WILFREDO CARDENAS, PETITIONER,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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Wilfredo Cardenas petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus seeking a belated appeal of his 2014 guilty plea to second-degree murder, claiming he instructed his defense counsel to appeal a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress. The court appointed a commissioner to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Cardenas actually made this instruction, as the State disputed the claim and the record contained no motion to suppress.
The court held that because the State raised a good faith basis to dispute Cardenas's claim (through defense counsel's assertion that no such request was made), an evidentiary hearing was required to determine the factual dispute regarding whether Cardenas actually instructed counsel to file a notice of appeal.
[1] A court may appoint a commissioner to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine disputed facts upon which a petition for belated appeal turns.
[2] A state's response to a petition for belated appeal may raise a good faith basis to dispute the petitioner's assertions if it provides information contradicting the petit…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Cardenas asserts that, at the conclusion of his sentencing hearing, he "requested defense counsel to file a Notice of Appeal in behalf of the trial court's order denying Defendant's motion to suppress."”
States the core claim in Cardenas's habeas petition—that he instructed counsel to appeal
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 2014, Cardenas pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to eighteen years in prison followed by three years of probation. At the sente…
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On April 21, 2017, Wilfredo Cardenas filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with this Court seeking a belated appeal. In 2014, Cardenas accepted a plea' agreement in which he pled guilty to second degree murder. The trial court sentenced Cardenas to eighteen years in prison, followed by three years of probation.
In his petition seeking a belated appeal, Cardenas asserts that, at the conclusion of his sentencing hearing, he “requested defense counsel to file a Notice of Appeal in behalf of the trial court’s order denying Defendant’s motion to suppress.” Cardenas’s defense counsel did not file a notice of appeal.1 The record reflects that there is no trial court order denying a motion to suppress.
We ordered the State to file a response wherein the State advised the. Court that it contacted Cardenas’s defense counsel who maintained that Cardenas had not requested that he file a notice of appeal. The State incorporated an email exchange with defense counsel as an exhibit to its response. Accordingly, the State has raised a good faith basis to dispute Cardenas’s claim that he requested his counsel to appeal the trial court’s denial of his alleged motion to suppress.2 Parrish v. State, 201 So.3d 145, 145-46 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).
We appoint as á commissioner, Judge Monica Gordo (the trial judge below), to conduct an evidentiary hearing and determine the limited, disputed fact on which the instant petition is based: whether Cardenas instructed his defense counsel to file a notice of appeal. Id. at 146. In order to allow Judge Gordo the opportunity to conduct .an evidentiary hearing, make the required determination, and transmit a report of such determination to this Court, the proceedings of the instant petition shall be held in abeyance for sixty days from the date of this order.
Commissioner appointed; petition held in abeyance.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Parrish v. State, 201 So. 3d 145 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)
- Bendross v. State, 208 So. 3d 712 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)
- Cardenas v. State, 208 So. 3d 712 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)