Dylan Harris v. State, 204 So. 3d 973

Dylan Harris filed a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to inform him of a five‑year plea offer.
Harris claimed he overheard defense counsel and the prosecutor discussing why he never accepted a five‑year offer, and alleged he would have accepted it, the State would not have withdrawn it, and the court would have approved it, yielding a lighter sentence. (Alcorn framework)
The State responded in writing denying any five‑year offer had been made but did not cite or attach portions of the record proving that denial.
The post‑conviction court summarily denied the claim, relying on the State’s response. Harris appealed the summary denial.
The Fifth District reviewed de novo whether the claim was facially insufficient or conclusively refuted by the record and found the State’s unreferenced denial inadequate.
The court affirmed the denial in all other respects, but reversed as to claim two and remanded for an evidentiary hearing or for the post‑conviction court to attach record portions that conclusively refute the claim.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance for failing to convey a five‑year plea offer	Harris: counsel failed to inform him of a five‑year offer he overheard discussed; he would have accepted and received a lesser sentence	State: no five‑year offer was ever made (denial in response)	Reversed summary denial — claim sufficiently pled and not conclusively refuted; remand for evidentiary hearing or record attachments
Proper basis for summary denial of 3.850 motion	Harris: State must show record conclusively refutes claim before summary denial	State/Post‑conviction court: relied on State’s written denial without record citation	Court: summary denial improper where State’s response does not cite record; attachments or hearing required

Alcorn v. State, 121 So. 3d 419 (Fla. 2013) (standards for plea‑offer ineffective assistance claims)
McLin v. State, 827 So. 2d 948 (Fla. 2002) (de novo review of summary denials)
Peede v. State, 748 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 1999) (claims must be facially invalid or conclusively refuted by the record to uphold summary denial)
Freeman v. State, 761 So. 2d 1055 (Fla. 2000) (same principle regarding summary denial)
Flores v. State, 662 So. 2d 1350 (Fla. 1995) (documents prepared by State are not substitutes for an evidentiary hearing)
Smalls v. State, 18 So. 3d 606 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (court erred relying on nonrecord attachments to deny postconviction relief)
Warren v. State, 149 So. 3d 738 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014) (reverse and remand where attachments did not conclusively refute claim)