ELIJAH PATRICK GRIFFIN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Griffin appeals the denial of his motions to withdraw guilty pleas after sentencing for grand theft and possession of cocaine. The trial court imposed a prison sentence after the Salvation Army drug treatment program—which was the basis of Griffin's plea agreement—rescinded his admission due to a policy change. The appellate court reversed and remanded, holding that Griffin demonstrated manifest injustice warranting withdrawal of his pleas.
The trial court should have allowed Griffin to withdraw his pleas because he demonstrated manifest injustice. A trial court has an affirmative duty to permit a defendant to withdraw a plea when the court decides to impose a longer sentence than the sentence contemplated when the plea was entered, particularly when the change results from a violation of the plea agreement through no fault of the defendant.
[1] A defendant may withdraw a guilty plea after sentencing if the plea agreement fails through no fault of the defendant, resulting in a manifest injustice.
[2] A manifest injustice occurs when a defendant is resentenced to a prison term after entering pleas based on the understanding of receiving suspended sentences and drug off…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The trial court has an affirmative duty to permit a defendant to withdraw his plea when the court decides to impose a longer sentence than the sentence contemplated when the plea was entered”
Establishes the foundational legal duty requiring plea withdrawal in this circumstance
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGriffin entered guilty pleas on January 23, 2004, to grand theft and possession of cocaine based on a plea agreement providing for suspended sentences…
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SILBERMAN, Judge.
Elijah Patrick Griffin appeals the denial of his motions to withdraw his pleas after sentencing for grand theft and possession of cocaine. The State concedes, and we agree, that the trial court should have allowed Griffin to withdraw his pleas.
On January 23, 2004, Griffin entered a guilty plea to grand theft in circuit court case number 03-8029 and a guilty plea to possession of cocaine in circuit court case number 03-19769. It was clear at the plea and sentencing hearing that Griffin was to receive a suspended prison sentence that provided for drug offender probation with a six-month residential drug treatment program through the Salvation Army. It was acknowledged at the plea hearing that Griffin had been accepted for the Salvation Army program. The trial court imposed sentence in accordance with the agreement at the hearing. After Griffin’s plea hearing, the Salvation Army made a policy change and informed Griffin that he would not be accepted into the treatment program.
At a hearing held on February 5, 2004, defense counsel informed the trial court that Salvation Army had made a policy change and “backed out on us, Judge, so Salvation Army won’t take him now, even though they had already approved him.” The trial court indicated that it would modify Griffin’s sentence and imposed a concurrent sentence of 42.825 months in prison “nunc pro tunc” on the two convictions.
On February 26, 2004, Griffin filed motions to withdraw his pleas, contending that he entered the pleas with the understanding of receiving drug offender probation. After a hearing, the trial court denied the motions.
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(Z) permits a defendant to file a motion to withdraw a guilty plea after sentencing pursuant to the grounds in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(b)(2)(A)(ii), which include a violation of a plea agreement and an involuntary plea. See State v. Partlow, 840 So. 2d 1040, 1042 (Fla.2003). To support a withdrawal of a plea after sentencing, the defendant must demonstrate a manifest injustice. Id. Here, the State concedes that the trial court should have allowed Griffin to withdraw his pleas because Griffin was resen-tenced to a prison term after his previous plea agreement failed through no fault of his own. See Parker v. State, 616 So. 2d 1121, 1122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (stating that “[t]he trial court has an affirmative duty to permit a defendant to withdraw his plea when the court decides to impose a longer sentence than the sentence contemplated when the plea was entered”) (citing Rodriguez v. State, 610 So. 2d 476 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)).
Griffin has shown that a manifest injustice occurred when he entered his pleas based on the understanding that he would receive suspended sentences of drug offender probation and that, through no fault of his own, he was subsequently sentenced to 42.825 months in prison. Therefore, we reverse Griffin’s judgments and sentences for grand theft and possession of cocaine and remand for the trial court to allow him to withdraw his guilty pleas.
Reversed and remanded.
SALCINES and WALLACE, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Norman v. State, 43 So. 3d 771 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…mits a defendant to file a motion to withdraw a guilty plea after sentencing pursuant to the grounds in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(b)(2)(A)(ii), which include a violation of a plea agreement and an involuntary plea.” Griffin v. State, 899 So. 2d 514, 515 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). “To support a withdrawal of a plea after sentencing, the defendant must demonstrate a manifest injustice.” Id. (citing State v. Partlow, 840 So. 2d 1040, 1042 (Fla.2003)). This court reviews the denial of a motion to withdra…
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Arroyo v. State, 200 So. 3d 250 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)…tiated plea, agreement cannot be honored by the trial judge, the defendant may withdraw his plea and the trial court has an affirmative duty to so advise him.’ ” (quoting Johnson v. State, 547 So. 2d 238, 239 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989))); Griffin v. State, 899 So. 2d 514 (Fla.2d DCA 2005) (finding a manifest injustice had occurred when Griffin entered his pleas based on the understanding that he would receive suspended sentences of drug offender probation, but through no fault of his own, he was subsequently sentenc…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Partlow, 840 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 2003)
- Reynaldo Rodriguez v. State, 610 So. 2d 476 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)
- Parker v. State, 616 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)