THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM WOODROY EVANS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1998-01-14
No. 96-296
Before COPE and LEVY, JJ., and BARKDULL, Senior Judge.
705 So. 2d 631 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1998) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

The State appeals a trial court order granting post-conviction relief and vacating the defendant's no-contest plea to battery on a law enforcement officer based on an allegedly insufficient plea colloquy. The appellate court reverses, holding that under State v. Kendrick, a plea cannot be vacated solely for an inadequate colloquy without a showing of prejudice or manifest injustice.


Holding

A plea cannot be vacated automatically based solely on an insufficient plea colloquy. Vacation of a plea requires a showing of prejudice or manifest injustice. The case is remanded for the trial court to inquire into the defenses, receive evidence of a factual basis for the plea, and allow the defendant to demonstrate how manifest injustice occurred.


Headnotes

[1] A plea of no contest may not be vacated solely due to an insufficient plea colloquy without a showing of prejudice or manifest injustice.

[2] A defendant seeking to vacate a plea based on a claim of innocence must demonstrate prejudice or manifest injustice, even if the plea colloquy was inadequate.

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Key Quotes

“the plea is not to be vacated automatically, simply because the plea colloquy was insufficient. See id. at 354-55. That is so because a plea can only be vacated upon a showing of prejudice or manifest injustice.”

Establishes the core holding that an inadequate plea colloquy alone does not warrant vacation without proof of prejudice or manifest injustice.

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Facts & Procedural History

Defendant Evans entered a no-contest plea to battery on a law enforcement officer (a correctional officer) while stating he was not guilty. During the…

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Opinion of the Court
COPE, Judge.

On Rehearing Granted

COPE, Judge.

On consideration of the State’s motion for rehearing, we withdraw the opinion dated July 16, 1997, and substitute the following opinion:

The State appeals an order granting post-conviction relief. We reverse. The trial court vacated defendant-appel-lee’s plea of no contest to the charge of battery on a law enforcement officer (in this case, a correctional officer). During the plea colloquy, the defendant stated that he was not guilty but wanted to enter the plea. On motion for posteonvietion relief, the trial court accepted the argument that, under the circumstances, the standard plea colloquy was not sufficient and that the trial court should have conducted the more extensive inquiry into the basis for the plea contemplated by State v. Kendrick, 336 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1976).1 The trial court granted postcon-viction relief and vacated the plea based solely on a perceived inadequate plea inquiry.

The Kendrick decision elsewhere holds, however, that the plea is not to be vacated automatically, simply because the plea colloquy was insufficient. See id. at 354-55. That is so because a plea can only be vacated upon a showing of prejudice or manifest injustice. See id. at 355; Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.172(i). If the claim of innocence is meritless, or if, notwithstanding the claim of innocence, the defendant voluntarily and intelligently entered a plea of convenience, there would be no prejudice or manifest injustice. As stated in Kendrick:

“We direct the District Court to remand this cause to the trial court for the following purposes: (a) to make inquiry of the defendant and his counsel concerning their discussions relative to the defenses to the charge; (b) to receive evidence of a factual basis for the plea; and (c) to allow the defendant an opportunity to present evidence on his own behalf to show how, if at all, manifest injustice occurred.”

Id. at 355 (quoting State v. Lyles, 316 So. 2d 277, 279 (Fla.1975)).

The order under review is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.2

. As set forth in North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970):

Because of the importance of protecting the innocent and of insuring that guilty pleas are a product of free and intelligent choice, various state and federal court decisions properly caution that pleas coupled with claims of innocence should not be accepted unless there is a factual basis for the plea, and until the judge taking the plea has inquired into and sought to resolve the conflict between the waiver of trial and the claim of innocence.

Id. at 36-38 n. 10, 91 S.Ct. at 167 n. 10 (citations omitted).

. The State has argued that the defendant's motion should be viewed as a petition for writ of error coram nobis because he was sentenced to time served on the charge of battery on a law enforcement officer, and consequently is no longer in custody on that charge. Defendant thereafter was returned to custody of the Department of Corrections on convictions and sentences imposed by the circuit court in Broward County. By virtue of the conviction of batteiy on a law enforcement officer in the Dade County case, defendant has been rendered ineligible for early release on the Broward County cases. "[A] prisoner is 'in custody' for the purpose of applying for postconviction relief from a judgment, the sentence for which has been satisfied, if the motion shows some relationship between the current confinement and the judgment to which the motion for relief is addressed such as would result in the prisoner’s receiving credit in some degree on the current confinement.” Rose v. State, 235 So. 2d 353, 354 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); see also Howarth v. State, 673 So. 2d 580, 582 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996); Duenas v. State, 636 So. 2d 549, 550 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); McArthur v. State, 597 So. 2d 406, 407 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Consequently, the defendant's motion is properly viewed as a motion for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, which was one of the alternative grounds invoked by defendant.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Bertram OCE v. State, 742 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
    …was inside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. Likewise, with respect to the prejudice component, the defendant’s claim also fails. “[A] plea can only be vacated upon a showing of prejudice or manifest injustice.” State v. Evans, 705 So. 2d 631, 632 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1998). The defendant admitted a factual basis for the offenses during the plea colloquy and there has been no claim of innocence in conjunction with the motion to vacate the plea. Under such circumstances, there is no manifest inj…
  • Williams v. State, 709 So. 2d 631 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
    …PER CURIAM. We reverse the order denying Williams’s motion for postconviction relief. The trial court correctly treated Williams’s request for relief as a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion, State v. Evans, 705 So. 2d 631, 632 n. 2 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)(on rehearing), and correctly denied it as insufficient because there were pages missing from the document Williams filed with the court. However, we reverse the summary denial as it should have been a denial without prej…
  • van Poyck v. State, 721 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
    …PER CURIAM. We view the present application for post-conviction relief as one which arises under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. See State v. Evans, 705 So. 2d 631, 632 n. 2 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Wall v. State, 525 So. 2d 486, 487 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). The motion is time barred, and without merit. Affirmed.…

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