History
  • No items yet
midpage
Leeto L. Allen v. State of Florida
212 So. 3d 1112
| Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 2017
|
Check Treatment
Case Information

*1 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA LEETO L. ALLEN, NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO

FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND Appellant, DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED v. CASE NO. 1D15-5476 STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

_____________________________/

Opinion filed March 15, 2017.

An appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County.

Waddell A. Wallace, III, Judge.

Leeto L. Allen, pro se, Appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Heather Flanagan Ross, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Leeto L. Allen appeals from the final order of the lower court denying his motions for postconviction relief. Those motions and Allen’s petition for writ of habeas corpus—which the lower court converted to a motion for postconviction relief—all raised the same arguments: Allen’s convictions and sentences should be *2 vacated because the presiding trial court judge did not conduct an evidentiary hearing on his competency following the issuance of an October 5, 2010, competency evaluation finding him competent to proceed to trial, and did not enter an order expressly finding him competent to proceed. Important to our assessment of Allen’s contentions, Allen did not file a direct appeal.

The lower court was correct in denying Allen relief. “The competency issue is procedurally barred because it should have been raised on direct appeal.” Patton v. State, 784 So. 2d 380, 393 (Fla. 2000) (citing Johnston v. Dugger, 583 So. 2d 657, 659 (Fla. 1991)); accord Thompson v. State, 88 So. 3d 312, 317 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) (a defendant’s claim that the trial court “erred in failing to follow procedures to ensure competency can and must be raised on direct appeal only ”) (emphasis in original) (citing Nelson v. State, 43 So. 3d 20, 33 (Fla. 2002)), rev. denied, 107 So. 3d 407 (Fla. 2012). Likewise, a defendant’s substantive claim that he or she has a due process right not to be proceeded against while incompetent can be raised on direct appeal and is procedurally barred from being raised in a postconviction motion. Carroll v. State, 815 So. 2d 601, 609-10 (Fla. 2002); Patton, 784 So. 2d at 393.

Allen did not raise his claim on direct appeal. Therefore, Allen is procedurally barred from raising it in a postconviction motion.

AFFIRMED.

ROBERTS, C.J., JAY, and WINSOR, JJ., CONCUR.

Case Details

Case Name: Leeto L. Allen v. State of Florida
Court Name: District Court of Appeal of Florida
Date Published: Mar 15, 2017
Citation: 212 So. 3d 1112
Docket Number: CASE NO. 1D15-5476
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.