Jones v. State

Appellant was charged with and sentenced for attempted first degree murder of a police officer. He seeks post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to request jury instructions on lesser degrees of murder.

Attempted third degree murder is a nonexistent crime. Gutierrez v. State, 665 So.2d 294 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). The only issue is whether appellant could have been found guilty of attempted second degree murder.

The statute criminalizing attempted murder of a law enforcement officer is section 784.07(3), Florida Statutes (1993). In State v.…