Ladonna Florence v. State of Florida

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed November 26, 2025.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D25-0136
Lower Tribunal No. F17-3115C
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Ladonna Florence,
Appellant,
vs.
State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(b)(2) from
the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Ramiro C. Areces, Judge.
Ladonna Florence, in proper person.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and David Llanes and Yolande
Marva Samerson, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.
Before FERNANDEZ, LINDSEY, and MILLER, JJ.
MILLER, J.

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Appellant, Ladonna Florence, seeks review of an order denying her
motion for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure
3.850 as time-barred. 	Florence was convicted of armed robbery and
burglary with an assault or battery, as a principal, and sentenced to an
extensive prison term. This court affirmed her convictions and sentences in
a citation opinion in 2021. 	See Florence v. State, 317 So. 3d 242 (Fla. 3d
DCA 	2021). 	On 	November 	18, 	2024, 	Florence 	filed 	her 	motion 	for
postconviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and certain
circumstances, including violations of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and
her declining mental health, should be considered in furtherance of mitigating
her sentence.1 See 34 U.S.C. §§ 30301–30309. 	On appeal, Florence
contends her declining mental condition rendered her incompetent thereby
satisfying the newly discovered exception to the two-year bar. 	See Fla. R.
Crim. P. 3.850(b)(1). We note that the latter claim was not raised below, and
the record is devoid of any finding of incompetency; and to the extent
Florence is seeking conditional medical release, we impute no error to the
decision by the trial court. See Seme v. State, 327 So. 3d 383, 385–86 (Fla.
3d DCA 2021) (affirming denial of habeas corpus based on failure to
1 Florence included a number of lower court cases in her submission; but
only 	the 	prosecution 	in 	F17-03115C, 	a 	consolidated 	case, 	yielded
convictions.

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establish exception to two-year time bar). 	Our decision is without prejudice
to pursuing relief under section 947.149, Florida Statutes (2025). 	See
Bennett v. State, 699 So. 2d 840, 841 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997).
Affirmed.