Opinion ID: 1597851
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Habeas Corpus Claim One Jury Record

Text: In Bates' first habeas issue, he refashions one of his rule 3.850 ineffective assistance of trial counsel arguments as an ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim. [22] Bates argues that his appellate counsel was ineffective for not ensuring that this Court had before it a complete record, including a record of the jury excusals by the trial court that allegedly involved discrimination. Claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel are appropriately presented in a petition for writ of habeas corpus. See Freeman v. State, 761 So.2d 1055, 1069 (Fla.2000). Consistent with the Strickland standard, to grant habeas relief based on ineffectiveness of counsel, this Court must determine, first, whether the alleged omissions are of such magnitude as to constitute a serious error or substantial deficiency falling measurably outside the range of professionally acceptable performance and, second, whether the deficiency in performance compromised the appellate process to such a degree as to undermine confidence in the correctness of the result. Pope v. Wainwright, 496 So.2d 798, 800 (Fla.1986); see also Freeman, 761 So.2d at 1069; Thompson v. State, 759 So.2d 650, 660 (Fla.2000). In raising such a claim, [t]he defendant has the burden of alleging a specific, serious omission or overt act upon which the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel can be based. Freeman, 761 So.2d at 1069; see also Knight v. State, 394 So.2d 997, 1001 (Fla.1981). We deny relief on this claim. As we previously explained, Bates has not sufficiently described how he was prejudiced by the lack of a record of the jury hardship excusals by the trial judge. This Court has also previously rejected similar ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims. In Thompson v. State , the defendant alleged that this Court was not provided with an adequate record during the direct appeal because some pretrial hearings and bench conferences were not transcribed and included in the appellate record. Thompson, 759 So.2d at 660. Thompson alleged in his postconviction motion that his trial and appellate counsel were both ineffective for failing to ensure that this record existed. We rejected Thompson's habeas claim of appellate counsel's ineffectiveness because Thompson had not alleged specific appealable errors in the record. Id.; see also Ferguson v. Singletary, 632 So.2d 53, 58 (Fla.1993) (Had appellate counsel asserted error which went uncorrected because of the missing record, or had Ferguson pointed to errors in this petition, this claim may have had merit. However, Ferguson . . . points to no specific error which occurred during these time periods. (emphasis added)). While Bates has alleged generally that error occurred, as in Thompson, Bates has not pointed to specific error. Bates has not (1) explained what juror was dismissed; (2) explained why the dismissal was discriminatory; or (3) pointed to facts which support his contention. Accordingly, there is no basis for relief in this claim.