JAMES E. JOHNSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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James Johnson appealed the summary denial of his postconviction relief motion claiming he was entitled to resentencing under Heggs v. State due to the unconstitutionality of the 1995 sentencing guidelines. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's ruling on the Heggs claim but noted Johnson may have been entitled to withdraw his plea, though this issue was not properly raised below.
The court affirmed that Johnson was not entitled to resentencing under Heggs because his 95-month sentence remained within the 1994 guidelines range. However, the court recognized that Johnson may have been entitled to withdraw his plea due to the substantial potential sentence reduction, though this claim was not properly raised in the trial court proceedings.
[1] A defendant is not entitled to resentencing under Heggs v. …
[2] A defendant may be entitled to withdraw a plea if the sentence received is at the top of the applicable sentencing range and a lower sentence would be available under a p…
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“Johnson may therefore be entitled to withdraw his plea. See Murphy v. State, 773 So.2d 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (en banc).”
Establishes that despite affirming on the Heggs claim, the court recognized Johnson had potential grounds for plea withdrawal based on the significant sentence reduction that could result.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJohnson entered into a negotiated plea for various offenses occurring in June and July 1996 and received a sentence of 95 months' incarceration. Under…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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PER CURIAM.
James E. Johnson appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, which alleged that he is entitled to relief under the supreme court’s decision in Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000). We affirm.
Johnson stated in his motion that the trial court sentenced him to ninety-five months’ incarceration after he entered into a negotiated plea with the State for vari ous offenses which occurred during the months of June and July 1996. Johnson contended that since the 1995 guidelines were declared unconstitutional, he should be resentenced to the bottom of the 1994 guidelines. See Heggs, 759 So. 2d 620. The trial court noted in its order summarily denying Johnson’s motion that under the 1994 guidelines, Johnson’s guidelines range would have been from 57.82 to 96.37 months’ incarceration.
In his motion for rehearing filed in the trial court, Johnson contended he was entitled to specific performance of his plea agreement and should be resentenced to the bottom of the 1994 guidelines. Alternatively, Johnson argued he should be allowed to withdraw his plea. The trial court did not address this latter claim in denying rehearing. Instead, the trial court ruled that Heggs did not require resentencing because, as the law now stands, the prison sentence of ninety-five months that Johnson received was still within the 1994 guidelines range.
We agree with the trial court’s ruling as to Johnson’s Heggs claim. See Heggs, 759 So. 2d at 627. However, it appears that Johnson’s sentence would be reduced by over three years if he were to receive the bottom of the guidelines under the 1994 guidelines. Furthermore, the top of the 1994 guidelines is only one month longer than the sentence Johnson received. Johnson may therefore be entitled to withdraw his plea. See Murphy v. State, 773 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (en banc).
Because Johnson failed to raise this claim in his rule 3.850 motion and raised it for the first time in his motion for rehearing, it was not properly before the trial court. We therefore affirm the trial court’s order without prejudice to Johnson’s right to file a rule 3.850 motion raising this claim. Any such motion raising this claim shall not be deemed successive based upon Johnson’s attempt to raise it in this proceeding.
Lastly, in his initial brief to this court, Johnson makes a claim of scoresheet error that he failed to include in his motions filed in the trial court. We point out that because Johnson did not include this claim in his motions filed in the trial court, we cannot address this issue on appeal.
Affirmed.
GREEN, A.C.J., and CASANUEVA, J., and MONTEREY CAMPBELL, (Senior) Judge, concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Cameron v. State, 792 So. 2d 1248 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)…le 3.800(a) motion, which had been denied. Because Cameron did not seek to withdraw his plea, we affirm. Cameron may file another rule 3.850 motion, which shall not be deemed successive, if he wants to withdraw his plea. See, e.g., Johnson v. State, 782 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (affirming denial of rule 3.850 motion that sought only Heggs resentencing without prejudice to any subsequent motion seeking to withdraw plea, which Johnson first raised in rehearing); Strawder v. State, 786 So. 2d 1259 (Fla. 2d…
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Rogers v. State, 831 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)…without prejudice to appellant filing a 3.850 motion for postconviction relief raising the claim of whether appellant’s speedy trial rights were violated, as he raised this claim for the first time in his motion for rehearing. See Johnson v. State, 782 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). Any such motion raising this claim should not be deemed successive. Id. POLEN, C.J., FARMER and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000)
- Pagliaro v. Penske Auto Ctrs., Inc., 773 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)