JEVON FERGUSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2003-12-03
No. 4D02-1176
STEVENSON and MAY, JJ., concur.
860 So. 2d 516 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2003)

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Synopsis

Jevon Ferguson appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to cocaine trafficking and cannabis possession charges, and his motion to correct sentencing error. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed both denials, finding no abuse of discretion regarding the plea withdrawal and rejecting Ferguson's argument that his sentencing statute violated the Florida Constitution's single subject rule.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Ferguson's motion to withdraw his plea because Ferguson failed to establish good cause and had waived his withdrawal rights in the substantial assistance agreement. The court also properly denied the sentencing correction motion because the Fourth District disagreed with prior case law and held that the sentencing statute did not violate the Florida Constitution's single subject rule.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court has discretion to permit a guilty plea to be withdrawn before sentencing, but must permit withdrawal upon a showing of good cause.

[2] A defendant may waive the right to withdraw a guilty plea as part of a substantial assistance agreement.

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Key Quotes

“The court may, in its discretion, and shall upon good cause, at any time before a sentence, permit a plea of guilty to be withdrawn.”

Establishes the legal standard for withdrawal of guilty pleas under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(f), requiring either discretionary authority or good cause

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Facts & Procedural History

Ferguson was charged with trafficking in cocaine (28-200 grams) and cannabis possession, both occurring on March 7, 2001. He pled guilty and entered a…

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Opinion of the Court
HAZOURI, J.

HAZOURI, J.

Jevon Ferguson appeals from the trial court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his plea and the deniál of his motion to correct sentencing error. We affirm.

Ferguson was charged with trafficking in cocaine in an amount between 28 and 200 grams and possession of cannabis, both of which occurred on March 7, 2001. Ferguson pled guilty to the charges and entered into a substantial assistance agreement with the State. Sentencing was deferred for ninety days. As a part of the substantial assistance agreement, Ferguson agreed that the prosecutor would be the sole determiner as to whether he provided substantial assistance and, in addition, Ferguson waived his right to withdraw his plea.

At the time of the sentencing hearing the State asserted that Ferguson had violated the conditions of the substantial assistance agreement because he had been arrested for a crime during the time between the execution of the substantial assistance agreement and the sentencing hearing. When Ferguson sought to withdraw his plea, the trial court denied the motion. On the trafficking count, the trial judge sentenced Ferguson to twenty years with a minimum mandatory of three years, a $50,000 fine and credit for time served. As to the possession count, the trial judge sentenced Ferguson to five years concurrent to the sentence on the trafficking charge.

Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(f) states in part: “The court may, in its discretion, and shall upon good cause, at any time before a sentence, permit a plea of guilty to be withdrawn.” The trial court in the instant case did not abuse its discretion nor did defendant establish good cause. We therefore affirm the trial court’s denial of Ferguson’s motion to withdraw his plea of guilty.

Ferguson asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to correct sentencing error. He argues that he must be resentenced on Count I that included a mandatory minimum under section 893.135(l)(b)la, Florida Statutes (1999), which was part of chapter 99-188, because that chapter was held to violate the single subject rule of the Florida Constitution in Taylor v. State, 818 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). Under Taylor, Ferguson would be entitled to be resentenced. However, this court recently decided the en banc decision of Hernandez-Molina v. State, 2003 WL 22715773, 860 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003), in which we disagreed with Taylor and held that chapter 99-188 did not violate the single subject rule of the Florida Constitution. We therefore affirm the trial court’s denial of Ferguson’s motion to correct sentencing error but certify conflict with Taylor v. State, 818 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002).

STEVENSON and MAY, JJ., concur.


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