LEONARDA SIMETON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Leonarda Simeton appeals the denial of his motion to withdraw a no contest plea to violating community control, claiming the plea was involuntary based on his attorney's misrepresentation of the sentence length. The appellate court reverses, holding that due process requires an evidentiary hearing when the record does not conclusively rebut the defendant's allegations.
Due process requires a trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing on a motion to withdraw a plea unless the record conclusively shows the defendant is entitled to no relief. When a defendant alleges counsel misrepresented the length of sentence and the record does not conclusively rebut this allegation, it must be accepted as true and warrants a hearing.
[1] A defendant may be entitled to withdraw a plea entered in reliance upon his attorney's mistaken advice about sentencing.
[2] Allegations in a motion for post-conviction relief must be accepted as true unless conclusively rebutted by the record when no evidentiary hearing is held.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“Generally, a defendant may be entitled to withdraw a plea entered in reliance upon his attorney's mistaken advice about sentencing.”
Establishes the legal principle that attorney misrepresentation about sentencing can constitute grounds for plea withdrawal
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSimeton pled no contest to possession of cannabis with intent to sell and received an initial sentence of one year community control and one year prob…
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HAZOURI, J.
Appellant, Leonarda Simeton (“Sime-ton”), appeals the denial without an evidentiary hearing of a motion to withdraw his plea as involuntary pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(i). We reverse.
Simeton pled no contest to possession of cannabis with intent to sell and was adjudicated guilty. He was originally sentenced to one year of community control followed by one year of probation. Due to Sime-ton’s violation of the original community control sentence, his sentence was increased to two years community control and two years probation. Subsequently, Simeton again failed to comply with his sentence and was charged with violating community control.
At the revocation hearing, Simeton pled no contest to violating community control after unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate a plea agreement with the state. The trial court sentenced him to 72 months in state prison. After sentencing, Simeton timely filed a motion to withdraw his plea pursuant to rule 3.170(0 on the grounds that his plea was involuntary. See Fla.R.Crim. P. 3.170(0-In the motion to withdraw his plea, Simeton alleged his no contest plea was involuntary because he entered the plea based on his counsel’s assurance that he would serve a prison term of no more than 60 months. The trial court denied Simeton’s motion without a hearing.
Generally, a defendant may be entitled to withdraw a plea entered in reliance upon his attorney’s mistaken advice about sentencing. See State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235, 237 (Fla.1996). In addition, “[wjhen no evidentiary hearing is held, the allegations of a defendant’s motion for post-conviction relief must be accepted as true, except to the extent that they are conclusively rebutted by the record.” Montgomery v. State, 615 So. 2d 226, 228 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993) (citations omitted). The record on appeal does not conclusively rebut Simeton’s allegation that he pled no contest because his counsel misrepresented the length of the sentence he would serve. Therefore, this allegation must be accepted as true. See id. Accepting Simeton’s allegation as true, we hold he alleged sufficient grounds entitling him to an evidentiary hearing on his motion to withdraw his plea. See id.; see also Leroux, 689 So. 2d at 237.
Although rule 3.170(¿) does not expressly require a trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing, we hold that due process requires a hearing unless the record conclusively shows the defendant is entitled to no relief. In this case, nothing in the record refutes Simeton’s allegation that his no contest plea was involuntary because he entered the plea based on the advice of his counsel that he would serve a prison term of no more than 60 months. Therefore, we reverse the Order on Defendant’s Motion to Withdraw Plea and remand the case for the trial court to provide Simeton with a hearing to determine the voluntariness of his plea.
GUNTHER and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (14 total)
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Sheppard v. State, 17 So. 3d 275 (Fla. 2009)…h DCA 2003) ("Although rule 3.170(l) does not expressly require a trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing, ... due process requires a hearing unless the record conclusively shows the defendant is entitled to no relief.” (quoting Simeton v. State, 734 So. 2d 446, 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999))).…
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Snodgrass v. State, 837 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…raw plea without a hearing. A defendant’s entry of a plea based upon his attorney’s mistaken advice about sentencing can be a basis for allowing a defendant to withdraw the plea. See State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235, 237 (Fla.1996); Simeton v. State, 734 So. 2d 446, 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). If the trial court decides not to hold an evidentiary hearing, “the allegations of a defendant’s motion for post-conviction relief must be accepted as true, except to the extent that they are conclusively rebutted by the re…
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Nelfrard v. State, 34 So. 3d 221 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…sufficient motion to withdraw plea [*223] under rule 3.170(1), due process requires a hearing unless the record conclusively shows the defendant is entitled to no relief. Ragoobar v. State, 893 So. 2d 647, 648 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005); Simeton v. State, 734 So. 2d 446, 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). However, the plea colloquy itself may conclusively refute a defendant’s allegations that counsel misrepresented the length of time the defendant would serve. See, e.g., Alfred v. State, 998 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009).…
Previewing 3 of 14 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 1996)
- Montgomery v. State, 615 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)