Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2005

Wells v. State

Wells v. State
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided April 22, 2005 · Griffin, Monaco, Thompson
899 So. 2d 506; 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 5567; 2005 WL 925615 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Wells v. State

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

Christopher Wells petitions this court for a writ of habeas corpus to file a belated motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. He alleges that after he was convicted and sentenced in 1975, he hired an attorney to timely file such a motion, but it was never filed. We deny the petition without prejudice for Wells to petition the trial court, the proper forum, for a writ of habeas corpus. See Steele v. Kehoe, 747 So.2d 931, 934 (Fla. 1999). Upon receiving the petition, the trial court shall conduct a hearing to determine whether trial counsel undertook to file a 3.850 motion, but failed to do so in a timely manner. If Wells prevails at the hearing, he may then file a belated 3.850 motion. Steele at 934.

DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

GRIFFIN, THOMPSON and MONACO, JJ., concur.

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