Sims v. State

Petitioner, Willie Fred Sims [“Sims”], asserts that the jury instruction for manslaughter by intentional act given at his trial constituted fundamental error and that appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance when he failed to raise this issue on direct appeal. This Court’s decisions in Hodges v. State, 64 So.3d 142 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011), and Burton v. State, — So.3d -, 2011 WL 1326258 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011), compel that we grant relief to Sims.

Sims argues that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the un-preserved but fundamental error caused by the court giving the…