KEITHAN DARNELL BATTIE, PETITIONER,
v.
HARRY SINGLETARY, SECRETARY OF THE FLORIDA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS, RESPONDENT
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Keithan Battie sought a belated appeal of his guilty plea to murder charges, claiming his trial counsel failed to pursue an appeal he had requested. The court denied the petition because Battie had expressly waived his right to appeal and failed to demonstrate that his case fell within any statutory exceptions to the appellate waiver.
The petition for belated appeal must be denied. A defendant who expressly waives the right to appeal and fails to reserve a dispositive issue cannot appeal unless the case falls within specific statutory exceptions—including lack of subject matter jurisdiction, violation of the plea agreement, involuntary plea, or sentencing error—all of which must be preserved by appropriate motion. Battie's petition failed on both grounds: he had expressly waived appeal, and he made no showing that his conviction fell within any exception.
[1] A defendant who pleads guilty without expressly reserving the right to appeal a legally dispositive issue may not appeal the judgment or sentence.
[2] A defendant may not appeal a guilty or nolo contendere plea except when expressly reserving the right to appeal a prior dispositive order, or when appealing a lack of sub…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A defendant may not appeal from a guilty or nolo contendere plea except as follows”
Establishes the general rule limiting appellate rights after guilty pleas to enumerated exceptions
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBattie pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and second-degree murder in exchange for waiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment…
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COPE, Judge.
Keithan Darnell Battie has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, which we treat as a petition for belated appeal under Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.140®. We deny the petition.
In exchange for waiver of the death penalty, defendant-petitioner Battie pled guilty to one count of first-degree 'murder and one count of second-degree murder. Pursuant to the plea agreement, defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty-five years on the first-degree murder charge, and a consecutive life sentence on the second-degree murder charge. Defendant explicitly waived the right to appeal, and did not reserve a disposi-tive issue for appeal. Defendant did not move to withdraw his plea prior to sentencing.
In May 1998, defendant filed a petition for belated appeal, contending that he asked his trial counsel to appeal the conviction and sentence, and that trial counsel did not do so. Defendant does not state what the basis of the belated appeal might be.
We conclude that the petition for belated appeal must be denied. Effective January 1, 1997, Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140 provides, in part:
(2) Pleas. A defendant may not appeal from a guilty or nolo contendere plea except as follows: (A) A defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere may expressly reserve the right to appeal a prior dispositive order of the lower tribunal, identifying with particularity the point of law being reserved. (B) A defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere may otherwise appeal only (i) the lower tribunal’s lack of subject matter jurisdiction; (ii) a violation of the plea agreement, if preserved by a motion to withdraw plea; (iii)an involuntary plea, if preserved by a motion to withdraw plea; (iv) a sentencing error, if preserved; or (v) as otherwise provided by law. Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(b)(2)(A)-(B).
Similarly, effective July 1, 1996, the Criminal Appeal Reform Act of 1996 provides, “if a defendant pleads guilty without expressly reserving the right to appeal a legally disposi-tive issue, the defendant may not appeal the judgment or sentence.” § 924.051(4), Fla. Stat. (1997).
The petition must be denied. First, the defendant expressly waived the right to appeal. Second, even if that were not so, the petition does not make a showing that his conviction and sentencing order fall within any of the exceptions provided for in Rule 9.140. See Gonzalez v. State, 685 So. 2d 975 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Loadholt v. State, 683 So. 2d 596 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Zduniak v. State, 620 So. 2d 1083 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Bridges v. Dugger, 518 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). We certify direct conflict with Trowell v. State, 706 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (en banc).
Petition denied.*
* We reject the State's argument of time bar. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(j)(3)(C).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Walker v. State, 742 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…rt's decisions, to the extent they disallow belated appeals, in Canty v. State, 730 So. 2d 385, 386 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Canton v. State, 729 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Ponce v. State, 722 So. 2d 838, 839 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Battie v. Singletary, 718 So. 2d 323, 324 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Gonzalez v. Singletary, 713 So. 2d 1057, 1058 (Fla. 3d DCA) review granted, 719 So. 2d 892 (Fla.1998); and White v. Singletary, 711 So. 2d 640 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). See Trowell, 739 So. 2d at 78.…
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Ponce v. State, 722 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…icity any of the limited exceptions, dictated by Robinson v. State, 373 So. 2d 898 (Fla.1979), necessary for an appeal from a guilty plea.” Gonzalez v. State, 685 So. 2d 975, 976 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (citations omitted); see also Battie v. Singletary, 718 So. 2d 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Gonzalez v. Singletary, 713 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); White v. Singletary, 711 So. 2d 640 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Loadholt v. State, 683 So. 2d 596, 597 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Hampton v. State, 680 So. 2d 581, 583 (Fla. 3d DCA 199…
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Keithan Darnell Battie v. Singletary, 791 So. 2d 1261 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)…PER CURIAM. Keithan Darnell Battie has filed a motion to reopen his earlier petition for belated appeal, which we denied in 1998. See Battie v. Singletary, 718 So. 2d 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). We deny the motion to reopen. In 1996, defendant-petitioner Battie entered into a plea bargain whereby he pled guilty to one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder, in exchange for a waiver of the de…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Trowell v. State, 706 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
- Gonzalez v. State, 685 So. 2d 975 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
- Bridges v. Dugger, 518 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)
- Loadholt v. State, 683 So. 2d 596 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)
- Zduniak v. State, 620 So. 2d 1083 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)