TRACY HARDESTY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Tracy Hardesty appealed his plea and sentence for a felony and misdemeanor conviction. The court consolidated his direct appeal with his appeal of the denial of his ineffective assistance of counsel motion, affirming both convictions but remanding regarding an attorney's fee assessment that lacked proper notice.
The court affirmed Hardesty's conviction and sentence and the denial of his rule 3.850 motion. The FDLE fee was properly imposed as part of the written plea agreement. However, the attorney's fee assessment was improper because Hardesty was not given the required notice of his right to contest the award, and the case was remanded for him to file an objection.
[1] A defendant who agrees to pay a fee to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as part of a written plea agreement cannot later contest that fee on appeal.
[2] A circuit court must provide a defendant with notice of their right to contest an award of attorney's fees to court-appointed counsel.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Hardesty acceded to this fee in his written plea agreement. We find no error.”
The court's reasoning for affirming the FDLE fee requirement, establishing that fees agreed to in plea agreements are proper.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHardesty pleaded no contest to one felony and one misdemeanor charge and was placed on three years' probation. The circuit court ordered him to pay $1…
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NORTHCUTT, Judge.
Tracy Hardesty pleaded no contest to one felony and one misdemeanor charge, was placed on three years’ probation, and appealed. While his appeal was pending, this court relinquished jurisdiction to the circuit court so he could file a motion to withdraw his plea based on ineffective assistance of counsel. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850. The circuit court denied Hardesty’s motion, and he filed an appeal of that ruling. We consolidated the two cases. The public defender filed an An-ders 1 brief, asserting there were no meritorious arguments to support reversal, but directing us to two minor sentencing issues. We affirm Hardesty’s judgment and sentence and the denial of his rule 3.850 motion without discussion, but will address whether he must pay a fee to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and a monetary award to his trial counsel.
The circuit court ordered Hardesty to pay $100 to FDLE. Hardesty acceded to this fee in his written plea agreement. We find no error. See Sitek v. State, 700 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997) (affirming FDLE fee because it was part of written plea agreement). The court also awarded a fee to his court-appointed counsel in the amount of $150, but failed to give Hardesty the required notice of his right to contest the award. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.720(d)(1). We remand with directions that Hardesty shall have thirty days from the date of the mandate to file a written objection to the amount of the attorney’s fee. If he files an objection, the court must strike the assessment and cannot impose a new award without notice and a hearing. Wilson v. State, 675 So. 2d 613, 615 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996).
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and FRANK, J., concur. . Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- Milo L. Kirkland v. State, 675 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
- Wilson v. State, 675 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
- Sitek v. State, 700 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)