RULE 3.987. MOTION FOR POSTCONVICTION RELIEF

MODEL FORM FOR USE IN MOTIONS FOR
POSTCONVICTION RELIEF PURSUANT TO
FLORIDA RULE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 3.850

In the Circuit Court of the
Judicial Circuit,
in and for
County, Florida


State of Florida, )
)
v. ) Criminal Division
)
) Case No.:
(your name) ) (the original case
number)
)
)

MOTION FOR POSTCONVICTION RELIEF
Instructions — Read Carefully

(1) This motion must be typewritten or hand-written in
legible printed lettering, in blue or black ink, double-spaced, with
margins no less than 1 inch on white 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. No
motion, including any memorandum of law, shall exceed 50 pages
without leave of the court upon a showing of good cause. Any false
statement of a material fact may serve as the basis for prosecution
and conviction for perjury. All questions must be answered
concisely in the proper space on the form.

(2) Additional pages are not permitted except with respect to
the facts that you rely upon to support your grounds for relief. No
citation of authorities need be furnished. If briefs or arguments are
submitted in support of your legal claims (as opposed to your
factual claims), they should be submitted in the form of a separate
memorandum of law. This memorandum should have the same
caption as this motion.

(3) No filing fee is required when submitting a motion for
postconviction relief.

(4) Only the judgment of one case may be challenged in a
single motion for postconviction relief. If you seek to challenge
judgments entered in different cases, or different courts, you must
file separate motions as to each such case. The single exception to
this is if you are challenging the judgments in the different cases
that were consolidated for trial. In this event, show each case
number involved in the caption.

(5) Your attention is directed to the fact that you must
include all grounds for relief, and all facts that support such
grounds, in the motion you file seeking relief from any judgment of
conviction.

(6) Claims of newly discovered evidence must be supported
by affidavits attached to your motion. If your newly discovered
evidence claim is based on recanted trial testimony or a newly
discovered witness, the attached affidavit must be from that
witness. For all other newly discovered evidence claims, the
attached affidavit must be from any person whose testimony is
necessary to factually support your claim for relief. If the required
affidavit is not attached to your motion, you must provide an
explanation why the required affidavit could not be obtained.

(7) Your motion must include an oath, under penalties of
perjury, that contains the following:

(a) that you have read the motion or that it has been
read to you;

(b) that you understand the contents of the motion;
and
(c) that all of the facts stated in the motion are true
and correct.

(8) You must also certify, under the threat of sanctions, the
following:

(a) that the motion is being filed in good faith and with
a reasonable belief that it is timely filed;

(b) that the motion has potential merit;

(c) that this motion does not duplicate previous
motions that have been disposed of by the court; and

(d) that you understand English, or if you cannot
understand English, that you have had the motion translated
completely into a language that you do understand, along with the
name and address of the person who translated the motion and a
certification from that person that he or she provided you with an
accurate and complete translation.

(9) When the motion is fully completed, the original must be
mailed to the clerk of the court whose address is (county
where sentence was imposed) County Courthouse, (address
of clerk), or filed through the Florida Courts E-filing Portal, as
stated in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.420.

MOTION

1. Name and location of the court that entered the judgment of
conviction under attack:




2. Date of judgment of conviction:

3. Length of sentence:
4. Nature of offense(s) involved (all counts):




5. What was your plea? (check only one)


(a) Not guilty


(b) Guilty


(c) Nolo contendere


(d) Not guilty by reason of insanity

If you entered one plea to one count and a different plea to another
count, give details:




6. Kind of trial: (check only one)

(a) Jury

(b) Judge only without jury

7. Did you testify at the trial or at any pretrial hearing?
Yes No

If yes, list each such occasion:



8. Did you appeal from the judgment of conviction?

Yes No

9. If you did appeal, answer the following:

(a) Name of court:

(b) Result:

(c) Date of result:

(d) Citation (if known):

10. Other than a direct appeal from the judgment of conviction
and sentence, have you previously filed any petitions, applications,
motions, etc., with respect to this judgment in this court?

Yes No

11. If your answer to number 10 was “yes,” give the following
information (applies only to proceedings in this court):

(a) (1) Nature of the proceeding:



(2) Grounds raised:




(3) Did you receive an evidentiary hearing on your
petition, application, motion, etc.?
Yes No

(4) Result:

(5) Date of result:

(b) As to any second petition, application, motion, etc., give
the same information:

(1) Nature of the proceeding:



(2) Grounds raised:




(3) Did you receive an evidentiary hearing on your
petition, application, motion, etc.?

Yes No

(4) Result:

(5) Date of result:

12. Other than a direct appeal from the judgment of conviction
and sentence, have you previously filed any petitions, applications,
motions, etc., with respect to this judgment in any other court?

Yes No

13. If your answer to number 12 was “yes,” give the following
information:

(a) (1) Name of court:

(2) Nature of the proceeding:
(3) Grounds raised:




(4) Did you receive an evidentiary hearing on your
petition, application, motion, etc.?

Yes No

(5) Result:

(6) Date of result:

(b) As to any second petition, application, motion, etc., give
the same information:

(1) Name of court:

(2) Nature of the proceeding:




(3) Grounds raised:




(4) Did you receive an evidentiary hearing on your
petition, application, motion, etc.?

Yes No
(5) Result:

(6) Date of result:

(c) As to any third petition, application, motion, etc., give the
same information:

(1) Name of court:

(2) Nature of the proceeding:




(3) Grounds raised:




(4) Did you receive an evidentiary hearing on your
petition, application, motion, etc.?

Yes No

(5) Result:

(6) Date of result:

14. State concisely every ground on which you claim that the
judgment or sentence is unlawful. Summarize briefly the facts
supporting each ground. If necessary, you may attach pages stating
additional grounds and the facts supporting them.

For your information, the following is a list of the most frequently
raised grounds for postconviction relief. Each statement preceded
by a letter constitutes a separate ground for possible relief. You may
raise any grounds that you may have other than those listed.
However, you should raise in this motion all available grounds
(relating to this conviction) on which you base your allegations that
your conviction or sentence is unlawful.

DO NOT CHECK ANY OF THESE LISTED GROUNDS. If you select
one or more of these grounds for relief, you must allege facts. The
motion will not be accepted by the court if you merely check (a)
through (i).

(a) Conviction obtained by plea of guilty or nolo contendere
that was unlawfully induced or not made voluntarily with
understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of
the plea.

(b) Conviction obtained by the unconstitutional failure of the
prosecution to disclose to the defendant evidence favorable to the
defendant.

(c) Conviction obtained by a violation of the protection
against double jeopardy.

(d) Denial of effective assistance of counsel.

(e) Denial of right of appeal.

(f) Lack of jurisdiction of the court to enter the judgment or
impose sentence (such as an unconstitutional statute).

(g) Sentence in excess of the maximum authorized by law.

(h) Newly discovered evidence.

(i) Changes in the law that would be retroactive.

A. Ground 1:



Supporting FACTS (tell your story briefly without citing cases
or law):
B. Ground 2:



Supporting FACTS (tell your story briefly without citing cases
or law):




C. Ground 3:



Supporting FACTS (tell your story briefly without citing cases
or law):
D. Ground 4:



Supporting FACTS (tell your story briefly without citing cases
or law):




15. If any of the grounds listed in 14 A, B, C, and D were not
previously presented on your direct appeal, state briefly what
grounds were not so presented and give your reasons they were not
so presented:
16. Do you have any petition, application, appeal, motion, etc.,
now pending in any court, either state or federal, as to the
judgment under attack?

Yes No

17. If your answer to number 16 was “yes,” give the following
information:

(a) Name of court:

(b) Nature of the proceeding:

(c) Grounds raised:




(d) Status of the proceedings:



18. Give the name and address, if known, of each attorney who
represented you in the following stages of the judgment attacked
herein.

(a) At preliminary hearing:
(b) At arraignment and plea:



(c) At trial:



(d) At sentencing:



(e) On appeal:



(f) In any postconviction proceeding:



(g) On appeal from any adverse ruling in a postconviction
proceeding:



WHEREFORE, movant requests that the court grant all relief
to which the movant may be entitled in this proceeding, including
but not limited to (here list the nature of the relief sought):

1.
2. Such other and further relief as the court deems just and
proper.

OATH

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing
motion, or had it read to me, that I understand the motion’s
content, and that all of the facts alleged in the motion are true and
correct.



/s/
Name
DC#

Certifications and Acknowledgment

I certify that the motion is filed in good faith, that I have a
reasonable belief that the motion is timely filed, has potential
merit, and does not duplicate previous motions that have been
disposed of by the court.
I certify that [choose one]
I understand English and have read the foregoing
motion, or had the motion read to me; or
I cannot understand English and the foregoing
motion was translated completely into a language that I
understand and read to me by .....(name).....,whose address is
.....(address)....., and whose certification of an accurate and
complete translation is attached to this motion.
I understand that I am subject to judicial or administrative
sanctions, including but not limited to forfeiture of gain time, if
this motion is found to be frivolous, malicious, made in bad
faith or with reckless disregard for the truth, or an abuse of the
legal process.


/s/
Name
DC#


Certificate of Mailing
(Must use Certificate of Mailing OR Certificate of Service)

I certify that I placed this document in the hands of . . . .
.(here insert name of institution official). . . . . for mailing to . . . .
.(here insert name or names and addresses used for service). . . . .
on . . . . .(date). . . . . .

/s/
Name
Address
DC#

Certificate of Service
(Must use Certificate of Mailing OR Certificate of Service)

I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to . . .
. .(here insert name or names, addresses used for service and
mailing addresses). . . . . by (e-mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax) on . . . .
.(date). . . . . .

/s/
Attorney
Certificate of an Accurate and Complete Translation
(To be used if translation of the motion was necessary.)

I certify that a complete and accurate translation of this
motion was provided to the Defendant in this case on . . . . .(date). .
....


/s/
Name
Address
DC#