Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed July 21, 2021.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D19-1833
Lower Tribunal No. 09-1001-A-K
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Nicholas Christopher Ferro,
Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Luis Garcia,
Judge.
Law Offices of Jason T. Forman, P.A., and Jason T. Forman (Fort
Lauderdale), for appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Joanne Diez, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee.
Before FERNANDEZ, C.J., and GORDO and LOBREE, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Affirmed. See Durousseau v. State, 218 So. 3d 405, 410 (Fla. 2017)
(“Judicial scrutiny of counsel’s performance must be highly deferential.”
(quoting Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689 (1984))); Occhicone v.
State, 768 So. 2d 1037, 1048 (Fla. 2000) (“[S]trategic decisions do not
constitute ineffective assistance of counsel if alternative courses have been
considered and rejected and counsel’s decision was reasonable under the
norms of professional conduct.”); see also Peede v. State, 955 So. 2d 480,
494 (Fla. 2007) (“The fact that [defendant] produced more favorable expert
testimony at his evidentiary hearing is not reason enough to deem trial
counsel ineffective. Postconviction experts have the benefit of hindsight, and
of researching for a long period of time the factual circumstances
surrounding the case with the benefit of the trial record.” (internal citation
omitted)); Henry v. State, 948 So. 2d 609, 620 (Fla. 2006) (“When
determining whether counsel’s performance is deficient, our duty is to make
every effort ‘to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight . . . [and] evaluate
the conduct from counsel’s perspective at the time [counsel prepared for
trial].’” (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689)).
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