MANUEL KINDELAN, APPELLANT,
v.
THE 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.
Manuel Kindelan, a Cuban citizen, appeals the denial of his motion to vacate a no-contest plea to drug charges entered thirteen years earlier, arguing he was not informed of immigration consequences as required by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172. The appellate court relinquishes jurisdiction to allow reconstruction of the missing plea colloquy transcript so the trial court can reconsider the motion on its merits.
The court held that the record is incomplete due to the absence of the plea colloquy transcript and relinquished jurisdiction to the trial court to attempt to reconstruct the record pursuant to appellate procedure rule 9.200(b)(4), after which the trial court must reconsider the motion on its merits.
[1] A court may relinquish jurisdiction to a trial court to reconstruct a missing plea colloquy transcript when the record is incomplete.
[2] A defendant seeking to withdraw a plea based on a failure to advise of immigration consequences must demonstrate that the plea might result in deportation, that they were…
Previewing 2 of 4 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“In order to show prejudice pursuant to a rule 3.172(c)(8) violation, defendants had to establish that they did not know that the plea might result in deportation, that they were 'threatened' with deportation because of the plea, and that had they known of the possible consequence they would not have entered the plea.”
Establishes the test for showing prejudice in immigration-related plea withdrawal cases under Peart
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKindelan pleaded no contest to drug-related charges in 1987. Thirteen years later, after the INS denied his request for permanent residency status bas…
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 Reconstruction Of Record cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Manuel Kindelan appeals an order which denies his petition for writ of error coram nobis/rule 3.850 motion to vacate a plea of no contest to certain criminal charges. His motion alleged a violation of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172 by the trial court which took his plea. Because we have not been provided with a transcript of the plea colloquy, we relinquish jurisdiction to the trial court with directions that the parties and the court engage in the procedure outlined in rule 9.200(b)(4), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure in order to reconstruct the record if possible.
Kindelan pled no contest to several drug-related charges thirteen years ago. In his motion, Kindelan, a citizen of Cuba, contended that he should be permitted to withdraw his 1987 plea, pursuant to Peart v. State, 756 So. 2d 42 (Fla.2000), because he was not advised at the time he entered the plea by either the trial court or his attorney that a criminal conviction would have consequences on his future immigration status. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.172(c)(8). Kindelan’s motion was filed after the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] denied his request for permanent residency status in this country because of his convictions.1
Even though the transcript of the 1987 plea colloquy was not available for review, the trial court denied Kindelan’s motion because it decided that only the institution of imminent deportation proceedings by INS against a person qualified as “prejudice” requiring vacation of a plea under Peart. See 756 So. 2d at 48. The court reasoned that since Kindelan had not yet been threatened with actual deportation proceedings, there was no basis for vacation of his plea regardless of whether or not he had been informed of the immigration consequences of the plea.
In this appeal, the State has not argued that Kindelan has failed to show the requisite prejudice in the INS action of finding him excludable. See Peart, 756 So. 2d at 47 (“In order to show prejudice pursuant to a rule 3.172(c)(8) violation, defendants had to establish that they did not know that the plea might result in deportation, that they were ‘threatened’ with deportation because of the plea, and that had they known of the possible consequence they would not have entered the plea.”). Instead, the State complains that the issue is not properly before us at this time because the record is incomplete due to the absence of a transcript of the relevant plea colloquy. Because the parties have not yet attempted to reconstruct the record, we relinquish jurisdiction so that the parties and the court may engage in the rule 9.200(b)(4) procedure. Once the requisite attempts to reconstruct are complete, the trial court may reconsider Kindelan’s motion on the merits before returning the case to this Court. The appellant shall notify this Court of the status of the case before the trial court within thirty days of this opinion.
. It is undisputed that a resident alien who is not given permanent resident status is "ex-dudable” from this country by the INS.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Fontalvo v. State, 22 So. 3d 829 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)…SCHWARTZ, Senior Judge. The defendant’s Rule 3.850 motion to withdraw his plea on the ground that its deportation consequences had not been adequately explained was denied after an evidentiary hearing, on the ground, citing Kindelan v. State, 826 So. 2d 1004 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), that as a legal permanent resident he was not subject to deportation and thus was unqualified for relief under State v. Green, 944 So. 2d 208 (Fla.2006). While understandable in view of the confusing statement in Kindelan, 826 So…
Authorities Cited
- Roan Peart v. State, 756 So. 2d 42 (Fla. 2000)