ANTONIO L. ALCANTARA, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Appellant's conviction for attempted second-degree murder was affirmed where letters to the trial court did not constitute a valid motion to withdraw plea and the motion to correct sentence failed to raise a sentencing issue.
Letters to the trial court that do not explicitly request withdrawal of a plea and do not allege sentencing issues cannot serve as a motion to withdraw plea or motion to correct sentence.
[1] Letters to a trial court that do not explicitly request withdrawal of a plea and fail to raise sentencing issues are facially insufficient to constitute either a motion t…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAlcantara was convicted of attempted second-degree murder following entry of a plea. After adjudication, he sent two letters to the trial court allegi…
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DAVIS, Judge.
Antonio L. Alcantara, Jr., appeals his conviction for attempted second-degree murder. He argues that the tidal court erred in failing to treat certain letters he sent to the judge as a motion to withdraw plea, in denying his motion to correct sentence, and in failing to appoint conflict-free counsel to represent him at a hearing on the purported motion to withdraw plea.
This case comes to us in a peculiar procedural posture. After Alcantara was adjudicated following his entry of a plea, he sent two letters to the trial court, alleging grounds that could potentially support the withdrawal of his plea. However, Al-cantara did not request such relief in the letters, and the trial court did not respond. Although counsel subsequently attempted to revive the grounds alleged in the letters using the vehicle of a motion to correct sentence, the trial court denied the motion for two reasons: (1) the motion failed to raise a sentencing issue, and (2) the letters were facially insufficient to constitute a motion to withdraw plea.
While we agree with the trial court and affirm, we do so without prejudice to Al-cantara filing a motion pursuant to Floxida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(a)(5), alleging that he entered his plea involuntarily, if that is appropriate.
Affirmed.
FULMER and KELLY, JJ., Concur.
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Davis v. State, 126 So. 3d 1257 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)…ounsel’s promise that he would receive a three-year sentence. Such an allegation could potentially support withdrawal of Davis’s plea. See Jones v. State, 774 So. 2d 811, 812 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). This case is distinguishable from Alcantara v. State, 888 So. 2d 758 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), wherein this court determined that where the appellant sent two letters to the trial court alleging grounds that could have supported withdrawal of his plea, but which did not contain such a request for relief, the trial court co…