ROBERT GREEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The appellate court held that a trial court cannot set aside a no contest plea after accepting it without legal cause, and treated the appeal as a petition for writ of prohibition.
Robert Green pleaded no contest to battery in exchange for a negotiated sentence. The trial court accepted the plea but later set it aside over Green'…
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PER CURIAM.
Robert Green appeals the trial court’s order setting aside his no contest plea. We note that the order is a nonfinal order not subject to review on direct appeal. Fla. R.App. P. 9.130(a)(3). However, we treat the notice of appeal as a petition for writ of prohibition. The State properly concedes error; therefore, we grant the petition.
Green entered a plea of no contest to battery in exchange for a negotiated sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days in county jail. The trial court accepted the plea but deferred sentencing. At the subsequent sentencing hearing, the victim’s father objected to the negotiated sentence, and the trial court set aside the plea over Green’s objection.
The State properly concedes that the trial court erred in setting aside Green’s plea. See Jupin v. State, 664 So. 2d 1031, 1031-32 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) (holding that the trial court’s acceptance of a defendant’s no contest plea is binding and a plea may not be set aside without legal cause). Accordingly, we quash the trial court’s order setting aside Green’s plea and remand for sentencing. On remand, the trial court is not bound to honor the original plea agreement. Goins v. State, 672 So. 2d 30, 31 (Fla.1996). However, if the court imposes a sentence which exceeds the previously negotiated sentence, Green should be afforded an opportunity to withdraw his plea. Id.
Petition for writ of prohibition granted.
PATTERSON, C.J., and PARKER and STRINGER, JJ„ concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Williams v. State, 958 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…t the defendant should be granted an opportunity to withdraw his plea if the court imposes a sentence exceeding the negotiated sentence. Goins v. State, 672 So. 2d 30, 32 (Fla.1996); Hall v. State, 765 So. 2d 282 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Green v. State, 784 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings with respect to ground six of the motion. We affirm without discussion the summary denial of the other seven grounds for relief. Affirmed in part, Reversed in part, and…
Authorities Cited
- Kit Goins v. State, 672 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 1996)
- Jeorgie Jupin v. State, 664 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)