Godwin v. State
The Fourth DCA affirmed denial of a rule 3.850 motion alleging counsel failed to advise that the defendant had a complete defense to being charged under the wrong subsection of the habitual-traffic-offender statute, holding he failed to show prejudice because the State could have amended the information to charge the correct subsection with the same proof and penalty. However, the court reversed the trial court's order directing the clerk to amend the judgment and sentence to reflect a different, uncharged offense, holding that doing so violated due process since the information was never actually amended.
Key facts
- Defendant Godwin pleaded guilty to being a habitual traffic offender but alleged on postconviction appeal that counsel failed to advise him of a complete defense related to being charged under the wrong statutory subsection.
- The trial court denied the postconviction motion and subsequently ordered the clerk to amend the judgment and sentence to reflect a different, uncharged offense apparently to correct the charging error.
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Why it matters
This decision is useful to postconviction practitioners because it reinforces that prejudice analysis under Grosvenor/Hill requires courts to evaluate the actual viability of the forgone defense, including whether the… — full analysis with a trial
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