JOHN COLON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a trial court must ensure a defendant understands mandatory minimum sentences before accepting a guilty plea.
John Colon pleaded guilty to armed burglary and other offenses but later claimed he did not understand the mandatory minimum sentence. The record did …
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PER CURIAM.
John Colon appeals his conviction and sentence for armed burglary and other offenses. We agree that the trial court erred when, immediately prior to sentencing, it refused to allow Colon to withdraw his plea of guilty.
Because a firearm was involved in these offenses, the trial court was required to impose a three-year minimum mandatory sentence. § 775.087(2)(a), Fla.Stat. (1991). Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172(e)(1) provides that the court, when accepting a plea, “shall determine that [the defendant] understands ... the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any.” Failure to warn about such consequences can render the plea involuntary. See, e.g., Morgan v. State, 513 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987).
When appearing at sentencing Colon indicated he had not understood that the three-year minimum would have to be imposed. In fact the record before us contains no evidence of compliance with rule 3.172. Although Colon signed a written plea form, it does not mention any mandatory sentence. The court did discuss the applicability of section 775.087 with defense counsel, but there is no evidence Colon (who appears to have relied upon an interpreter) was addressed personally. Cf. Wilson v. State, 559 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990).
Accordingly, this case must be reversed for further proceedings. Unless it can be established from the record that Colon personally acknowledged he was subject to the provisions of section 775.087, the trial court should permit him to withdraw his plea if he still desires to do so.
Reversed.
RYDER, A.C.J., and PATTERSON and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Cunningham v. State, 818 So. 2d 685 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)…sentence must not vary from its oral pronouncement. Yates v. State, 429 So. 2d 815, 815 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). Generally, when the trial court’s written order is inconsistent with its oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement prevails. Adams v. State, 619 So. 2d 34, 35 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Harmon v. State, 599 So. 2d 754, 756 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). However, when the State does not concede that the written order is in error, remand is appropriate for the trial court to make a factual determination to resolve the c…
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Saliga v. State, 632 So. 2d 715 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…s that, before accepting a guilty plea, the court “shall determine that [the defendant] understands ... the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any.” This omission is a valid ground for allowing withdrawal of a guilty plea. Colon v. State, 619 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). Accordingly, we reverse and remand the case to allow Defendant to withdraw his guilty pleas for all charges on which a mandatory minimum sentence was in fact imposed. DANAHY, A.C.J., and BLUE, J., concur.…
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Beasley v. State, 724 So. 2d 591 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)…nimum mandatory term. This was error under Saliga v. State, 632 So. 2d 715 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), and is a valid ground to allow appellant to withdraw his plea as to those charges for which a minimum mandatory term was imposed. See also Colon v. State, 619 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Fla. R.Cr. P. 3.172(c)(1). Accordingly, we remand to allow appellant to withdraw his plea. PARKER, C.J., and QUINCE, J., Concur.…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Humphrey, 559 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Donnell Wilson v. State, 559 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Morgan v. State, 513 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)