Antonio James Jefferson v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledApril 15, 2020
Docket2D19-3012
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
ANTONIO JAMES JEFFERSON, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D19-3012
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
___________________________________)
Opinion filed April 15, 2020.
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P.
9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for
Highlands County; Peter F. Estrada, Judge.
Antonio James Jefferson, Appellant, pro se.
NORTHCUTT, Judge.
Antonio James Jefferson timely appeals the dismissal of his "motion for
leave to file the attached belated amended and/or supplemental postconviction relief
claims" under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We reverse.
The mandate in Jefferson's direct appeal of his conviction and sentence
was issued on March 2, 2016. Jefferson filed his original rule 3.850 motion on
September 22, 2016. The postconviction court denied some of Jefferson's claims by
order filed on November 21, 2016, and it denied the remainder of the claims after an
evidentiary hearing by order filed on November 8, 2017.
On May 23, 2019, Jefferson filed the motion at issue in this appeal,
asserting that he had recently learned that his amended and supplemental claims were
never addressed by the postconviction court. The new claims included an amended
ground eight and new grounds nine through sixteen. The prison date stamp reflects
that the amended motion was filed on September 27, 2016. See Haag v. State, 591 So.
2d 614, 617 (Fla. 1992) (holding that the mailbox rule, under which a document "filed by
a pro se inmate is deemed filed at the moment in time when the inmate loses control
over the document by entrusting its further delivery or processing to agents of the state,"
such as by placing the document in the hands of prison officials, "exists as a matter of
Florida law").
The postconviction court dismissed Jefferson's May 2019 motion under
rule 3.850(h), finding that it was untimely and successive. But the prison date stamp of
September 27, 2016, demonstrates that Jefferson's amended and supplemental claims
were filed before the postconviction court ruled on his original motion. Thus, it was error
to hold that Jefferson's motion was untimely and successive, and the court should have
addressed his amended and supplemental claims. See Norris v. State, 832 So. 2d 969,
970 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) ("A defendant may amend a rule 3.850 motion if the trial court
has not yet ruled on the motion and the amendment is filed within the two-year time
limit."). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
KELLY and ATKINSON, JJ., Concur.
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