CHRISTOPHER JAMES
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA
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A defendant may forfeit the right to appointed counsel in post-conviction proceedings through egregious behavior, recalcitrance, and antagonism toward court-appointed attorneys.
[1] A defendant may forfeit the right to appointed counsel in post-conviction proceedings through egregious behavior, recalcitrance, antagonism, and personal attacks on succe…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the trial court did not err in requiring Jackson to proceed without counsel. This is because his recalcitrance, antagonism and even personal attacks upon each of a lengthy series of court-appointed attorneys, all of whom were required to withdraw, rendered it obvious that he simply would not permit himself to be represented by anyone and amounted to a binding forfeiture or waiver of that right.”
Jackson v. State, 2 So. 3d 1036, 1037 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009), cited as controlling authority for the principle that egregious behavior constitutes forfeiture of counsel.
Christopher James appealed a decision from the Circuit Court for Monroe County denying him appointed counsel in a post-conviction relief proceeding. T…
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Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed May 21, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D24-1202 Lower Tribunal No. 04-CF-480-A-K ________________
Christopher James, Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida, Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Timothy J. Koenig, Judge.
Christopher James, in proper person.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Daniel Colmenares, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Before LOGUE, C.J., and SCALES and BOKOR, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
2
Affirmed. Graham v. State, 372 So. 2d 1363, 1366 (Fla. 1979) (“There is no absolute duty to appoint counsel for an indigent defendant in a postconviction relief proceeding unless the application on its face reflects a colorable or justiciable issue or a meritorious grievance.”); Bowden v. State, 150 So. 3d 264, 266 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (“We find that a defendant may forfeit his right to counsel by egregious behavior.”); Jackson v. State, 2 So. 3d 1036, 1037 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009) (“[T]he trial court did not err in requiring Jackson to proceed without counsel. This is because his recalcitrance, antagonism and even personal attacks upon each of a lengthy series of court-appointed attorneys, all of whom were required to withdraw, rendered it obvious that he simply would not permit himself to be represented by anyone and amounted to a binding forfeiture or waiver of that right.”).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- The Petition of Andrew A. Graham v. State, 372 So. 2d 1363 (Fla. 1979)
- Bowden v. State, 150 So. 3d 264 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)