Kaheem Bennett v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 30, 2022
Docket2D22-0768
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
KAHEEM BENNETT,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D22-768
November 30, 2022
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit
Court for Polk County; Sharon M. Franklin, Judge.
Kaheem Bennett, pro se.
PER CURIAM.
Kaheem Bennett appeals from the final order summarily
denying his second amended motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule
of Criminal Procedure 3.850 in which he alleged a claim of
cumulative error under ground one and several ineffective
assistance of trial counsel claims under grounds one through five.
We affirm the portions of the postconviction court's order denying
grounds one, three, and four without further comment. We reverse
the denial of grounds two and five.
The postconviction court denied ground two as facially
insufficient. However, while the various parts of the claim were
split between the "Supporting Facts" and "Memorandum of Law"
sections of Mr. Bennett's second amended motion, his claim that
trial counsel misadvised him to reject the State's plea offer was
sufficiently pled. Mr. Bennett alleged how "trial counsel's
assessment of the chances of success at trial was unreasonable
under the facts and circumstances of the case." Morgan v. State,
991 So. 2d 835, 841 (Fla. 2008), receded from on other grounds by
Alcorn v. State, 121 So. 3d 419, 419 (Fla. 2013). He also alleged the
four Alcorn prejudice factors. See Alcorn, 121 So. 3d at 430.
Accordingly, we reverse the postconviction court's denial of ground
two. On remand, the court must either attach portions of the
record conclusively refuting the claim or hold an evidentiary
hearing.
In ground five, Mr. Bennett alleged that after Officer Branch
testified at trial that she could not recall whether the victim
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described where in the car a six-foot-tall occupant was sitting, trial
counsel should have refreshed her recollection with her report in
order to elicit favorable testimony regarding the victim's description
of the driver and shooter. The report was not made part of the
record on appeal, and so the postconviction court accepted Mr.
Bennett's allegations as true. However, the court denied the claim
on the basis that the testimony Mr. Bennett sought to elicit would
have been inadmissible.
As the court correctly noted, a statement providing a physical
description is not an "identification" within the meaning of section
90.801(2)(c), Florida Statutes (2018), and is therefore hearsay. See
Puryear v. State, 810 So. 2d 901, 903-06 (Fla. 2002). However, the
statement Mr. Bennett alleged trial counsel should have elicited was
likely admissible under the excited utterance exception pursuant to
section 90.803(2). See Hayward v. State, 24 So. 3d 17, 29-30 (Fla.
2009).
We note that Officer Branch's report actually refutes Mr.
Bennett's claim.1 But because the report was not made part of the
1 The State attached a copy of the report to its response to Mr.
Bennett's motion. Per the report, the victim told Officer Branch
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trial court record prior to the filing of the rule 3.850 motion, we
cannot affirm the postconviction court's denial on that basis. See
Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850(f)(4); Barnes v. State, 38 So. 3d 218, 219-20
(Fla. 2d DCA 2010). Accordingly, we must reverse the denial of
ground five. On remand, the court must either attach a portion of
the trial court record refuting the claim or hold an evidentiary
hearing.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
KELLY, LUCAS, and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
that one of the people in the car was a skinny black male who was
at least six feet tall. However, the victim did not state that this
person was the driver. The victim later told Officer Branch that the
driver was wearing a black shirt and black shorts. However, the
victim did not state it was the tall skinny black male who was
wearing the black shirt and black shorts.
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