JAMES E. ORLEMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1988-06-24
No. 87-1809
HALL and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.
527 So. 2d 303 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1988) Caution
Cited by 12 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Appellant pleaded guilty to written threat with an agreed-upon maximum sentence of 24 months imprisonment, but the trial court imposed 15 months imprisonment plus 10 years probation. The appellate court held the trial court violated the plea agreement and reversed, allowing appellant to withdraw his plea because the probation term was not contemplated in the bargain.


Holding

Yes. The trial court erred in refusing to allow appellant to withdraw his plea because there was a legitimate disagreement about the plea agreement's terms, and appellant should have been afforded the opportunity to withdraw when the probation condition was imposed contrary to the parties' agreement.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant must be afforded the opportunity to withdraw a guilty plea if the trial court rejects the plea bargain by imposing a sentence that deviates from the agreed-up…

[2] A legitimate disagreement as to the terms of a plea agreement entitles a defendant to an opportunity to withdraw their plea.

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Key Quotes

“a defendant must be afforded the opportunity to withdraw his plea if the court rejects the plea bargain by sentencing the defendant to an additional fifteen years' probation”

Establishes the legal standard that deviation from plea agreement terms by imposing unexpected probation allows plea withdrawal

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant was charged with written threat to kill or do bodily harm and extortion. The parties agreed that appellant would plead guilty to the threat …

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Opinion of the Court
RYDER, Acting Chief Judge.

RYDER, Acting Chief Judge.

Appellant was charged by information with one count of written threat to kill or do bodily harm and one count of extortion. Plea bargaining ensued, and a reading of the record reflects the following agreement between the state and appellant: appellant agreed to plead guilty to the charge of written threat to kill or do bodily harm; and the state agreed to dismiss the charge of extortion. It was agreed by the parties that appellant was to be sentenced to a “cap” of twenty-four months in state prison.

The trial court accepted appellant’s guilty plea and set the sentencing hearing for twenty-eight days later. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court interpreted the plea agreement to the effect that “nothing prohibits me from placing him on probation following his term of imprisonment.” The trial court then pronounced appellant’s sentence as fifteen months’ incarceration followed by ten years’ probation. Appellant immediately made a demonstrative objection, shaking his head. The trial court proceeded to explain to appellant why he was imposing probation. After the trial court’s discourse, appellant asked, “Is there any way I can withdraw the plea and take a jury trial?” The court answered, “No, sir.” The assistant public defender representing appellant explained that appellant was worried his probation would be violated. The court replied that it, too, was concerned that appellant would violate his probation and that was exactly why he was placing him on probation: to force appellant to learn to live within society’s rules. This appeal timely followed.

Appellant’s first point on appeal argues that the trial court erred in not allowing him to withdraw his plea. We agree. We find the facts of this case more compelling than the facts in Reynolds v. State, 339 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976), where we held that a defendant must be afforded the opportunity to withdraw his plea if the court rejects the plea bargain by sentencing the defendant to an additional fifteen years’ probation. It is abundantly clear from the record in this case that appellant did not consider probation a viable option when he entered his guilty plea. There was — at a minimum — a legitimate disagreement as to the terms of the plea agreement and appellant should have been afforded the opportunity to withdraw his plea. Id. at 715.

Appellant’s second point on appeal challenges the imposition of $300.00 in court costs without notice and a hearing. If, upon remand, appellant elects to withdraw his plea, such withdrawal would render this point moot. However, in the event appellant chooses to let his plea stand, then we hold that this issue is waived based on our holding in Henriquez v. State, 513 So. 2d 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). A reading of the record indicates that costs were announced in open court by the trial court and appellant made no objection. He thereby waived the issue for appellate purposes.

The judgment and sentence is vacated, and the case is remanded with instructions to allow appellant to withdraw his plea. Should he choose to do so, the state would be allowed to prosecute on both Count I and Count II (the latter was dismissed pursuant to the plea bargain). Should appellant decide not to withdraw his plea, the trial court should reinstate the previous judgment and sentence.

Vacated and remanded with instructions.

HALL and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Green v. Richard L. Dugger & 13th Jud. Cir., 575 So. 2d 750 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)
    …sentence. Green complains that this was not part of the plea agreement and that he was not forewarned that the court could consider the option of consecutive probation. If this allegation is true Green might be entitled to relief. Orleman v. State, 527 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). In denying the motion, the trial court failed to attach sufficient documentation from the record to refute this particular claim. After remand the trial court should re-examine the files and records in this case in an effort to…
  • Spence v. State, 667 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
    …cated in its judgment for the purposes expressed in this particular statutory section. Accordingly, we agree with the state’s argument that appellant has waived any objection he had to the imposition of this discretionary cost. See Orleman v. State, 527 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. BLUE, A.C.J., and LAZZARA and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.…
  • Warren v. State, 572 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
    …agreed to by Warren in exchange for his plea and that actually imposed. Upon remand, the trial court, if it cannot agree to a straight prison term without consecutive probation, should permit Warren to withdraw his plea. See, e.g., Orleman v. State, 527 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Apart from this aspect, we find no valid ground for Warren’s oral motion to withdraw his plea. Should he continue to take the position that he has grounds for relief apart from those under the foregoing plea bargain issue, he may…

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