Opinion ID: 77042
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant's 3.850 Motion

Text: 260 In 1990, the defendant filed a motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. 11 In 1996, the defendant filed a second amended 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief. In his 171-page motion, the defendant raised the following claims regarding his convictions: (1) the lack of funding prohibited defense counsel from fully investigating and preparing his post-conviction motion, in violation of the Constitution; (2) the state withheld certain files and records pertaining to the defendant's case, namely taped statements by numerous witnesses; (3) the state committed Brady and Giglio violations; (4) ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, both in the appeal from the motion to suppress as well as in his state direct appeal, namely that the record on appeal was incomplete in both instances; (5) the trial court's statement that he would have to lock up the jurors if they did not reach a verdict by the end of the day violated the defendant's constitutional rights (hereinafter referred to as the lock-up statement); 12 (6) ineffective assistance of trial counsel for: (a) failing to pursue a defense centered around Jon LeCroy as the murderer; (b) failing to pursue a defense centered around self-defense; (c) failing to litigate the issue concerning the districting procedure in Palm Beach County; (d) improperly waiving jury instructions regarding affirmative defenses; and (e) not pursuing Brady and Giglio violations and failing to obtain various documents that could have been used at trial; 13 (7) the trial court's exclusion of Jon LeCroy's allegedly inculpatory statements violated the Constitution; (8) the state engaged in various instances of prosecutorial misconduct; 14 (9) the state's introduction of shocking and gruesome photographs violated the Constitution and trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to them; (10) the defendant's constitutional rights were violated by Florida's Rules of Professional Conduct that prevent lawyers, or their associates, from speaking with jurors after a trial; (11) the trial court erroneously instructed the jury regarding expert testimony; and (12) the cumulative procedural and substantive errors during the defendant's trial violated the Constitution.