JUSTIN WAHL
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA

Fla. 6th DCA | 2026-03-27
No. 2024-2553
2026 FL 3426 Florida District Court of Appeal, Sixth District (2026)

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Holding

A defendant appealing a guilty or nolo contendere plea must preserve the issue by motion to withdraw the plea.


Key Quotes

“a defendant who has entered a guilty or nolo contendere plea to raise on direct appeal the voluntariness of the plea but only 'if preserved by a motion to withdraw plea' and 'hold[ing] that there is no fundamental-error exception to the preservation requirement'”

Court's statement of the applicable law from State v. Dortch

Facts & Procedural History

The defendant entered a guilty or nolo contendere plea and sought to raise the voluntariness of the plea on direct appeal.…

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Opinion of the Court

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA

Case No. 6D2024-2553 Lower Tribunal No. 2024-CF-000897

JUSTIN WAHL, Appellant,

V.

STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Charlotte County. Shannon H. McFee, Judge.

March 27, 2026

PER CURIAM.

AFFIRMED. See State v. Dortch, 317 So. 3d 1074, 1082-84 (Fla. 2021) (holding that Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(b)(2)(A)(ii)(c) allows a defendant who has entered a guilty or nolo contendere plea to raise on direct appeal the voluntariness of the plea but only "if preserved by a motion to withdraw plea" and "hold[ing] that there is no fundamental-error exception to the preservation requirement" of that subsection).

STARGEL, WHITE and MIZE, JJ., concur. Wyndel G. Darville, Sarasota, for Appellant.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Krystle Celine Cacci, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

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