GUSTAVO EUSSE, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Gustavo Eusse, a Colombian citizen, sought to vacate his 1993 guilty plea to cocaine trafficking charges on the ground that the trial court failed to inform him of deportation consequences as required by Florida law. The court affirmed the denial of his writ of error coram nobis and postconviction relief motion, holding that such claims must be brought within two years via Rule 3.850 motion, and Eusse's late filing cannot be excused by the later discovery of collateral consequences.
The court held that the writ of error coram nobis is not the proper remedy for challenging a plea based on the trial court's failure to inform the defendant of deportation consequences, as such failure is an error of law rather than a fundamental factual error. The proper remedy is a Rule 3.850 motion, which must be filed within two years of sentencing becoming final. Eusse's late filing cannot be excused by claiming the facts were unknown to him, as collateral consequences discovered after the statutory period do not constitute newly discovered evidence.
[1] A writ of error coram nobis is not the proper remedy for a defendant alleging that a guilty plea was involuntary due to the trial judge's failure to inform the defendant…
[2] An irregularity in a plea colloquy concerning immigration consequences constitutes an error of law, not a fundamental error of fact, and is therefore not cognizable via a…
Previewing 2 of 5 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“the writ of error coram nobis is not the proper remedy for a defendant alleging that his plea was involuntary because the trial judge neglected to inform him of the possible deportation consequences of a guilty or nolo contendere plea”
Establishes the primary holding that error coram nobis is unavailable for deportation-related challenges to pleas.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1991, Eusse, a Colombian citizen, was charged with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. On February 11, 1993, he pleaded gu…
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NESBITT, Judge.
Gustavo Eusse alleges that the trial court improperly neglected to inform him of the immigration law consequences of his guilty plea below. We hold that the writ of error coram nobis is not the appropriate remedy and, therefore, affirm the denial of Eusse’s writ. See Peart v. State, 705 So. 2d 1059 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998) (en banc).
In 1991, the State charged Eusse, a citizen of Colombia, with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. On February 11, 1993, he pled guilty to those crimes. The plea colloquy did not address Eusse’s being subject to deportation as a possible result of his guilty plea, although the colloquy was complete in all other respects. Eusse’s attorney stated under oath that he had informed Eusse of the possible immigration law consequences of the guilty plea, though Eusse denies this. In September 1994, Eusse was deported due to the convictions.
On February 1, 1996, Eusse was convicted in federal court of illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. His federal sentence was enhanced due to his state cocaine trafficking convictions. Eusse petitioned for a writ of error coram nobis or, in the alternative, moved for posteonviction relief pursuant to Rule 3.850. The trial court denied relief. We affirm.
This Court’s recent en banc decision in Peart v. State established that the writ of eiTor coram nobis is not the proper remedy for a defendant alleging that his plea was involuntary because the trial judge neglected to inform him of the possible deportation consequences of a guilty or nolo contendere plea. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172(e)(8), which became effective on January 1, 1989, requires the trial judge to so inform all defendants. The rationale of the Peart holding was that the function of the error eoram nobis writ is to correct fundamental errors of fact, not errors of law. See Peart, 705 So. 2d at 1062. An irregularity in the plea colloquy is an error of law, for which the proper remedy is a Rule 3.850 motion. A Rule 3.850 motion must be filed within two years of the defendant’s sentence becoming final. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850(b). Here, Eusse’s convictions on the state cocaine trafficking charges became final over two years ago.
Eusse claims that, in his case, it is permissible to bring a Rule 3.850 motion after the two-year period because the facts upon which it is predicated were not known to him during that period. However, as the Court held in Peart, a defendant’s claim that his Rule 3.850 motion was timely if it was brought when he learned of deportation proceedings is not newly discovered evidence and, thus, does not fall within Rule 3.850(b)(1). See Peart, 705 So. 2d at 1062.
Here, Eusse did not even file the motion in 1994, when he learned of his imminent deportation. The motion was not filed until March 1996, after Eusse’s 1993 state convictions were used to enhance the sentence on his February 1996 federal conviction. The collateral effect of the 1993 conviction on the sentence for a later crime cannot support granting posteonviction relief pursuant to Rule 3.850. See, e.g., Rhodes v. State, 701 So. 2d 388 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); State v. Fox, 659 So. 2d 1324, 1327 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995).
Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s denial of Eusse’s petition for writ of error coram nobis and its denial of his alternative motion for posteonviction relief.
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Citator
Cited By
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Vance v. State, 796 So. 2d 1286 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…. This argument was not presented in the motion to withdraw the plea or at the hearing. Because Vance failed to properly preserve this argument below and the alleged error is not fundamental, we affirm his judgment and sentence. See Eusse v. State, 717 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Washington v. State, 510 So. 2d 355, 356 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Our affirmance, however, is without prejudice to Vance to file a Rule 3.850 motion alleging the involuntariness of his plea.1 AFFIRMED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. PALMER, J.,…
Authorities Cited
- Roan Peart v. State, 705 So. 2d 1059 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
- State v. A.J. FOX, 659 So. 2d 1324 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
- Rhodes v. State, 701 So. 2d 388 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)