ELDRED SALTERS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Eldred Salters appeals the denial of his motion for resentencing following his conviction for cocaine delivery and possession. The court affirms, holding that a sentence imposed as the result of a negotiated plea between the defendant and trial court—even over the state's objection—is legal and does not require resentencing within the guidelines.
The court held that a sentence imposed as the result of a negotiated plea is legal and valid, even when imposed over the state's objection. Judicial participation in plea bargaining and agreement on sentence is permissible under Florida law, and the trial court properly denied Salters' motion for relief.
[1] A sentence imposed pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, even if accepted over the State's objection and after discussions with the trial court, is not per se invalid.
[2] Judicial participation in the plea bargaining process, including advising a defendant on the sentence to be imposed, is permissible.
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“a sentence is not per se invalid where the trial court, over the State's objection, advises a defendant regarding what sentence would be imposed pursuant to a plea of guilty, and accepts the defendant's subsequent guilty plea.”
Establishes the core holding that judicial participation in plea bargaining does not render a sentence invalid even when the state objects.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1996, Salters pleaded guilty to delivery and possession of cocaine following discussions with the trial court about the sentence to be imposed. The…
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SILBERMAN, Judge.
Eldred Salters appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion seeking resentencing pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). In an earlier appeal, this court reversed the trial court’s summary denial of Salters’ motion and held that “unless his original sentence was the result of a negotiated plea, he must be sentenced pursuant to the sentencing guidelines.” Salters v. State, 805 So. 2d 1004, 1004 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).
We affirm because Salters’ sentence was imposed pursuant to a negotiated plea. In 1996, following discussions with the trial court as to the sentence that would be imposed, Salters pleaded guilty to charges for delivery and possession of cocaine. He acknowledged that the plea was in his best interests, and he and his attorney signed the plea form and presented it to the trial court at the sentencing hearing.
The trial court accepted the plea and imposed the agreed upon sentence: a suspended term of ten years’ imprisonment as a habitual felony offender and two years’ community control followed by two years’ probation. The State objected to the sentence as a downward departure.
After Salters violated the terms of his supervision, he received the previously suspended sentence of ten years’ imprisonment as a habitual felony offender. Sal-ters then sought relief from the sentence. After the trial court summarily denied relief, Salters appealed and this court reversed. Id. On remand, the trial court concluded that Salters’ sentence was the result of a negotiated plea with the court, and it again denied relief.
Salters argues that because the State did not agree to the favorable sentence that he received in exchange for his guilty plea, he is entitled to be resentenced within the sentencing guidelines and not as a habitual offender. We disagree.
This court has previously stated that a sentence of probation or community control with a designation as a habitual felony offender was a legal sentence if the sentence was the result of a negotiated plea. See Pankhurst v. State, 796 So. 2d 618, 619 n. 1 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Hampton v. State, 803 So. 2d 813, 815 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).
The record supports the trial court’s conclusion that the guilty plea was negotiated and given in exchange for the agreed upon sentence. Salters accepted the benefits of the negotiated plea by obtaining the sentence of community control and probation instead of a prison sentence as a habitual offender. The fact that the plea was accepted over the State’s objection and as a result of Salters’ discussions and agreement with the trial court does not render the sentence illegal. As the supreme court concluded in State v. Warner, 762 So. 2d 507, 513-14 (Fla.2000), judicial participation in the plea bargaining process is permissible. In Warner, the court approved the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal and noted the holding that a sentence is not per se invalid where the trial court, over the State’s objection, advises a defendant regarding what sentence would be imposed pursuant to a plea of guilty, and accepts the defendant’s subsequent guilty plea.
Warner, 762 So. 2d at 508-09. The supreme court recognized that the Fourth and Fifth District Courts of Appeal were in conflict concerning this issue, and it approved the holding in State v. Warner, 721 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), and disapproved State v. Gitto, 731 So. 2d 686 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). Warner, 762 So. 2d at 515.
Here, Salters and his attorney negotiated the plea and tendered it after an agreement was reached with the trial court concerning the sentence to be imposed. Salters wanted the benefits of the sentence that was offered in order to have “another chance to live a straight and narrow life.” The trial court accepted the plea being in Salters’ best interests, acknowledged that Salters could “probably be rehabilitated,” noted Salters’ efforts at rehabilitation, and sentenced Salters to the agreed upon sentence. We conclude that the habitual felony offender sentence imposed pursuant to Salters’ agreement with the trial court is legal and that the trial court properly denied Salters’ motion for relief.
Affirmed.
DAVIS and COVINGTON, JJ., Concur.
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Melendez v. State, 339 So. 3d 498 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022)…by's plea to the charges was labeled an open plea, it was entered only after the trial court stated it agreed to impose the requested downward departure sentence. Consequently, Cosby's plea was akin to a negotiated plea . . . ."); Salters v. State, 840 So. 2d 295, 295-96 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) ("Salters' sentence was imposed pursuant to a negotiated plea. In 1996, following discussions with the trial court as to the sentence that would be imposed, Salters pleaded guilty to charges for delivery and possession of…
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Felder v. State, 842 So. 2d 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…im. See id. Felder would be entitled to be resentenced under the guidelines if the record cannot demonstrate that he entered into a negotiated plea agreement with either the State or the trial court for his probation sentences. See Salters v. State, 840 So. 2d 295 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Chaney v. State, 805 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). Furthermore, the doctrine of laches does not bar Felder from raising this claim. Laches is sustainable in a criminal case where there has been both a lack of due diligence on…
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Lindquist v. State, 246 So. 3d 285 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Lindquist v. State, 140 So. 3d 588 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) (table decision); Lindquist v. State, 968 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007) ; Bizzell v. State, 912 So. 2d 386 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) ; Salters v. State, 840 So. 2d 295 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) ; Harris v. State, 777 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) ; Hill v. State, 804 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). LaROSE, C.J., and CRENSHAW and ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, JJ., Concur.…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Warner, 762 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 2000)
- State v. Warner, 721 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
- Stretcher v. State, 803 So. 2d 813 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
- State v. Gitto, 731 So. 2d 686 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)
- Collazo v. Moore, 796 So. 2d 618 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
- Pankhurst v. State, 796 So. 2d 618 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
- Eldred Salters v. State, 805 So. 2d 1004 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)