Paul Branch v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledDecember 14, 2020
Docket1D20-0655
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D20-655
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PAUL BRANCH,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County.
James C. Hankinson, Judge.
December 14, 2020
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Paul Branch, appeals the denial of his motion for
postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure
3.850. The motion alleged three grounds for relief, two claiming
ineffective assistance of counsel and the third claiming the
revocation of his probation was improper because his original
sentence violated the statutory maximum. We write only to
address Appellant’s claim that the trial court erred by failing to
address ground three of his motion.
The postconviction court denied Appellant’s motion for
postconviction relief after holding an evidentiary hearing on the
issues. Although the court did not explain its denial of ground
three as it did for the first two ineffective assistance claims, the
court’s denial of the entire motion operated to deny ground three.
In his motion, Appellant relied on Jackson v. State, 654 So. 2d
234 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), to assert that the revocation of his
probation was improper and asked the court to vacate the sentence
imposed for the violation. Appellant’s claim is without legal merit
because his probation was properly revoked within the legal term
of his sentence. See Taylor v. State, 702 So. 2d 487, 488 (Fla. 1997)
(approving the Fourth District’s en banc opinion in Collins v. State,
697 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), receding from Jackson). The
postconviction court’s denial of ground three is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
LEWIS, 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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Paul Branch, pro se, Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Julian E. Markham,
Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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