CALVIN RHODES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Calvin Rhodes appealed his convictions by nolo contendere plea, arguing the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to withdraw his plea after the state breached its plea agreement by changing its sentencing recommendation. The appellate court reversed, holding that when a trial court declines to honor a plea agreement's terms, the defendant must be given an opportunity to withdraw the plea.
The trial court erred in denying Rhodes's motion to withdraw his plea. Although the court was not bound to follow the plea agreement, when it imposed a sentence not in accordance with the agreement, it was required to give Rhodes the opportunity to withdraw his plea.
[1] A defendant may move to withdraw a guilty plea if they did not fully understand the terms of a substantial assistance agreement or if law enforcement made performance imp…
[2] A defendant may move to withdraw a guilty plea if they did not understand the potential sentencing range at the time of the plea.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Although the court was not bound to follow the terms of the plea agreement, when it decided to impose a sentence that was not in accordance with the agreement, it was required to give Rhodes the opportunity to withdraw his plea.”
Establishes the core holding that a trial court must permit plea withdrawal when declining to honor plea agreement terms.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRhodes entered into a plea agreement with the state wherein he would plead nolo contendere to burglary in exchange for the state's recommendation of 2…
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PER CURIAM.
Calvin Rhodes appeals the judgments and sentences entered pursuant to his plea of nolo contendere to charges of grand theft and burglary. He contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to withdraw his plea. The record shows that the state and Rhodes entered into a plea agreement wherein, in exchange for Rhodes’s nolo contendere plea to a burglary charge, the state agreed to recommend either 24 or 30 months’ incarceration,1 assuming Rhodes fell into the 12-30 month sentencing guidelines category. . Rhodes complied with the agreement by entering the no contest plea. A sentencing guidelines scoresheet was prepared after entry of the plea and the recommended sentencing guideline was calculated to be 2¾⅞ to 3⅛⅛ years. At the sentencing hearing, the state admitted that it had entered into a plea agreement with Rhodes wherein it was going to recommend 24 months’ incarceration, but stated that Rhodes had “absconded” prior to sentencing, and, because of that, it was changing its recommendation to the maximum time allowable by law. Rhodes then moved to withdraw his previously entered plea. The court denied the motion and sentenced Rhodes to 36 months’ incarceration to be followed by 5 years’ probation.
The court erred in denying Rhodes’s motion to withdraw his plea of nolo conten-dere. Although the court was not bound to follow the terms of the plea agreement, when it decided to impose a sentence that was not in accordance with the agreement, it was required to give Rhodes the opportunity to withdraw his plea. See Williams v. State, 541 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Moore v. State, 489 So. 2d 1215 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). The agreement was based on the parties’ assumption that Rhodes’s recommended sentence would not exceed the expected guidelines range of 12-30 months, and the fact that a later-calculated score-sheet allowed a higher range of incarceration does not affect Rhodes’s right to withdraw his plea if the terms of the agreement are not followed. Where it is shown that a plea was based on a misunderstanding of the facts, the court should be especially liberal in exercising its discretion to permit withdrawal of the plea. Tobey v. State, 458 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984).
REVERSED and REMANDED.
SMITH, ZEHMER and MINER, JJ., concur. . The record is conflicting as to whether the state agreed to recommend 24 or 30 months’ incarceration,
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Woods v. State, 600 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)…portunity to withdraw the plea. McBride v. State, 508 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). Here, appellant’s attorney sought an opportunity to discuss with appellant whether to withdraw the plea, which the trial court denied. The case of Rhodes v. State, 555 So. 2d 1323 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), is nearly identical to this case. In that case the state also refused to honor its agreement on the recommended sentence. In reversing the conviction, the First District stated: Although the court was not bound to follow the te…
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Collier v. State, 590 So. 2d 456 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)…mitted while on probation. We must reverse as to both issues. Florida law requires that in the event the trial court decides not to follow a plea agreement, the court provide the defendant with the opportunity to withdraw his plea. Rhodes v. State, 555 So. 2d 1323 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Williams v. State, 547 So. 2d 1269 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Williams v. State, 541 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Devard v. State, 504 So. 2d 28, 29 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). The fact that a defendant ultimately receives a sentence withi…
Authorities Cited
- Rayfield Moore v. State, 489 So. 2d 1215 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
- Tobey v. State, 458 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)
- Cederic Williams v. State, 541 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)