DERRICK WEST, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Derrick West pleaded nolo contendere to strong-arm robbery and was sentenced as both an habitual violent felony offender and a prison releasee reoffender, resulting in a twenty-year sentence with mandatory minimums. West appealed claiming the dual sentences violated double jeopardy, but the court affirmed because he waived the double jeopardy claim through his negotiated plea agreement.
While the court agreed that imposing dual sentences as both an habitual violent felony offender and a prison releasee reoffender violates double jeopardy principles, West waived his double jeopardy claim by entering into the negotiated plea agreement with the State. Constitutional double jeopardy protections can be waived in a plea agreement if a defendant bargains for the terms and is aware of the length and nature of the sentences.
[1] A defendant waives a double jeopardy claim by entering into a negotiated plea agreement with the State.
[2] A defendant may waive constitutional double jeopardy protections in a plea agreement if the defendant bargains for the terms and is aware of the length and nature of the…
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“The general rule is that a plea of guilty and subsequent adjudication of guilt precludes a later double jeopardy attack on the conviction and sentence.”
Establishes that double jeopardy claims are generally waived by guilty pleas or nolo contendere pleas, citing Novaton v. State.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWest was charged with robbery with a firearm. Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement with the State, West pled nolo contendere to the lesser included…
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PER CURIAM.
Derrick Devon West, the appellant, was charged with robbery with a firearm.
Pursuant to a negotiated plea, West pled nolo contendere to the lesser included offense of strong arm robbery and was sentenced as an habitual violent felony offender to twenty years Florida State Prison with a ten-year mandatory minimum and to a fifteen-year mandatory minimum as a prison releasee reoffender.
On appeal, West contends that sentencing him as both an habitual violent felony offender and a prison releasee reoffender for the same offense violates double jeopardy. For the reasons expressed in West’s companion appeal, case number 4D99-2537, we agree that the imposition of the dual sentences violates double jeopardy principles. West’s sentence, however, is the result of a negotiated plea with the State. And, while it is generally true that “a defendant may not agree to an illegal sentence and may even challenge on appeal a negotiated sentence which is illegal,” see Peeples v. State, 698 So. 2d 910, 912 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), the supreme court has carved out an exception for double jeopardy claims. See Novaton v. State, 634 So. 2d 607, 609 (Fla.1994)(“The general rule is that a plea of guilty and subsequent adjudication of guilt precludes a later double jeopardy attack on the conviction and sentence.”); Collins v. State, 732 So. 2d 1149 (Fla. 1st DCA)(holding that defendant’s claim that her conviction and sentence violated double jeopardy was waived when she entered into a negotiated plea with the State), review granted, 744 So. 2d 463 (Fla.1999); Colson v. State, 1Í1 So. 2d 554, 556 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)(“Constitutional double jeopardy protections can be waived in a plea agreement if a defendant bargains for the terms and is aware of the length and nature of the sentences.”).
Thus, by entering into the negotiated plea with the State, West has waived his double jeopardy claim.
AFFIRMED.
DELL, STONE and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Almando Sapp v. State, 800 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…over his case, citing Hues v. State, 771 So. 2d 591 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). However, unlike the defendant in Huss, Appellant here failed to challenge the information prior to his felony conviction, and accordingly waived any defect. See West v. State, 758 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Mesa v. State, 632 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). AFFIRMED. BOOTH, KAHN and PADOVANO, JJ., CONCUR.…
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Flynn v. State, 119 So. 3d 468 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)…art of a plea agreement and “it became a part of the court’s acceptance of the plea.” Id. at 958. Likewise, the two cases cited in the concurring opinion in support of a waiver argument, Novaton v. State, 634 So. 2d 607 (Fla.1994) and West v. State, 758 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), involved written plea agreements in which the defendant implicitly waived a double jeopardy argument by negotiating for a specific sentence. The State makes no argument, in its answer brief or motion for rehearing, that Flynn ag…
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Cleveland Adams v. State, 780 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)…26, 66 L.Ed.2d 328 (1980). Additionally, our courts have consistently held that double jeopardy protections may be waived by a defendant, and that is exactly what happened in this case. See Novaton v. State, 634 So. 2d 607 (Fla.1994); West v. State, 758 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Lastly, there was no constitutional double jeopardy violation since appellant had not yet begun to serve the fifteen-year sentence when the new sentencing order was entered. See Goene; DiFrancesco.…
Authorities Cited
- Novaton v. State, 634 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 1994)
- Collins v. State, 732 So. 2d 1149 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
- Peeples v. State, 698 So. 2d 910 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)