Thompson v. State

Full title: CHUCK STEVEN THOMPSON, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District

Date published: Apr 10, 2002

Case No. 1D01-1166 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Apr. 10, 2002)

Opinion

Case No. 1D01-1166.

Opinion filed April 10, 2002.

An appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Michael R. Weatherby, Judge.

Chuck Steven Thompson, pro se.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

ERVIN, J.

Appellant, Chuck Thompson, was charged with first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Linda Bates. Thompson entered a negotiated guilty plea to second-degree murder, a lesser-included offense, and was sentenced to 27 years in prison. The trial court summarily denied his post-conviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Because competent, substantial evidence supports the lower court's rulings on all of appellant's claims except that alleging trial counsel affirmatively misadvised him that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to first-degree murder, we affirm as to them. Regarding the voluntary intoxication claim, we direct the trial court on remand to attach portions of the record that conclusively refute it, or to hold an evidentiary hearing.

Thompson's allegations that he was drunk at the time of the killing, which is borne out by deposition testimony that he attached to his motion, and that he would not have entered his plea if counsel had advised him that voluntary intoxication was a defense to first-degree murder, stated a prima facie case of ineffective assistance. See, e.g.,Odom v. State, 782 So.2d 510 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). The trial court held that Thompson's claim was meritless, because he pled guilty tosecond-degree murder, whereas voluntary intoxication is a defense tofirst — but not second-degree murder. The issue, however, is whether counsel's advice may have precluded Thompson from proceeding to trial on the first-degree murder charge, not whether voluntary intoxication is a defense to the reduced offense to which he pled guilty. Manslaughter is a Category 1 lesser-included offense of first-degree murder. If Thompson were able to persuade a jury that he was intoxicated at the time he killed the victim, he could be convicted of manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, which is significantly less than the 27-year sentence he received as a result of his negotiated plea of guilty to second-degree murder, which is a first-degree felony punishable by life.

AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, and REMANDED for further proceedings.

BARFIELD, J., CONCURS. BENTON, J., CONCURS AND DISSENTS WITH OPINION.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED.

BENTON, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I would affirm the order denying appellant's motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 in its entirety.