Opinion ID: 1133717
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Inappropriate Summary Denial of Claims

Text: As stated earlier, the trial court summarily denied all but nine of the forty-two claims Ponticelli raised in his fifth amended motion for postconviction relief. On appeal, Ponticelli asserts the summary denial was inappropriate in regard to a number of allegations of trial court error, including the trial court's decision to (1) find him competent, (2) deny his motion to exclude Freeman's testimony, and (3) improperly instruct the jury on the aggravators and its role in the sentencing process. Because each of these claims is either procedurally barred or facially insufficient, we affirm the trial court's summary denial of them. To uphold the trial court's summary denial of claims raised in a 3.850 motion, the claims must be either facially invalid or conclusively refuted by the record. Further, where no evidentiary hearing is held below, we must accept the defendant's factual allegations to the extent they are not refuted by the record. Peede v. State, 748 So.2d 253, 257 (Fla.1999) (citation omitted) (citing Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850(d) and Lightbourne v. Dugger, 549 So.2d 1364, 1365 (Fla.1989)). Each of the claims at issue here meets this standard. Ponticelli's first and third claims, i.e., that he was incompetent to proceed and that the trial court issued improper jury instructions, were considered and denied by this Court on direct appeal. See Ponticelli, 593 So.2d at 487; Ponticelli, 618 So.2d. at 154-55. Therefore, these claims are procedurally barred. See Johnson v. State, 522 So.2d 356, 357 (Fla.1988) (finding claim raised in a 3.850 motion procedurally barred because the claim was raised and rejected on direct appeal). Furthermore, Ponticelli's second claim that the trial court erred in denying counsel's motion to exclude Freeman's testimony is also procedurally barred because it could and should have been raised on direct appeal. See Bruno v. State, 807 So.2d 55, 63 (Fla.2001) (A claim of trial court error generally can be raised on direct appeal but not in a rule 3.850 motion. . . .). Ponticelli's second claim is also facially insufficient since Ponticelli presented no evidence at the evidentiary hearing that Freeman was a state agent, and defense counsel testified at the evidentiary hearing that Ponticelli's refusal to testify in support of this motion at trial prevented counsel from presenting a potentially valid motion. We therefore affirm the trial court's summary denial of each of these claims.