DANIEL JOSEPH RICARDO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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A guilty plea is involuntary if induced by defense counsel's unkept promise, and a defendant may withdraw it if misled by mistaken advice.
Defendant moved to withdraw his guilty plea, alleging his attorney misrepresented the trial court's statement about treating him fairly as a promise o…
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FULMER, Judge.
The defendant appeals the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. We reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.
The defendant’s motion alleged that he entered his guilty plea in reliance upon his attorney’s representation regarding the meaning of the trial court’s statement that the court would “treat the defendant fairly” if the defendant entered a guilty plea. The attorney allegedly advised the defendant that this meant that the trial court would impose a regular guidelines sentence and not a habitual offender sentence.
Instead of holding an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the trial judge reviewed the transcript of the plea and sentencing hearing, which had been conducted by another judge. The motion was denied on the basis that the sentencing judge made no statement which could be interpreted to be a promise of a guidelines sentence. This finding, however, does not address the issue of whether the defendant’s lawyer made him such a promise.
A defendant’s guilty plea is considered involuntary if it is induced by a defense counsel’s promise which is not kept, and a defendant may withdraw his plea if he was misled and induced to plead by his counsel’s mistaken advice. See Weidmann v. State, 523 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Shell v. State, 501 So. 2d 1334 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987).
Accordingly, the ease is reversed and remanded for the court to reconsider the defendant’s motion after conducting an evidentiary hearing regarding the allegations in the motion.
DANAHY, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., concur.
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Garcia v. State, 846 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…b)(2)(A)(ii)(c); Brown v. State, 835 So. 2d 402 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). Garcia’s allegation that he was misled by his court-appointed attorney into entering the plea can be construed as a challenge to the voluntariness of the plea. See Ricardo v. State, 647 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) (holding that a defendant may withdraw his plea if he was misled and induced to plead by his counsel’s mistaken advice). Thus, Garcia’s motion was facially sufficient to warrant a hearing. Because a motion pursuant to rule 3.170 h…
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Smith v. State, 718 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…ary hearing may be necessary to resolve the motion. If it is determined that Smith was promised concurrent sentences, the trial court should allow him to withdraw his plea if that is the appellant’s wish. Gessner, 691 So. 2d at 49; Ricardo v. State, 647 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) (evidentiary hearing was necessary for issue of whether defense counsel advised defendant that trial judge’s statement that defendant would be treated fairly upon guilty plea meant that trial court would impose guidelines sentence…
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DOW v. State, 823 So. 2d 830 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)…mised him that the plea would result in youthful offender sanctions (rather than adult sanctions) and that he would not have pleaded if he had not been misled by counsel’s advice. This is a facially sufficient claim for relief. See Ricardo v. State, 647 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). The issue in this appeal is whether the record provided by the trial court refutes Dow’s claim. The trial court’s denial of Dow’s motion relies on Bermudez v. State, 603 So. 2d 657 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992), wherein the court held that…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Edmond Boris Shell v. State, 501 So. 2d 1334 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)
- Weidmann v. State, 523 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)