JOHNNY L. CHANDLER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2003-05-09
No. 2D02-5641
ALTENBERND, C.J., and KELLY, J., Concur.
843 So. 2d 1046 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2003) Caution
Cited by 11 cases

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.

Synopsis

Johnny Chandler appealed the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief, claiming his no contest plea was involuntary because his attorney misadvised him about his sentence. The court reversed and remanded, finding the trial court's record insufficient to refute Chandler's claim and requiring an evidentiary hearing.


Holding

The record was insufficient to refute Chandler's claim. The trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Chandler's counsel misadvised him regarding the sentence, and if the court again summarily denies the claim, it must attach portions of the record that conclusively demonstrate Chandler did not rely on counsel's misadvice.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's summary denial of a motion for postconviction relief is reversible when the attached record is insufficient to refute the defendant's claim of involuntary…

[2] A record is insufficient to refute a claim of reliance on counsel's misadvice regarding sentence length if the plea colloquy did not inquire whether counsel made promises…

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Key Quotes

“In order for the record to refute Chandler's claim that he relied on counsel's misadvice, the court must have inquired as to whether Chandler's counsel made him promises regarding the length of sentence that he would receive.”

Establishes the legal standard requiring specific judicial inquiry into counsel's sentence-related representations to adequately refute ineffective assistance claims.

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Facts & Procedural History

On April 10, 2000, Chandler pleaded no contest to eleven drug charges and was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison one month later. Chandler filed…

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Opinion of the Court
FULMER, Judge.

FULMER, Judge.

Johnny L. Chandler appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.

On April 10, 2000, Chandler entered a plea of no contest to eleven drug charges. A month later, he was sentenced to a total of twenty-five years in prison. In his motion, Chandler claimed that his plea was involuntary because he entered it in reliance on counsel’s erroneous advice. He claimed that his counsel told him he would only receive ten years in prison. Chandler seeks to withdraw his plea.

The trial court denied this claim on the basis that the transcript of the plea colloquy demonstrated that no promises were made in regard to Chandler’s sentence. The trial court attached the record of the plea colloquy, which indicated that Chandler was informed by the State that the State made no promises regarding the sentence he was to receive. The record also indicates that the trial court informed Chandler of the maximum sentence he could receive for all of the offenses.

We conclude that the record attached by the trial court is insufficient to refute Chandler’s claim. In order for the record to refute Chandler’s claim that he relied on counsel’s misadvice, the court must have inquired as to whether Chandler’s counsel made him promises regarding the length of sentence that he would receive. See Johnson v. State, 757 So. 2d 586, 587 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (citing State v. Leroux, 689 So. 2d 235 (Fla.1996)). Since the record does not indicate that the court addressed this specific issue with Chandler, we reverse and remand this claim for the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine if Chandler’s counsel misadvised him regarding the ten-year sentence. See id. If the trial court again summarily denies this claim, it must attach portions of the record which conclusively demonstrate that Chandler did not rely on the misad-vice of counsel.

We advise Chandler that if he is allowed to withdraw his plea, he assumes the risk of receiving a harsher sentence. See Jones v. State, 834 So. 2d 226, 227 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (citing Mitchell v. State, 521 So. 2d 185 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)).

Reversed and remanded.

ALTENBERND, C.J., and KELLY, J., Concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Flores-Vega v. State, 22 So. 3d 721 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)
    …se claims, the postcon-viction court shall conduct an evidentiary hearing. If the postconviction court again summarily denies any of these three claims, it must attach portions of the record that conclusively refute the claim. See Chandler v. State, 843 So. 2d 1046, 1047 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). In all other respects, we affirm the postconviction court’s order. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. FULMER and NORTHCUTT, JJ., Concur. . Mr. Flores-Vega's double jeopardy argument concerning the attempte…
  • Jeysar Velazquez v. State, 973 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
    …ntiary hearing. If the postconviction court again summarily denies Mr. Velazquez’s claims, it must attach portions of the record that conclusively demonstrate that Mr. Velazquez did not rely on the incorrect advice of counsel. See Chandler v. State, 843 So. 2d 1046, 1047 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). We warn Mr. Velazquez, as we have warned others before him, that if he is allowed to withdraw his plea, he assumes the risk of receiving a harsher sentence. See Jones v. State, 834 So. 2d 226, 227 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (citin…
  • Guajardo v. State, 1 So. 3d 406 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)
    …atisfaction with counsel and fails to inquire as to whether he was promised anything by counsel in exchange for entering the plea. Absent such record evidence, Guajardo’s claim cannot be refuted without an evidentiary hearing. See Chandler v. State, 843 So. 2d 1046, 1047 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). Accordingly, we reverse the postconviction court’s summary denial of his claim of ineffective assistance based on the misad-vice of counsel and remand for the court to either attach additional record evidence to refute th…

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