fundamental error for the trial court to convict the petitioner of both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, and we hold that counsel rendered ineffective assistance when he failed to raise this issue on direct appeal.

A new appeal would be redundant in this case. See Rios, 19 So.3d at 1007. Because the conspiracy to commit racketeering drew a lesser sentence,1 we reverse that conviction and remand to the trial court to strike it. See Rodriguez, 36 So.3d at 180.

Petition denied in part and granted in part.

DAVIS and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Mathes v. State, 106 So. 3d 73 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)
    …conspiracy to deliver heroin as an objective of the racketeering conspiracy, (2) the same individuals were implicated in both offenses, and (3) the two con [*75] spiracies were alleged to have occurred during the same time frame. See James v. State, 61 So. 3d 492, 498 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (finding that where a count of conspiracy to commit racketeering charged conspiracy to traffic cocaine as one of the goals of the racketeering conspiracy and the two conspiracies had the same duration and participants, “the c…
  • Wiles v. State, 162 So. 3d 342 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)
    …s granted the petition, holding that counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that the convictions for both conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic violated double jeopardy protections. Id. at 1006-07; see also James v. State, 61 So. 3d 492, 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (granting in part petitioner’s petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel because appellate counsel failed to argue, as fundamental error, that petitioner’s convictions for conspiracy to commit racketeering…
  • Evincse Dorelus v. State, 154 So. 3d 1206 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)
    …trial of crimes for which the defendant was acquitted at an earlier trial). And a double jeopardy violation constitutes fundamental error that may be raised for the first time on appeal — pleading niceties notwithstanding. See, e.g., James v. State, 61 So. 3d 492, 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011); Safrany v. State, 895 So. 2d 1145, 1147 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (“[A] ‘violation of double jeopardy principles is fundamental error which, absent a knowing and voluntary waiver, may be raised for the first time on appeal.’ ” (quo…

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