Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

My son has a history and was mentally ill DURING his criminal trial and was receiving psychotropic medication in jail. He was sentenced to 20 years. His attorney REFUSE to mention this in appeal briefs saying that this will make a good argument for 3.85 relief instead !!.I have all his medical records as proof. I know that this is ineffective assistance of counsel and the 1st attorney should have had up to 3 psychiatric evaluations and a competency done before taking him to court. Only the competency was done and he was found competent.My questions are 1. DONT YOU THINK HIS MENTAL ILLNESS SHOULD BE MENTIONED IN THIS DIRECT APPEAL AND IF NOT WHY NOT ? 2. How can I introduce this mental argument and medical records to the Appeal Court? Can I file a Motion To .??? or should I try to get the reply brief amended ? The Attorney has refused to withdraw from case and to even do an Oral Argument but I am determined !!! I dont think he will win his appeal based on current arguments and this mental illness is so strong...it should be a slam dunk ! because the law says no charge must be brought against you when you are mentally ill...I cant fathom why this attorney refused to mention it.


Asked on 3/29/10, 1:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Epifanio Craig Epifanio, P.A.

No attorney on here wants to second guess another attorney's decision. One POSSIBLE reason is that often an appellate attorney will wait to raise ineffective assistance of counsel after the direct appeal since there is time to bring that up on later appeals. There are a lot of loopholes and pitfalls when it comes to appeals so I suggest you let the attorney know your concerns before you decide to do anything. Other than that, your only option is to hire new counsel.

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Answered on 4/04/10, 12:09 pm


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