DEMESHIO WARD v. STATE OF FLORIDA
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA DEMESHIO WARD, NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED Appellant, v. CASE NO. 1D03-1731 STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed December 18, 2003. An appeal from Circuit Court of Duval County. Lance M. Day, Judge. Demeshio Ward, Pro Se. Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. The appellant challenges the summary denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. Among other claims, the appellant alleged that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to obtain an expert for fingerprint analysis and present such evidence at trial, so as to counter the state s fingerprint evidence. This claim was made with the specificity required under Gaskin v. State, 737 So. 2d 509 (Fla. 1999), and is not precluded by the appellant s acquiescence in counsel s actions at trial. See Evans v. State, 737 So. 2d 1167 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). The claim is legally sufficient as indicated in Baker v. State, 826 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002), and should not have been denied without proper record attachments or an evidentiary hearing. The appealed order is therefore reversed as to the denial of this claim, and affirmed as to the denial of the remaining claims. BARFIELD, ALLEN and DAVIS, JJ., CONCUR. 2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
