Hojan v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and related crimes. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for the murders. Defendant later filed a motion to vacate his conviction and sentence. The circuit court treated Defendant’s filing as an initial motion pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and summarily denied all of his claims for postconviction relief. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion and, in addition, petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the circuit court’s summary denial of relief, holding that while Defendant’s claims of trial court error were insufficiently pleaded and without merit, it was necessary to address the unusual procedure employed for jury selection in Defendant’s trial; and (2) denied the petition for writ of habeas corpus, holding that appellate counsel was not ineffective during Defendant’s direct appeal.
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