Alexander v. State

Full title: Ronald ALEXANDER, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: May 14, 2010

32 So. 3d 716 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2010)

Opinion

No. 4D10-932.

April 7, 2010. Rehearing Denied May 14, 2010.

Petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel to the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Peter Weinstein, Judge; L.T. Case No. 03-16861 CF10A.

Ronald Alexander, Raiford, pro se.

No response filed on behalf of respondent.

PER CURIAM.

The petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel is denied on the merits. Appellate counsel is not deficient for failing to raise claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel on direct appeal. Suarez v. Dugger, 527 So.2d 190, 193 (Fla. 1988); Blanco v. Wainwright, 507 So.2d 1377, 1384 (Fla. 1987). With extremely limited exceptions, the appropriate place to raise a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel is a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion, not on direct appeal. "Appellate counsel cannot be faulted for preserving the more effective remedy and eschewing the less effective." Blanco, 507 So.2d at 1384.

STEVENSON, MAY and DAMOORGIAN, JJ., concur.