DONALD GENTES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court reversed and remanded the judgment, certifying questions regarding whether civil commitment proceedings under the Ryce Act violate a plea agreement.
[1] Civil commitment proceedings for sexually violent predators are generally considered civil, not criminal, and therefore do not violate a plea agreement for criminal punis…
[2] Subsequent designation as a sexual predator under Florida law does not constitute a breach of a plea agreement because the designation serves remedial purposes, not punis…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe case involves a defendant who entered into a plea agreement for prison time followed by probation. Subsequently, the state sought civil commitment…
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PER CURIAM.
Following the precedent set by this court in Harris v. State, 27 Fla. L. Weekly D946, - So. 2d -, 2002 WL 731699 (Fla. 1st DCA Apr.26, 2002), on mots, for reh’g and reh’g en banc (Oct. 4, 2002), we reverse and remand the judgment of the circuit court for further proceedings, as in Harris. We also certify as matters of great public importance the questions cer- tifjp.ri in Harris
*
We do, however, note several matters that might be significant in the event of further review of this case.
First, the Hams holding may not be in concert with the apparent consensus of other states finding civil commitment of sexually violent predators, under similar state laws, does not violate the terms of a plea agreement. See, e.g., In re Bailey, 317 Ill.App.3d 1072, 251 Ill.Dec. 575, 740 N.E. 2d 1146 (2000) (finding a sexually violent predator proceeding is civil, not criminal and does not subject respondent to greater punishment, therefore it does not violate the plea agreement); In re Detention of Campbell, 139 Wash.2d 341, 986 P. 2d 771(1999)(en banc), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1125, 121 S.Ct. 880, 148 L.Ed.2d 789 (2001) (explaining that because civil commitment is not criminal punishment, it was not a foregone conclusion that respondent would be civilly committed, thus commitment, like sex offender registration, is a collateral consequence of pleading guilty and does not violate the plea agreement); Matter of Hay, 263 Kan. 822, 953 P. 2d 666 (1998) (finding the “plea agreement is immaterial as far as proceedings under the Act are concerned” where the commitment is based on a defendant’s mental ailment and present dangerousness); People v. Moore, 69 Cal.App.4th 626, 81 Cal.Rptr.2d 658 (1998) (holding any commitment defendant might suffer under the sexual violent predator act would not be a direct eonse-quence of his plea); In re Kunshier, 521 N.W. 2d 880 (Minn.Ct.App.1994) (finding that county did not violate plea agreement by invoking civil commitment statute against patient because it is not criminal punishment but civil treatment).
In addition to the decisions of other states, our sister court has previously held that subsequent designation as a sexual violent predator under Florida law does not violate a plea agreement. See Collie v. State, 710 So. 2d 1000 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). “[Designating an offender to be a sexual predator after he or she has entered a plea bargain does not constitute a breach of contract because the sexual predator designation is not a form of punishment.” Id. at 1008 (emphasis added). The Second District reasoned that the object of a plea bargain is punishment, while sexual predator designation serves remedial purposes, hence the object of the plea bargain remains unchanged by a subsequent sexually violent predator designation. See id.
Second, the Harris majority recognizes, but is not deterred by, authority holding civil commitment of a sexually violent predator under the Jimmy Ryce Act to be a collateral consequence of the plea agreement. See, e.g., Nelson v. State, 780 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001); Pearman v. State, 764 So. 2d 739 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Oce v. State, 742 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Burkett v. State, 731 So. 2d 695 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Benitez v. State, 667 So. 2d 476 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); see also Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346, 117 S.Ct. 2072, 138 L.Ed.2d 501 (1997) (finding it is a legitimate non-punitive state objective to take measures to restrict the freedom of the dangerously mentally ill while treating them for this illness); Murray v. Kearney, 770 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (finding that similar to a Baker Act commitment, a Ryce Act commitment is not part of the criminal sentence); cf. Westerheide v. State, 767 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000) review granted, 786 So. 2d 1192 (Fla.2001) (conducting a detailed analysis of the Ryce Act and finding that the Act is civil in nature because confinement is for treatment and not punishment); but see Partlow v. State, 813 So. 2d 999 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (allowing withdrawal of plea based on failure to inform defendant of sexual offender registration requirement). Those cases holding that civil commitment is not part of the criminal sentence appear persuasive on the present issue.
Third, of the questions certified by Harris, only the two certified in the opinion on motions for rehearing and rehearing in banc need be considered. The certified question in the original Harris opinion jumps over the central issue in the case by assuming the plea agreement was breached when the State sought civil commitment. Therefore, that first question may not actually state the real issue in these cases — Whether discretionary civil commitment proceedings under the Ryce Act are somehow barred by a plea agreement for prison time followed by probation.
REVERSED and REMANDED; QUESTIONS CERTIFIED.
KAHN, WEBSTER, and DAVIS, JJ., concur. *
MAY THE STATE INITIATE DISCRETIONARY CIVIL COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE RYCE ACT (PART V OF CHAPTER 394, FLORIDA STATUTES) WHERE, BY SEEKING CIVIL COMMITMENT, THE STATE WOULD VIOLATE THE TERMS OF A PLEA AGREEMENT PREVIOUSLY ENTERED INTO WITH THE DEFENDANT?
Harris, 27 Fla. L. Weekly at D948,-So. 2d at-.
IS A PLEA AGREEMENT FOR PRISON TIME FOLLOWED BY PROBATION VIOLATED WHEN THE STATE LATER INITIATES DISCRETIONARY CIVIL COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE JIMMY RYCE ACT (PART V OF CHAPTER 394, FLORIDA STATUTES)?
IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED IN THE FIRST QUESTION, IS THE STATE BARRED BY EQUITABLE ESTOP-PEL FROM SEEKING CIVIL COMMITMENT?
Harris v. State, Case Nos. 1D00-3755/1D00-4749, So. 2d -, 2002 WL 731699 on mots, for reh'g and reh’g en banc (Fla. 1st DCA Oct. 4, 2002).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Harris, 881 So. 2d 1079 (Fla. 2004)…etition for civil commitment breached the plea agreement because it placed him in a “prison-like setting.” The trial court denied the motion. Gentes appealed, and the First District reversed based on its prior decision in Hams. See Gentes v. State, 828 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). The First District also certified the same questions as certified in Harris, but noted that only the two questions certified in the opinion on motions for rehearing need be considered because the question in the original Harris…
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In re Commitment: John R. Cartwright. John R. Cartwright v. State, 870 So. 2d 152 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…gs in Murray pending disposition of the appeals to the supreme court of the decisions in Harris v. State, 27 Fla. L. Weekly D946, - So. 2d -, 2002 WL 731699 (Fla. 1st DCA Apr.26, 2002), review granted, 854 So. 2d 660 (Fla.2003); and Gentes v. State, 828 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002), review granted sub nom. State v. Harris, 854 So. 2d 660 (Fla.2003). In Harris and Gentes, which were both decided prior to the issuance of the decision in Murray, the First District held that a plea agreement for prison time fol…
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Bernardo Garcia v. State, 848 So. 2d 1158 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…he civil commitment proceeding. Garcia requests that this court certify conflict with the first district’s recent opinion in Harris v. State, 27 Fla. L. Weekly D946, — So. 2d -, 2002 WL 731699 (Fla. 1st DCA Apr.26, 2002); see also Gentes v. State, 828 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)(following Harris). We do not certify conflict. Rather, we point out footnote 1 in Harris which reads: This is Appellant’s second appearance before this court.... In Harris v. State, 766 So. 2d 1239 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), Harris s…
Authorities Cited (13 total)
- Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346 (U.S. 1997)
- Collie v. State, 710 So. 2d 1000 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)
- Mitchel Westerheide v. State, 767 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)
- Bertram OCE v. State, 742 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
- Nelson v. State, 780 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
- Fagundo v. State, 667 So. 2d 476 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)
- Burkett v. State, 731 So. 2d 695 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)
- State v. Colon, 770 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
- Holloman v. Wheeler, 764 So. 2d 739 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)
- Pearman v. State, 764 So. 2d 739 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)