WILLIE E. WILLIAMS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Willie E. Williams appeals his conviction based on a nolo contendere plea for heroin possession and evading police. The court reversed, finding the plea involuntary because the trial judge was not informed of a critical plea agreement term allowing Williams to withdraw his plea if he failed to cooperate in ongoing investigations.
The plea was involuntary because the sentencing judge was not informed of the critical agreement allowing Williams to withdraw his plea, and the judge had an affirmative duty to offer Williams the opportunity to withdraw his plea when confusion or legitimate disagreement existed regarding the plea negotiation terms.
[1] A plea of nolo contendere is not voluntary when the terms of the plea agreement, including the possibility of withdrawal upon non-cooperation, are not fully disclosed to…
[2] A trial court has an affirmative duty to offer a defendant an opportunity to withdraw a plea when confusion or a legitimate disagreement arises regarding the terms of a p…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is fundamental that a plea of guilty or nolo contendere must be voluntary to be effective.”
Establishes the constitutional requirement for voluntary pleas, citing Boykin v. Alabama
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWilliams agreed to plead nolo contendere to heroin possession and attempting to elude police with the understanding that an investigating officer woul…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant contends on this appeal that his final judgment and sentence for heroin possession and attempting to elude a police officer, entered pursuant to a plea of nolo contendere, must be reversed because the plea was not voluntary. After a thorough review of the record, we agree and reverse. There is ample authority for addressing the issue on direct appeal where as here that attack on the voluntariness of the plea appears on its face to be substantial. See Lovelace v. Wainwright, 352 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); Wood v. State, 357 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). See also Bloom v. State, 290 So. 2d 128 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974).
The record indicates that a great deal of confusion surrounded the giving of appellant’s plea. It appears that the officer who had investigated the drug charges against appellant had agreed to recommend that the sentence on the charge be made concurrent with any time left on appellant’s parole violation (approximately 18 months) if appellant would plead nolo contendere and cooperate with the officer in certain ongoing drug investigations. The assistant state attorney stated at the time of the plea that if appellant did not cooperate, “he could withdraw his plea and go to trial and then the judge could give him up to five years.” Appellant did not cooperate with the investigation and subsequently came up for sentencing before a different judge not familiar with the plea arrangement. The sentencing judge made limited inquiry into the plea agreement but the full details of the agreement, including the assistant state attorney’s comment that appellant would be allowed to withdraw his plea if he did not cooperate, were not communicated to the judge. After a long dialogue between appellant, the assistant state attorney and appellant’s counsel in which the terms of the agreement were disputed, the judge appeared to cut off further discussion, stated that he would not allow appellant to withdraw his plea, adjudicated him guilty on both counts and sentenced him to a five year prison term.
It is fundamental that a plea of guilty or nolo contendere must be voluntary to be effective. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969). On this record we cannot say that appellant’s plea was in fact voluntary. Whatever the exact plea agreement was, it is clear that the assistant state attorney agreed to allow appellant to withdraw the plea and stand trial if he did not cooperate with the investigation. It is also clear that this part of the agreement was not made known to the sentencing judge by either the assistant state attorney or appellant’s counsel. Numerous cases hold that a trial court has an affirmative duty to offer a defendant an opportunity to withdraw his plea where there is confusion or legitimate disagreement as to the terms of a plea negotiation. Reynolds v. State, 339 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Morton v. State, 317 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Bloom v. State, supra.
Accordingly, the judgment and sentence are reversed and the cause is remanded with directions to allow appellant to withdraw his plea and stand trial.
ERVIN, Acting C. J., MELVIN, J., and MASON, ERNEST E., Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Perez v. State, 449 So. 2d 407 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)…nalty for trafficking in methaqualone in the amounts charged). Taken as a whole, the record shows that the defendant did not understand the nature and consequence of his plea. He should have been allowed to withdraw the plea. See Williams v. State, 365 So. 2d 460 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). We therefore reverse and remand so that defendant may have the opportunity to enter a voluntary and intelligent plea or stand trial. Of course, if defendant again enters a plea, the trial court, in accordance with Florida Rule…
Authorities Cited
- Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (U.S. 1969)
- Reynolds v. State, 339 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
- Wood v. State, 357 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)
- Brown v. State, 317 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)
- Ira Bloom v. State, 290 So. 2d 128 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Lovelace v. Louie L. Wainwright, 352 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)