Opinion ID: 1920952
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Summary Denial of Postconviction Claims

Text: Under this claim, Doorbal contends that the trial court erroneously denied all but one of his claims without an evidentiary hearing. However, we conclude that this issue is insufficiently pled. This Court has held that vague and conclusory allegations on appeal are insufficient to warrant relief. For example, in Smith v. State, 931 So.2d 790, 800 (Fla.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 587, 166 L.Ed.2d 436 (2006), the defendant contended in his brief that during the evidentiary hearing, the trial court improperly precluded him from presenting some evidence on some of his Brady and Giglio claims. This Court rejected the claim for two reasons, one of which was that the contention was vague and conclusory. See id. We noted that in the initial brief, the defendant did not identify any evidence that was improperly excluded, nor did he specify any claim that the court wrongfully excluded from the evidentiary hearing. See id. Further, this Court has stated that the purpose of an appellate brief is to present arguments in support of the points on appeal. See Randolph v. State, 853 So.2d 1051, 1063 n. 12 (Fla.2003). Therefore, to merely refer to arguments presented during the postconviction proceedings without further elucidation is not sufficient to preserve issues, and these claims are deemed to have been waived. See id. With regard to this issue, the argument by Doorbal is entirely conclusory. Doorbal provides a timeline of the case and details the standard to be applied for review of the summary denial of claims, but the remainder of his argument with regard to this claim consists of the following: Doorbal's Motion to Vacate Judgments of Convictions and Sentences, trial court error, prosecutorial misconduct and effective assistance of counsel claims in Doorbal's Rule 3 were raised in his Motion to address a pattern of deficient conduct demonstrated by counsel and because this Court was forced to apply a fundamental error analysis when reviewing unpreserved claims raised on Doorbal's direct appeal. In this case, the trial Court summarily denied Doorbal's claims without an evidentiary hearing and failed to provide this Court with an Order stating its rationale or attaching to its Order those specific parts of the record that refute each claim presented in the motion. Doorbal neither states the substance of any of the claims that were summarily denied, nor provides an explanation why summary denial was inappropriate or what factual determination was required on each claim so as to necessitate an evidentiary hearing. We conclude that this general, conclusory argument is insufficient to preserve the issues raised in the 3.851 motion, and, therefore, this claim is waived. See Randolph, 853 So.2d at 1063 n. 12. In light of this conclusion, we are compelled to remind attorneys who represent capital defendants of the importance of compliance with minimal pleading requirements to allege a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In Downs v. State, 453 So.2d 1102, 1104-05 (Fla.1984), this Court explained that a defendant who seeks to present such a claim must (1) identify a specific omission or overt act upon which the claim is based, (2) demonstrate that the omission or act was a substantial deficiency which fell measurably below that of competent counsel, and (3) demonstrate that the deficiency probably affected the outcome of the proceedings. If a capital defendant fails to plead in accordance with these criteria, the claim will not meet the threshold for facial sufficiency. As a result, claims may not receive an evidentiary hearing or be considered by the trial court on the merits. Various claims raised by Doorbal in this 3.851 proceeding were plagued by a lack of sufficiency in that Doorbal failed to allege a specific omission or overt act upon which his claim of ineffective assistance was based. For example, in claim 8(a), Doorbal contended that the death of the father of trial counsel Anthony Natale immediately prior to trial and the illness of his mother interfered with his representation of Doorbal and caused him to render ineffective assistance. During the Huff hearing, the trial court refused to grant an evidentiary hearing on claim 8(a) because Doorbal had not specified actions which counsel Natale failed to take during the trial: COURT: I don't think I need an evidentiary basis for [claim 8(a)]. I think that an attorney can for whatever reason fail to preserve error, and that is the problem, and an attorney could also have his father die and do a completely effective trial the next day and not have error at all. So I don't think that [8(a)] is really the key point. COUNSEL: What did your Honor just say? An attorney's father could die and you could COURT: And he could proceed to trial the next day and do a completely effective job. COUNSEL: Did you decide a case where that happened? COURT: No, I am not citing a case. What I am saying is that it is not a factual issue of whether the attorney was so disturbed at the death of his father or the attorney and their father had a very lousy relationship and he really didn't feel displaced that his father had passed away, that is not the factual issue. The factual issue is did the attorney provide sub-par representation. And if he did, he did. And if he didn't, he didn't. Regardless of whether his father had passed away or his mother had passed away. . . . I don't see it. Later in the hearing, the trial court elaborated that the only omissions alleged by Doorbal were the failure of counsel Natale to object to trial court error and prosecutorial misconduct, but that these claims of error had been raised on direct appeal, and this Court determined that these omissions did not rise to the level of reversible error. See Doorbal, 837 So.2d at 954-59. Therefore, the trial court concluded that these omissions could not serve as a basis for a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. During oral argument before this Court, counsel for Doorbal asserted for the first time that counsel Natale was ineffective because, due to the poor health and ultimate death of his father, he was not present at most of the witness depositions. When asked how many depositions counsel Natale failed to attend, postconviction counsel could not provide the number. Instead, counsel responded that she would have obtained that information had Doorbal been granted an evidentiary hearing on this claim. As the foregoing demonstrates, the rule 3.851 proceedings in the trial court, and on appeal before this Court, have been plagued by generality and lack of specificity. Counsel for Doorbal appears to operate under the incorrect assumption that conclusory, nonspecific allegations are sufficient to obtain an evidentiary hearing on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, and specific facts and arguments need not be disclosed or presented until the evidentiary hearing. We strongly reiterate to those who represent capital defendants in postconviction proceedings that claims of ineffective assistance of counsel must comply with the pleading requirements enunciated by this Court in Downs at the time that the initial rule 3.851 motion is filed to be legally sufficient under the rule.