MICHAEL FISHER, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Michael Fisher appeals the denial of his post-conviction relief motion claiming his attorney misrepresented the sentence length he would serve. The court reverses because the trial court should have held an evidentiary hearing rather than summarily denying the motion, as the plea colloquy did not conclusively refute Fisher's claim of counsel's misadvice.
The court reverses and remands for an evidentiary hearing because the plea colloquy does not conclusively refute Fisher's claim that his attorney misadvised him about the sentence length. The distinction between promises of specific outcomes and attorney advice based on computations of time to be served means that questioning about promises alone does not address counsel's potential misadvice.
[1] A defendant's claim of affirmative misadvice from counsel regarding the amount of time to be served on a sentence, if not discovered until after the record has closed and…
[2] A general question during a plea colloquy asking if anything more than what was agreed upon was promised does not necessarily elicit disclosure of an attorney's expert ad…
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“Misrepresentations from counsel as to the length of a sentence can be the basis for post-conviction relief. See State v. Leroux, 689 So.2d 235, 236 (Fla.1997). Relief may be denied without a hearing only where the record conclusively refutes such a claim.”
Establishes the legal standard that counsel's misadvice about sentence length warrants relief and that summary denial is only proper when the record conclusively refutes the claim.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFisher pleaded guilty based on his attorney's advice that he would serve two years. After arriving at the Department of Corrections, the department in…
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PER CURIAM.
Michael Fisher appeals the denial of his rule 3.800 motion for post-conviction relief. We reverse because the trial court should have held an evidentiary hearing rather than summarily denying Fisher’s motion.
Fisher claims that his attorney advised him that he would serve two years if he pled guilty. Subsequent to Fisher’s arrival at the Department of Corrections, the department informed him that he was to serve five years.
Misrepresentations from counsel as to the length of a sentence can be the basis for post-conviction relief. See State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235, 236 (Fla.1997). Relief may be denied without a hearing only where the record conclusively refutes such a claim. Id. at 238. In Leroux, the defendant was asked during his plea colloquy if anyone had promised him anything to get him to plead guilty. He responded in the negative. The Fourth District reversed the denial of Leroux’s rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief because the plea colloquy did not conclusively refute Leroux’s claim that his plea was the result of counsel’s erroneous advice concerning the actual time to be served. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the district court decision that Leroux’s plea colloquy did not conclusively refute his claim, finding that there is a difference between an attorney’s advice based on his computation of the amount of time the client will serve and a promise of a definite outcome. Thus, asking a defendant about any prom ises made is not an inquiry into misadvice from counsel.
Similarly, in Rensoli v. State, 718 So. 2d 1278, 1280 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998), this Court reversed the summary denial of post-conviction relief and remanded for an evidentiary hearing because the record did not conclusively refute the defendant’s claim of misadvice from counsel. During Rensoli’s plea colloquy, the trial court asked: “[h]as anything more than [what you have just heard discussed] been promised to you by anybody, including me?”. Id. at 1279. Rensoli answered, “[n]o, sir.” Id. This dialogue was insufficient to conclusively refute Rensoli’s claim of misadvice from counsel.
In this case, during Fisher’s plea colloquy, the trial court asked: “Mr. Fisher, no one has promised you that you would get out of jail early or get special gain time or any kind of special sentence that you would receive?” Fisher answered, “[n]o, sir.”
As in Leroux and Rensoli, this record is silent on the question of how much time the defendant may be required to serve. Consequently, this record does not conclusively refute Fisher’s claim of misadvice from counsel. We therefore reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing as to that claim. If, after a hearing, the court determines that Fisher received affirmative misadvice from counsel, he may be entitled to relief from his plea.
Reversed and remanded.
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Baker v. State, 879 So. 2d 663 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…entered a plea). However, in plea cases, inaccurate advice by counsel as to the length of a sentence can be a basis for post-conviction relief when not conclusively refuted by the record. State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235 (Fla.1996); Fisher v. State, 824 So. 2d 1050 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002). The essence of a challenge to the voluntariness of a plea is that trial counsel was ineffective in some way by misinforming the defendant as to sentencing rights or options, thus establishing that the defendant did not enter a kn…
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Collazo v. State, 8 So. 3d 1273 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009)…l language was not on the English version when he signed it. Misrepresentations or misadvice by counsel about the length of a sentence can be the basis for postconviction relief. See State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235, 236 (Fla.1997); Fisher v. State, 824 So. 2d 1050 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002). An allegation that counsel misrepresented the length of time that a defendant would serve can be summarily denied if the plea colloquy conclusively refutes the allegations. Leroux; Montgomery v. State, 615 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 5th DC…1 / 2
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Dobarganes v. State, 239 So. 3d 1265 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 1996)
- Rensoli v. State, 718 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)