DERRY L. WEST, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2006-08-09
No. 4D06-221
GUNTHER, WARNER and MAY, JJ., concur.
935 So. 2d 123 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2006) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

West challenged the trial court's summary denial of his Rule 3.850 postconviction motion. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed as to his fourth claim alleging scoresheet errors that affected the voluntariness of his guilty plea, holding that while scoresheet errors do not make a sentence illegal per se, a defendant may collaterally attack a negotiated plea based on involuntariness due to incorrect calculations.


Holding

A defendant may file a Rule 3.850 motion to seek withdrawal of a plea based on its involuntary character due to an incorrect scoresheet, even when the sentence imposed does not exceed the statutory maximum and is the result of a negotiated plea agreement.


Headnotes

[1] A sentence exceeding the statutory maximum is not necessarily illegal when the lowest permissible sentence under the guidelines becomes the maximum imposable sentence.

[2] A defendant may file a motion for postconviction relief to withdraw a plea based on its involuntary character when the plea was negotiated in reliance upon an incorrectly…

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Key Quotes

“when a defendant enters a negotiated plea for a term of years relying upon an incorrectly calculated scoresheet, such sentence is not illegal if it does not exceed the statutory maximum.”

Establishes that scoresheet errors alone do not render a sentence illegal, but does not foreclose collateral attack on voluntariness grounds.

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Facts & Procedural History

West pleaded guilty to grand theft and battery pursuant to a plea agreement and was sentenced to 62.1 months in prison (the lowest permissible sentenc…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant challenges the trial court’s order summarily denying his postconviction motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We reverse with respect to the appellant’s fourth claim for relief, and affirm the denial of the remainder of the appellant’s claims without discussion.

Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, the appellant pleaded guilty to grand theft and battery. He was sen tenced to 62.1 months in prison — the lowest permissible sentence — with credit for time served, and to time served, respectively. In addition, the state nolle prossed the violation of probation in another case. No direct appeal was taken.

The appellant alleges that he informed his counsel of errors in his scoresheet; yet, counsel failed to object. Appellant claims these errors resulted in an extra 26.6 points on his scoresheet. In addition, he argues that his sentence exceeds the statutory maximum of 5 years for a third degree felony. Appellant further contends that the alleged scoresheet errors affected the voluntariness of his plea.

In denying relief, the trial court explained that a sentence which exceeds the statutory maximum is not necessarily illegal. When the statutory maximum sentence is exceeded “by the lowest permissible sentence under the guidelines prepared pursuant to the code, the lowest permissible sentence under the code becomes the maximum sentence which the trial judge can impose.” Butler v. State, 838 So. 2d 554 (Fla.2003); Demar v. State, 840 So. 2d 381 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003).

However, appellant argues that his scoresheet was incorrectly calculated — an allegation the state does not refute — and that his plea was therefore involuntary. As this Court reiterated in Williams v. State, 825 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002), cause dismissed, 891 So. 2d 554 (Fla.2002): “when a defendant enters a negotiated plea for a term of years relying upon an incorrectly calculated scoresheet, such sentence is not illegal if it does not exceed the statutory maximum.” Id. at 996. Yet, the defendant may file a rule 3.850 motion to seek withdrawal of his plea based on its involuntary character due to the incorrect scoresheet. Id.; see also Boerstler v. State, 622 So. 2d 184 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (sentence imposed in accordance with valid plea agreement will not be rendered illegal due to scoresheet error; however, affirmance was without prejudice to appellant filing an appropriate motion for collateral relief as to the voluntariness of his plea). The state cites Ruff v. State, 840 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003), for the proposition that scoresheet errors are considered harmless when a sentence is the result of a negotiated plea agreement. In affirming in that case, however, the Fifth District did so “without prejudice to [appellant] to file a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, raising the issue of the voluntariness of his plea and seeking to withdraw from the plea should he conclude that to do so would be in his best interests.” Id. at 1147. Appellant has. done so here.

Because the trial court denied relief without attaching documents which would refute appellant’s fourth claim, this case is remanded to the trial court for either attachment of those portions of the record that would demonstrate the defendant is not entitled to any relief or an evidentiary hearing. In all other respects, we affirm the trial court’s denial of 3.850 relief.

GUNTHER, WARNER and MAY, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Tatum v. State, 27 So. 3d 700 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)
    …in the purview of Rule 3.850); Rankin v. State, 861 So. 2d 1222, 1224 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (confirming that Rule 3.850 governs a claim that a defendant would not have entered a plea had he been aware of the correct guidelines sentence); West v. State, 935 So. 2d 123, 124 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (stating that a “defendant may file a rule 3.850 motion to seek withdrawal of his plea based on its involuntary character due to [an] incorrect scoresheet”); see also Ey v. State, 982 So. 2d 618, 625 (Fla.2008) (concluding t…
  • Rogero Wright v. State, 174 So. 3d 400 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …en a defendant enters a negotiated plea for a term of years relying upon an incorrectly calculated scoresheet, such sentence is not illegal if it does not exceed the statutory maximum[,]” yet the error may render the plea involuntary. West v. State, 935 So. 2d 123, 124 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (quoting Williams v. State, 825 So. 2d 994, 996 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)). An error in the scoresheet could render a plea involuntary where the defendant shows that the sentence pled to was based on the minimum permissible senten…

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