Opinion ID: 2649574
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pro Se State Petition for Habeas Corpus

Text: In 2002, Pace filed a pro se “Petition for Belated Appeal Ineffective Assistance of Counsel” in the Florida Second District Court of Appeals, which was construed as a habeas petition. Pace’s petition claimed that the sentencing court failed to put the witnesses under oath and that Pace’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the trial court’s reliance on unsworn statements to support the upward departure sentence. The state responded that Pace’s trial counsel was not ineffective because he raised the issue of Massa’s unsworn testimony on appeal, and that in any event, Pace was not prejudiced by the failure to place Massa under oath. Specifically, the state argued that “[h]ad the witness been sworn, she still would have given the same testimony and had trial counsel timely objected, the judge would merely have sworn the witness.” 12 Case: 12-15414 Date Filed: 01/16/2014 Page: 13 of 18 The Florida Second District Court of Appeals denied Pace’s habeas petition and later denied Pace’s motion for rehearing and rehearing en banc.