LAWRENCE BILOGAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2001-12-19
No. 4D01-4036
FARMER, STEVENSON and GROSS, JJ., concur.
802 So. 2d 459 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2001)

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Holding

The court held that the trial court erred in denying the motion to vacate the plea as untimely because the defendant could not have known the law had changed until he applied for a work permit.


Facts & Procedural History

Lawrence Bilogan pleaded guilty in 1995, agreeing to a lifetime driver's license suspension, based on the understanding that he could apply for a work…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Lawrence Bilogan seeks review of the trial court’s order that denied as untimely his motion to vacate a plea. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Bilogan challenges his 1995 plea, wherein he agreed to a lifetime suspension of his driver’s license. Bilogan alleges that his plea is no longer voluntary.

Accepting Bilogan’s sworn allegations as true, he entered into the plea based on the law in effect at the time; namely, that he could apply for a work permit license after five years despite the lifetime suspension. When Bilogan applied for his permit he learned that effective July 1, 1998, an individual with a lifetime suspension cannot apply for a work permit. See § 322.271, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998).

The trial court denied Bilogan’s motion as untimely. The State acknowledges that denial of the motion as untimely was error because Bilogan could not have applied for his permit before the law changed. See, e.g., Bethune v. State, 774 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the trial court to address the merits of Bilogan’s claim. See State v. Wiita, 744 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).

FARMER, STEVENSON and GROSS, JJ., concur.


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