STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
LUIS SANCHEZ, APPELLEE
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Florida appeals a downward departure sentencing where the trial court accepted a guilty plea based on an incorrect guidelines calculation discussed between parties. The court holds that without formal judicial acceptance of a plea agreement, neither party is bound, and the guilty plea must be withdrawn or the case resentenced.
The trial court was not bound to accept the plea based on the prior negotiations because no formal acceptance had occurred. Since the guilty plea was contingent on those negotiations, it is not binding and must be reversed to allow the defendant to withdraw the plea or be resentenced.
[1] A plea offer or negotiation is not binding until formally accepted by the trial judge after making all required inquiries, advisements, and determinations.
[2] Until formal acceptance by the trial judge, a plea offer or negotiation may be withdrawn by either party without justification.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“No plea offer or negotiation is binding until it is accepted by the trial judge formally after making all the inquiries, advisements and determinations required by this rule.”
Establishes the legal requirement that plea negotiations only become binding upon formal judicial acceptance, not before.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDuring a bond reduction hearing, the prosecutor and defendant discussed sentencing guidelines, with the prosecutor incorrectly stating the range as 5½…
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DOWNEY, Judge. j
The state appeals herein from a sentence that departed downward from the guidelines’ recommended sentence.
A hearing was held ostensibly on appel-lee’s motion for a bond reduction. During the course thereof, a discussion of the guidelines’ recommended sentence was had, during which the prosecutor advised that the sentencing parameters were 5V2 to 7 years. The parties agreed that, pursuant to their understanding of the guidelines sentence, appellee could plead guilty to an open plea of 5½ years’ imprisonment with 1 year probation. At that point the prosecutor realized he had made a mistake regarding the sentence recommended by the guidelines, which in truth was 17 to 22 years. Whereupon, the prosecutor objected to the court’s intention to accept the plea on the basis of a 5½ year prison sentence plus 1 year on probation. The trial judge felt obligated to accept the plea in view of the previous discussions and negotiations and proceeded to sentence appellee accordingly. This was error. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172(f) provides:
No plea offer or negotiation is binding until it is accepted by the trial judge formally after making all the inquiries, advisements and determinations required by this rule. Until that time, it may be withdrawn by either party without any necessary justification.
In Harden v. State, 453 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), this court held that “until formal acceptance has occurred the plea binds no one: not the defendant, the prosecutor, or the court.” Id. Furthermore, the court said:
Since the ability of all parties to repudiate a negotiated plea hinges upon acceptance of the plea by the court, the rule wisely requires formal acceptance of that plea, rather than subjective or implied acceptance. We therefore hold that formal acceptance of a plea occurs when the trial court affirmatively states to the parties, in open court and for the record, that the court accepts the plea.
Id. at 551.
Here, no formal acceptance of the plea had occurred at this time. Accordingly, we hold the trial court was not bound to accept appellee’s plea based upon the negotiations referred to, and, since appellee’s guilty plea was based upon those negotiations, it too is not binding. It therefore would appear appropriate to reverse the judgment and sentence and remand the cause to the trial court with instructions to allow appellee to withdraw his guilty plea if he be so advised or, if the defendant chooses to plead guilty, to resentence him.
HERSEY, C.J., and ANSTEAD, J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Demartine v. State, 647 So. 2d 900 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…t or the court. Id. at 1338. We adhere to our opinions in Harden and Bass as they apply to a motion to withdraw a plea made before sentencing. Appellant directs our attention to Howard v. State, 516 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), State v. Sanchez, 537 So. 2d 1115 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), and Turner v. State, 616 So. 2d 194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). In each of these eases, the attempt to withdraw the plea occurred before sentencing and before the trial court formally accepted the plea. The district courts of appeal rev…
Authorities Cited
- Terence Timothy Harden v. State, 453 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)