Robert Burkell v. State of Florida

Robert Burkell challenges the denial of his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The trial court summarily denied a majority of Bur-kell’s claims and held an evidentiary hearing to address others. We affirm on all but two related points and reverse and remand for further review.

Robert Burkell was indicted for the first degree murder of Charles Bertheas. Ber-theas lived in a room in the Burkell home. A jury found Burkell guilty as charged and the trial court sentenced him to life in prison without parole. The jury made a special finding that Burkell was guilty of…