History
  • No items yet
midpage
Ledbetter v. State
681 So. 2d 740
Fla. Dist. Ct. App.
1996
Check Treatment
BLUE, Acting Chief Judge.

Willie L. Ledbetter timely appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm the denial of all his grounds except ground five. On that ground only, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

In ground five, Ledbetter alleges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to investigate, interview, and depose a specified witness. The motion includes details of the witness’s alleged testimony which, if true, might exculpate Ledbetter. Therefore, the motion is facially sufficient. See Sorgman v. State, 549 So.2d 686 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989).

Counsel’s failure to properly investigate a defense witness is properly raised by a post-conviction relief motion. See Young v. State, 511 So.2d 735 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). The order denying the motion fails to attach .any *741portion of the record or file that reflates this allegation. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with instructions to reconsider this ground and to attach those portions of the file and record which conclusively show that Ledbetter is not entitled to relief, or, alternatively, to grant an evidentiary hearing.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions.

FULMER and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.

Case Details

Case Name: Ledbetter v. State
Court Name: District Court of Appeal of Florida
Date Published: May 31, 1996
Citation: 681 So. 2d 740
Docket Number: No. 96-01445
Court Abbreviation: Fla. Dist. Ct. App.
AI-generated responses must be verified and are not legal advice.
Your Notebook is empty. To add cases, bookmark them from your search, or select Add Cases to extract citations from a PDF or a block of text.