Case Name: Willie WATSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2008-02-19
Citations: 975 So. 2d 572
Docket Number: No. 1D07-5090
Parties: Willie WATSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: BARFIELD and HAWKES, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 975
Pages: 572–575

Head Matter:
Willie WATSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 1D07-5090.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Feb. 19, 2008.
Willie Watson, pro se, for Appellant.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Phillip W. Edwards, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Willie Watson appeals a circuit court order summarily denying his motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Additionally, he appeals from a circuit court order denying his amended motion to correct his sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). We affirm without comment the circuit court's denial of these motions, finding each of Watson's claims barred or meritless.
We write only to address the applicability of Spera v. State, 971 So.2d 754, 761-762 (Fla.2007), which was issued after Watson submitted his brief for this appeal. In essence, Spera states that when a defendant's motion for postconviction relief is summarily denied for failure to meet pleading requirements, the trial court must give the defendant the opportunity to amend the motion. Id. at 761. Here, several of the claims in Watson's rule 3.850 motion were found facially insufficient. However, since Spera had yet to be issued, the trial court did not allow Watson to amend his motion. Watson then appealed, although his brief does not address whether he should have been allowed to amend his motion. He has not filed any additional authority mentioning Spera or its findings.
The question before this Court, then, is whether we should consider Spera in cases where a defendant has appealed from a summary denial of a postconviction motion, but failed to address Spera or its holding in the documents submitted for appeal. We find, in such specific circumstances, that Spera should not be considered.
Traditionally, when a defendant submits a brief in an appeal from a summary denial of a postconviction motion, this Court may review only those arguments raised and fully addressed in the brief. See Cooper v. State, 856 So.2d 969, 977 n. 7 (Fla.2003) (finding "speculative, unsupported" arguments raised in a brief addressing a summary denial to be improper); Marshall v. State, 854 So.2d 1235, 1252 (Fla.2003) (noting issues raised in an appellate brief addressing a summary denial must be supported by "definitive arguments"). We find the same logic should be applied to the application of Spera. When a defendant appeals from a summary denial of his postconviction motion, he must address the applicability of Spera's holding in his appellate brief or supplemental authority to preserve such arguments for review. If the defendant fails to do so, he waives any claim he may have had concerning Spera.
Here, although Watson's appellate brief was submitted before Spera was issued, he has not submitted additional authority mentioning its application to his case. Therefore, this Court is not required to consider whether it applies. The circuit court's orders are thereby AFFIRMED.
BARFIELD and HAWKES, JJ., concur.
WOLF, J., concurs with opinion.
. However, if a defendant does not file a brief when appealing the denial of his postconviction motion, this Court is still required to investigate all possible means of relief, including the potential application of Spera. See Anderson v. State, 840 So.2d 1108, 1109 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2003).