HAROLD INGRAHAM, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2003-03-26
No. 4D01-3095
STEVENSON, GROSS and MAY, JJ., concur.
842 So. 2d 954 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2003) Caution
Cited by 13 cases

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Synopsis

The Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a trial judge imposed a sentence when orally pronouncing 36.45 months imprisonment at a plea conference, triggering double jeopardy protection that barred later enhancement of the sentence when the defendant failed to return from furlough. The court reversed the enhanced 48-month sentences and remanded for imposition of the original agreed sentence.


Holding

A sentence was imposed at the plea conference when the trial judge orally pronounced the 36.45-month sentence, triggering double jeopardy protection that precluded the trial court from later enhancing the sentence to 48 months for the defendant's failure to return from furlough.


Headnotes

[1] Jeopardy attaches when a court imposes a sentence, protecting a defendant from receiving a punishment greater than the sentence already imposed.

[2] A sentence is imposed for double jeopardy purposes upon the oral pronouncement of the penalty by the court in open court.

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Key Quotes

“Jeopardy 'attaches when a court imposes a sentence, after which the double jeopardy clauses protect the defendant from receiving a punishment greater than the sentence already imposed.'”

Establishes the legal standard for when double jeopardy protection is triggered and what it protects against

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant entered a guilty plea contemplating a 36.45-month prison sentence with a three-month furlough for medical reasons. The trial judge orally pr…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The narrow issue in this case is whether the trial judge “imposed a sentence” at a plea conference. We hold that a sentence was imposed, triggering double jeopardy protection. Therefore, the court was precluded from enhancing appellant’s sentence for breaching a furlough agreement.

Appellant entered a guilty plea that contemplated a 36.45 month prison sentence. The state and the defendant agreed to a three-month furlough for medical reasons. Appellant signed a Guideline Sentence Waiver/Presentencing Release Agreement that provided, inter alia, that if he failed to return to court on a specified date, then the court would have the “total and com- píete discretion” to sentence him to seventy-two months incarceration instead of the 86.45 months set forth in the plea agreement.

At the end of the plea conference, the trial judge said: “Accept each plea, adjudge you to be guilty, and impose the agreed 36.45 months, to run concurrent on each count with agreed credit. I stay and suspend execution of those sentences until Friday, February 28rd, of the year 2001.” On the same day, the court entered a written judgment adjudicating appellant to be guilty; the court also entered a written sentence committing appellant to the Department of Corrections for a term of 36.45 months.

Ultimately, appellant failed to surrender as ordered and the trial court imposed enhanced concurrent sentences of forty-eight months incarceration.

Appellant challenges the enhanced sentences on double jeopardy grounds. Jeopardy “attaches when a court imposes a sentence, after which the double jeopardy clauses protect the defendant from receiving a punishment greater than the sentence already imposed.” Joslin v. State, 826 So. 2d 324, 326 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). What constitutes a “sentence” for double jeopardy purposes? “The term sentence means the pronouncement by the court of the penalty imposed on a defendant for the offense of which the defendant has been adjudged guilty.” Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.700(a). Contemplating oral pronouncement of a sentence under the subheading “Pronouncement and Entry,” the rule states that “[ejvery sentence ... shall be pronounced in open court....” Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.700(b).

Here, the trial judge orally pronounced the sentence at the plea conference. Under Joslin and Robie v. State, 807 So. 2d 781 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), jeopardy attached at that point, precluding the later enhancement of the 36.45 month sentence. This is not a case where the court deferred sentencing until appellant returned from his furlough. See Joslin, 826 So. 2d at 326; Robie, 807 So. 2d at 783. Nor is it a case where the state moved to vacate the plea pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(g).

We distinguish Adams v. State, 780 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Although the facts are very similar to this case, the crucial difference is that the trial judge in Adams “never pronounced the sentence.” Id. at 958. We ruled that where no oral sentence had been pronounced, the written sentence was invalid. Id. at 959. We held that because “no sentence was imposed at the plea hearing,” double jeopardy did not bar the later enhancement of the defendant’s sentence for failure to honor the furlough agreement.

Here, the court’s oral pronouncement of the sentence at the plea conference necessitates the finding that the sentence was imposed at the plea conference. As in this case, the Adams court orally stayed and suspended the execution of the sentence. Adams did not accord that statement any legal significance. Jeopardy attaches when a sentence has been imposed; the stay and suspension of execution of the sentence came after it was imposed, when jeopardy had already attached.

The two enhanced concurrent sentences imposed are reversed and the case is remanded to the trial court with directions to impose the concurrent 36.45 month sentences contemplated by the plea agreement.

STEVENSON, GROSS and MAY, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Odol v. State, 64 So. 3d 130 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)
    …th sentence and imposed a BO-month sentence over defense counsel’s objections. When the trial court orally pronounced the 15-month sentence, jeopardy attached and the trial court was precluded from imposing the increased sentence. Ingraham v. State, 842 So. 2d 954, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). This is not a case where the court deferred sentencing until the defendant returned from furlough. See Quarterman v. State, 527 So. 2d 1380, 1381 (Fla.1988). Nor is it a ease where the State moved to vacate the plea pursuan…
  • Brown v. State, 128 So. 3d 964 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)
    …r offenses committed while on furlough or for failing to return on the appointed date), disapproved of on other grounds, Metellus v. State, 900 So. 2d 491 (Fla.2005); see also Odol v. State, 64 So. 3d 130, 131 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011); Ingraham v. State, 842 So. 2d 954, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). The State also concedes that there is no evidence that the prosecutor filed a motion to vacate Brown’s plea and sentence for noncompliance with the plea agreement. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.170(g)(2)(A) (providing that the Stat…
  • Flynn v. State, 119 So. 3d 468 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
    …eing convicted or punished twice for the same offense. Scott v. State, 937 So. 2d 746, 749 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Once jeopardy attaches, a trial court is prohibited from imposing a penalty greater than the sentence already imposed. Ingraham v. State, 842 So. 2d 954, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). This case is somewhat factually similar to Ingraham. In Ingraham, the defendant and the State agreed to a 36.45 month prison sentence and a three-month furlough for medical reasons. Id. The furlough conditions were discuss…

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