CLIFFORD LEON GOLDEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2008-08-20
No. 2D07-4494
NORTHCUTT, C.J., and CANADY, J., Concur.
987 So. 2d 1279 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2008) 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

Clifford Leon Golden appealed the denial of his motion to withdraw a guilty plea, claiming his counsel had a conflict of interest when representing him at the withdrawal hearing. The court reversed and remanded because Golden was denied conflict-free counsel at a critical stage of proceedings where his interests and his counsel's interests were adversarial.


Holding

Yes. Once it became apparent that Golden and his counsel had adversarial positions regarding what happened when counsel advised Golden about the plea offer, the trial court should have appointed conflict-free counsel to represent Golden at the critical stage proceeding on the motion to withdraw plea.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant is entitled to conflict-free counsel at a hearing on a motion to withdraw a plea when the defendant and counsel have adversarial positions regarding the advic…

[2] A motion to withdraw a plea filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(j) is a critical stage of the proceedings at which the defendant is entitled to cou…

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Key Quotes

“Once it became clear that Garcia and his counsel had adversarial positions concerning what actually happened while counsel was advising Garcia concerning the plea, Garcia was entitled to conflict-free counsel.”

Establishes the controlling legal principle that conflict-free counsel is required when defendant and counsel have adversarial positions about plea negotiations

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Facts & Procedural History

Golden entered a plea agreement and received concurrent five-year sentences across four cases. Within thirty days of sentencing, his counsel filed a m…

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Opinion of the Court
SILBERMAN, Judge.

SILBERMAN, Judge.

Clifford Leon Golden appeals the revocation of his probation and resulting sen tences in circuit court case numbers 02-11108, 02-13155, and 02-16036 and his judgments and sentences in circuit court case 07-08992. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court imposed concurrent sentences of five years in prison on all counts. Golden challenges the denial of his motion to withdraw plea after sentencing in all four cases. Because Golden was not afforded conflict-free counsel at the hearing on his motion to withdraw plea, we reverse the order denying his motion to withdraw plea, remand for further proceedings, and direct the trial court to appoint conflict-free counsel to assist Golden in those proceedings.

Within thirty days after sentencing, Golden’s counsel filed a motion to withdraw plea pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(0-The motion stated that Golden had requested counsel to file a motion to withdraw plea, that counsel felt it necessary to file the motion to protect Golden’s rights, and that counsel was unaware of the specific grounds for the motion. Counsel alleged that he believed that Golden would be in a position at the hearing to advise the court of the grounds for the motion. Counsel also stated that other grounds would “be argued ore tenus.”

At the hearing on the motion, the trial court placed Golden under oath and took testimony from him regarding the reasons he sought to withdraw his plea. The following colloquy ensued:

THE DEFENDANT: And my other reason was because my public defender she told me before I cop’d [sic] out, she came and talked to me and she was like, your mom and them want you to take, your mom and girl want you to take this. So I’m aware of taking this because of they said it but come to find out when I got out on furlough they ain’t said nothing like this.

MS. McNEILL: And this is the point Your Honor where he is alleging something against me that I certainly dispute and I don’t know if he would need conflict counsel to represent him on that point. But just to make the Court aware that there is a dispute as to the allegations.

The court then denied the motion on merits, finding the plea was freely and voluntarily made, without addressing the issue of conflict-free counsel.

A motion filed pursuant to rule 3.170(Z) is a critical stage of the proceedings, thus entitling Golden to counsel during those proceedings. See Mourra v. State, 884 So. 2d 316, 319 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); Garcia v. State, 846 So. 2d 660, 661 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). In Garcia this court noted that the trial court held a hearing on Garcia’s 3.170(Z) motion at which the court took unsworn testimony from Garcia’s counsel that was adverse to Garcia’s position. This court stated, “Once it became clear that Garcia and his counsel had adversarial positions concerning what actually happened while counsel was advising Garcia concerning the plea, Garcia was entitled to conflict-free counsel.” 846 So. 2d at 661.

Here, the trial court allowed Golden to state his reasons for his motion to withdraw plea orally at the hearing and took Golden’s sworn testimony. As Golden was explaining his pre-plea discussion with his counsel, counsel interjected that she disputed the allegations that Golden was making. Counsel also raised the issue of whether Golden needed conflict-free counsel. When it became apparent to the trial court that Golden and his counsel had adversarial positions regarding what happened when counsel advised Golden about the plea offer, the trial court should have appointed conflict-free counsel to represent Golden. See id. Thus, we reverse the order denying the motion to withdraw plea, remand for further proceedings, and direct the trial court to appoint conflict-free counsel for Golden to assist him in those proceedings.

Order reversed and case remanded.

NORTHCUTT, C.J., and CANADY, J., Concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Sheppard v. State, 17 So. 3d 275 (Fla. 2009)
    …of Criminal Procedure 3.170(l), is a critical stage in the proceeding, and an indigent criminal defendant has a right to the appoint [*285] ment of conflict-free counsel to assist in the filing of the motion. Id. Subsequently, in Golden v. State, 987 So. 2d 1279 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008), the Second District reversed the trial court’s order denying Golden’s motion to withdraw his plea because he was not afforded conflict-free counsel at the hearing on the motion. Id. at 1280. The motion, filed by Golden’s counsel,…
  • Chadwick Kegler v. State, 46 So. 3d 1061 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)
    …the defendant is entitled to the appointment of conflict-free counsel to represent him and to assist him with respect to his motion to withdraw plea. See also Applegate v. State, 23 So. 3d 211, 212 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (noting same); Golden v. State, 987 So. 2d 1279, 1280 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (noting same). Here, it became clear that Mr. Kegler and his counsel were in an adversarial relationship when Mr. Kegler made claims about his counsel’s representation and asserted that counsel had coerced him into acceptin…

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