JOSEPH STEPHENS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a trial court may condition acceptance of a plea agreement on the defendant waiving their constitutional right not to be imprisoned for a debt.
[1] A trial court may condition the acceptance of a plea agreement on a defendant's waiver of the constitutional right not to be imprisoned for a debt.
[2] A defendant may waive the constitutional right not to be imprisoned for a debt as part of a plea agreement.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant pled nolo contendere to grand theft for failing to return a $100,000 deposit for a yacht. The trial court withheld adjudication and placed h…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant pled nolo contendere to a charge of grand theft for failure to return a deposit of $100,000 for building a yacht. The trial court withheld adjudication of guilt and placed him on five’ years probation with the special conditions that he make restitution in the amount of $100,000 and obtain prior approval from his probation officer before traveling out of the state and country. Appellant violated his probation.
At the final hearing on appellant’s violation of his probation, the state offered him one year incarceration in the county jail followed by ten years probation with restitution. The agreement required appellant to pay one-half of the restitution amount within five years and all of the restitution amount within nine-and-one-half years. The plea also provided for termination of incarceration at five months if appellant paid $50,000 in restitution and termination of probation at five years if he paid all of the restitution amount. The agreement further allowed appellant to travel out of the country with weekly reporting to his probation officer. The trial court conditioned the acceptance of the plea on appellant’s agreement to waive his constitutional right not to be imprisoned for a debt as approved in Brushingham v. State, 460 So. 2d 523 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984). The trial court informed appellant of the Third District Court of Appeal’s disagreement with Brushingham as set out in Hamrick v. State, 519 So. 2d 81 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988).
Appellant accepted the plea and the trial court adjudicated him guilty and sentenced him as stated above. He appeals and asserts the trial court erred when it conditioned the acceptance of his plea upon his agreement to waive his constitutional right not to be imprisoned for a debt. We affirm on the authority of Brushingham. See also Doherty v. State, 448 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 4th DCA), petition for review denied, 458 So. 2d 272 (Fla.1984). We certify conflict, however, with Hamrick v. State, 519 So. 2d 81 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988).
AFFIRMED.
DELL, GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., concur.
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Stephens v. State, 630 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 1994)…McDonald, justice. We review Stephens v. State, 614 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), because of certified conflict with Hamrick v. State, 619 So. 2d 81 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4), Florida Constitution, and quash Stephens. Stephens, a yacht broker, failed to r…
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Dirico v. State, 728 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…on as a condition of his later being given a lenient sentence.” Id. at 82 n. 3. Five years later, the validity of a defendant’s waiver of the defense of inability to pay as a condition of probation was again before this court. In Stephens v. State, 614 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), overruled, 630 So. 2d 1090 (Fla.1994), the defendant pled nolo to grand theft. The trial court withheld adjudication and placed Stephens on probation with the special condition of probation that he make restitution in the amount…
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Staley v. State, 851 So. 2d 805 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…1994), instructive. There, the circuit court conditioned its acceptance of Stephens’s plea on his payment of restitution and on his agreement to waive his constitutional right not to be imprisoned for a debt if he failed to do so. Stephens v. State, 614 So. 2d 19, 20 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). Our supreme court acknowledged Stephens’s waiver, but held that “before a person on probation can be imprisoned for failing to make restitution, there must be a determination that that person has, or has had, the ability to…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Doherty v. State, 448 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)
- Hamrick v. State, 519 So. 2d 81 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)
- Brushingham v. State, 460 So. 2d 523 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)