CAROL PILGROM, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the trial court erred in summarily denying the defendant's motion for postconviction relief based on an involuntary plea due to a misunderstanding of sentencing guidelines.
The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a negotiated sentence, believing it was within the 1995 guidelines. However, the sentence…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Negotiated Sentence cases and more on FLexlaw
THREADGILL, Acting Chief Judge.
Carol Pilgrom appeals the summary denial of her motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Pilgrom pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a negotiated sentence. She now alleges that she is entitled to withdraw her plea pursuant to Murphy v. State, 773 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). We reverse and remand this claim for an evidentiary hearing. We af firm as to Pilgrom’s other claims without comment.
Pilgrom pleaded no contest to an offense that occurred during the Heggs1 window and was sentenced to an agreed upon disposition of fifteen years’ prison. Pilgrom alleges that she agreed to this sentence because it was within the 1995 guidelines. The sentence however exceeds that permitted under the 1994 guidelines, and Pil-grom asserts that she would not have knowingly pleaded to an above guidelines sentence. She has thus made a facially sufficient claim that her plea was involuntary. See Enchautequi v. State, 782 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Buckingham v. State, 771 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000).
The trial court denied the claim finding that it was refuted by the record. The trial court relied on the written plea agreement and the transcript of the plea colloquy which indicate only that the agreed upon sentence was fifteen years’ prison and make no reference to the guidelines. We cannot agree that these documents refute Pilgrom’s sworn claim. “Neither document demonstrates how the negotiations culminated in that figure nor what [the defendant’s] understanding was of the agreement.” Enchautequi, 782 So. 2d at 459. If Pilgrom can demonstrate that she agreed to the sentence based on her understanding that it was within the guidelines, then she will be entitled to withdraw her plea.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; and remanded for an evidentiary hearing.
PARKER and WHATLEY, JJ., Concur. . Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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)
- Buckingham v. State, 771 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Enchautequi v. State, 782 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)