MICHAEL A. REIGELSPERGER, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2009-06-12
No. 5D08-3414
PALMER, C.J. and SAWAYA, J, concur.
12 So. 3d 876 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2009)

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

Reigelsperger was convicted of grand theft and dealing in stolen property. He appealed on double jeopardy grounds, arguing that convicting him of both offenses violated the Double Jeopardy Clause because they arose from a single scheme or course of conduct. The court affirmed, holding that Reigelsperger waived his double jeopardy claim by entering into a bargained plea agreement.


Holding

The court held that Reigelsperger waived any double jeopardy attack on his plea-based convictions by entering into a bargained plea agreement. The fact that he forfeited the benefit of the negotiated sentence by failing to appear for sentencing does not eliminate the waiver that occurred when he accepted the negotiated plea.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant waives a double jeopardy claim by entering into a bargained-for plea agreement.

[2] A defendant's failure to appear for sentencing, after agreeing to conditions of release as part of a plea agreement, does not invalidate the waiver of a double jeopardy c…

Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“where the record reflects a bargained-for plea, any double jeopardy attack on the plea-based conviction is waived”

Establishes the primary legal holding that negotiated pleas waive double jeopardy challenges

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Reigelsperger was charged with grand theft and dealing in stolen property, both occurring on the same date. He entered into a plea agreement requiring…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
EVANDER, J.

EVANDER, J.

Reigelsperger contends that his convictions for grand theft1 and dealing in stolen property2 violate double jeopardy and constitute fundamental error. We affirm, concluding that Reigelsperger entered into a bargained plea agreement with the State and thereby waived his double jeopardy claim.

Reigelsperger was charged in a two-count information with grand theft and dealing in stolen property. Both offenses were alleged to have occurred on the same date. Reigelsperger’s plea agreement *877called for him to enter no contest pleas to both charges and receive a composite sentence of fifteen months imprisonment. However, prior to the court’s acceptance of the plea, Reigelsperger requested a brief furlough to get his affairs in order prior to commencing his incarcerative sentence. The trial court agreed to accept the negotiated plea, defer sentencing, and release Reigelsperger pending sentencing — provided that Reigelsperger understood that if he failed to timely appear for sentencing or committed a new law violation during his release, he could be sentenced to up to twenty years imprisonment. Reigelsper-ger accepted these conditions as part of his plea agreement, entered a no contest plea to both charges, and was released pending sentencing. Reigelsperger failed to appear for his scheduled sentencing hearing because, by his own admission, he was “stuck in a crack house.”3 The court sentenced Reigelsperger to five years incarceration on the grand theft charge to be followed by fifteen years incarceration on the dealing in stolen property offense. Reigelsperger’s subsequent motion to withdraw plea was denied.

On appeal, Reigelsperger relies on Hall v. State, 826 So.2d 268, 271 (Fla.2002), for the proposition that conviction of both grand theft and dealing in stolen property violates double jeopardy if both charges flow from one scheme or course of conduct. However, as the State correctly argues, this case is controlled by Novaton v. State, 634 So.2d 607 (Fla.1994). There, the court held that where the record reflects a bargained-for plea, any double jeopardy attack on the plea-based conviction is waived. The fact that Reigelsperger lost the benefit of the low sentence that he bargained for by failing to timely appear for sentencing does not alter the fact that Reigelsperger entered into a negotiated plea agreement by which he was given the opportunity to significantly decrease his potential maximum sentence. Novaton does not suggest that a negotiated plea requires courts to weigh the wisdom or sufficiency of the consideration given by the respective parties to the plea agreement. Bryant v. State, 644 So.2d 513 (Fla. 5th DCA1994).

AFFIRMED.

PALMER, C.J. and SAWAYA, J, concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw