Opinion ID: 1685081
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: access to law library

Text: Next, Muhammad alleges that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise a claim based on the facts surrounding limits on Muhammad's access to the prison law library. We disagree. The facts associated with this case necessarily limited Muhammad's options for defense because there was no issue of identity. Moreover, Muhammad had chosen the additional self-imposed limitation of waiving any reliance on an insanity defense and electing to proceed pro se. [17] Before trial, Muhammad filed a Motion to Use Law Library arguing that he should be allowed to physically go and use the law library. At a hearing on the motion, Muhammad explained that he had requested to use the law library at FSP from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., but the prison superintendent had not replied to his request. For the record, the trial court asked Muhammad if he was denied all access to the FSP law library, and Muhammad explained that he could request materials from the law library, but he could not go to the law library in person. At the hearing, the court asked Muhammad what legal materials he had been denied, and Muhammad replied that he had requested a case from the Atlantic Reporter, but the library did not have the Atlantic Reporter. Muhammad did not refer to any other requested material and said that the law library should have to get a copy of the material in question because of his incarcerated status. Ultimately, Muhammad's motion was denied. Clearly, FSP was under no obligation to grant Muhammad's request for physical access to the law library in the middle of the night. [18] However, we do not need to reach whether FSP's policy provided adequate access to the law library, because Muhammad has failed to show any prejudice from the policy. Muhammad was given access to the legal materials in the library by request. The only legal material that Muhammad could identify that was not given to him under FSP's policy was a copy of an unspecified case in the Atlantic Reporter, which was unlikely to have law relevant to Florida and would not have assisted Muhammad in preparing his defense. Therefore, Muhammad's appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise this claim on appeal.