LACY E. LEWIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Lacy Lewis appeals the summary denial of his postconviction motion for ineffective assistance of counsel under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The court reverses the denial of one claim that counsel incorrectly advised him that consent from the property owner (rather than the occupant) was a viable defense to burglary, warranting an evidentiary hearing, while affirming the denial of his remaining claims.
The court holds that the record does not conclusively refute Lewis's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding the consent defense, requiring reversal of the summary denial and an evidentiary hearing on this claim. The court affirms the denial of all remaining postconviction claims.
[1] A defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on misadvice regarding a viable defense requires an evidentiary hearing when the record does not conclusive…
[2] For purposes of the burglary statute, the 'owner' of the premises from whom consent to enter must be obtained is the tenant who occupies the premises, not the unoccupying…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is well-settled that a legal tenant who occupies the burglarized premises at the time of the offense is the 'owner' thereof under the burglary statute, not the unoccupying fee title holder or lessor.”
Establishes the correct legal standard for who is the 'owner' entitled to give consent under Florida's burglary statute
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLewis was charged with aggravated stalking and burglary of a dwelling. At trial, he presented testimony from the home's owner that Lewis had permissio…
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Appellant, Lacy E. Lewis, challenges the summary denial of his motion for postcon-viction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Because the record does not conclusively refute Appellant’s claim that counsel was ineffective for advising him that consent to enter the premises from the owner/landlord, as opposed to the occupant, was a viable defense, we reverse the summary denial and remand for an evidentiary hearing on this claim. We affirm the denial of all Appel-. lant’s remaining claims without further discussion.
Appellant was charged with aggravated stalking and burglary of a dwelling. At trial, he presented the testimony of the owner of the home that he had permission to enter the home at any time to support his defense that he reasonably believed that he had consent to be in the victim’s home. The jury ultimately rejected this defense and found Appellant guilty of both charges. In ground four of his motion, Appellant alleged that prior to trial he turned down a five-year plea offer on the advice of counsel, who allegedly told him that he could not be convicted of burglary because he had the consent of the owner to enter the house. However, the owner for purposes of the burglary statute, from whom consent must be obtained, is the tenant who occupies the burglarized premises. See Anderson v. State, 356 So.2d 382, 385 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978) (“It is well-settled that a legal tenant who occupies the burglarized premises at the time of the offense is the ‘owner’ thereof under the burglary statute, not the unoccupying fee title holder or lessor.”), disapproved on other grounds by In re M.E., 370 So.2d 795 (Fla.1979); cf. Haugland v. State, 374 So.2d 1026,1032 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) (“The state here incorrectly laid the ownership of the burglarized premises solely in the landlord fee-title owner when the proof at trial clearly established that such owner as pled was not in possession of such premises at the time of the burglary. Such was fatal to the state’s case.”). Appellant alleged that he would have taken the five-year plea offer had he been advised that consent from the non-occupying homeowner was not a defense to the charge. Because there is nothing in the record which refutes Appellant’s allegations of misadvice or prejudice, we reverse and remand the denial of ground four for an evidentiary hearing.
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.
LEWIS, C.J., ROWE, and RAY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- In the Interest of M. E., 370 So. 2d 795 (Fla. 1979)
- I. v. Anderson, 356 So. 2d 382 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
- Jeri Lee Haugland and Nils Richard Haugland v. State, 374 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)