Eddie Jermain Williams v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledApril 14, 2021
Docket1D20-1655
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D20-1655
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EDDIE JERMAIN WILLIAMS,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County.
W. Joel Boles, Judge.
April 14, 2021
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Eddie Williams, appeals the denial of his
postconviction claim of ineffective assistance of counsel under
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Mr. Williams claims his
counsel was ineffective in making his motion for judgment of
acquittal and that the trial court should have held an evidentiary
hearing on this claim. Ineffective assistance of counsel claims are
analyzed under the two-prong test of Strickland v. Washington,
466 U.S. 668 (1984)—deficient performance and resulting
prejudice—and present mixed questions of law and fact. Bradley
v. State, 33 So. 3d 664, 672 (Fla. 2010).
Mr. Williams’s trial counsel was not deficient in making the
motion for judgment of acquittal. Counsel argued that the State
failed to prove an essential element of robbery. Curiously, this is
the same argument Appellant now claims should have been made.
The record conclusively demonstrates that Appellant was not
entitled to postconviction relief. See Hutchinson v. State, 17 So. 3d
696, 700 (Fla. 2009). The trial court did not err in denying this
postconviction claim without first conducting an evidentiary
hearing.
AFFIRMED.
BILBREY, NORDBY, and LONG, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Eddie Jermain Williams, pro se, Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Steven Edward Woods,
Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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