BOBBY MILLER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2005-12-16
No. 5D04-2963
THOMPSON and ORFINGER, JJ., concur.
917 So. 2d 261 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2005) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

Bobby Miller appealed the denial of his motion to withdraw a guilty plea for sexual battery and lewd and lascivious assault, arguing he did not fully understand his defense counsel's guidance. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision, finding no error in accepting the plea, and discovered that Miller had submitted a materially altered psychological evaluation to the court in an attempt to influence the appeal outcome.


Holding

The trial court did not err in accepting Miller's guilty plea. The actual expert report showed Miller was fully competent to proceed with a rational and factual understanding of the charges, penalties, court procedures, and ability to assist his attorney, even if in a somewhat uninformed manner.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant's motion to withdraw a guilty plea must be filed within thirty days of sentencing.

[2] A court is not required to inquire into a defendant's mental condition at the time of accepting a guilty plea if the defendant's counsel has not raised the issue of compe…

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Key Quotes

“In the evaluator's opinion, the client is fully competent to proceed, having both a rational and factual understanding of the current charges, of possible penalties, of the roles and functions of members and officers of the court, of procedures used in the determination of guilt and innocence.”

Establishes that the actual expert evaluation concluded Miller was competent to proceed and understand his charges and court procedures

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Facts & Procedural History

Miller pleaded guilty in March 2003 to sexual battery and lewd and lascivious assault involving his thirteen-year-old stepdaughter. Less than thirty d…

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Opinion of the Court
GRIFFIN, J.

GRIFFIN, J.

Appellant, Bobby Miller [“Miller”], pled guilty to sexual battery and lewd and lascivious assault in March, 2003. The charges involved Miller’s thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, who lived with Miller and his mother. Less than thirty days after sentencing, acting pro se, Miller filed a motion to withdraw his plea, arguing in relevant part that he “did not fully understand and comprehend the guidance provided by the Public Defender’s office.” This motion was denied.

Miller, again acting pro se, then appealed the denial of his motion to withdraw his plea. In an apparent attempt to fulfill the requirement of a brief, Miller filed an “appendix” containing background facts, argument and several documents. Among the documents is a document entitled “Psychological & Competency Evaluation.” The record reflects that during the lower court proceedings, Miller’s counsel had requested an order appointing a confidential expert to advise defense counsel concerning Miller’s mental condition as it pertained to his ability to assist in his defense. Upon receipt of the court-ordered report, defense counsel took no further steps to raise the issue of Miller’s competency and never set the machinery of Rule 3.210 in motion.

This court ordered counsel be appointed for Miller on appeal. Counsel argued on appeal that the trial court erred by accepting Miller’s plea without inquiring into his mental condition, given that the court knew there was enough of an issue to warrant his appointing an expert to assist the defense. Under the facts present here, we find no error. The copy Miller filed in this court of what purported to be the expert’s report showed that Miller had been found incompetent to proceed, but this document appeared to us to have been extensively altered.

We concluded that we should examine a clean copy of the report, which, in response to our order, we have now been provided by defense counsel. It is completely different in substance from the one filed by 'Miller. The report supplied by counsel clearly concluded:

In the evaluator’s opinion, the client is fully competent to proceed, having both a rational and factual understanding of the current charges, of possible penalties, of the roles and functions of members and officers of the court, of procedures used in the determination of guilt and innocence. The client’s communica tion provides ample evidence of these abilities. The communication also provides evidence of the client's abilities to assist his attorney in his defense, albeit in a somewhat clumsy, uninformed, and naive manner. It appears Miller knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth offered a false and materially altered document to this court in an attempt to influence the outcome of the appeal.

Accordingly, pursuant to section 944.279(1), Florida Statutes (2004), by copy of this opinion, we direct that a certified copy of this opinion be forwarded to the appropriate institution to consider disciplinary procedures as provided by law.

AFFIRMED.

THOMPSON and ORFINGER, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Svoboda v. State, 932 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
    …hat a certified copy be forwarded to the appropriate institution or facility for disciplinary procedures pursuant to the rules of the department as provided in s. 944.09. See also Nixon v. State, 921 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Miller v. State, 917 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Wilson v. [*547] State, 916 So. 2d 975 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Cole v. State, 913 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Simpkins v. State, 909 So. 2d 427, 428 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Valentine v. State, 873 So. 2d 608 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004).…
  • Rivera v. State, 943 So. 2d 973 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
    …Petitioners should not be allowed to cavalierly lie to this court-” Svoboda v. State, 932 So. 2d 545, 546 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006). We have not suffered dishonesty lightly in the past, Nixon v. State, 921 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Miller v. State, 917 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005), and we will not relax our intolerance now. PETITION DENIED. GRIFFIN and MONACO, JJ„ concur.…
  • Nixon v. State, 921 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
    …pursuant to section 944.279(1) of the Florida Statutes (2004), which subjects a prisoner to disciplinary procedures if he knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth brings false information or evidence before the court. See Miller v. State, 917 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). PETITION DENIED. GRIFFIN and MONACO, JJ., concur.…

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