M.N., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a juvenile's attempted reservation of the right to appeal a non-dispositive order is not a jurisdictional bar to appeal, but rather limits the issues reviewable on appeal, requiring summary affirmance.
[1] A defendant may appeal a judgment based on a no contest plea only if they expressly reserve the right to appeal a dispositive order of the trial court.
[2] A motion is dispositive if prevailing on appeal would prevent the State from proceeding to trial.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA juvenile defendant pleaded no contest to burglary and criminal mischief, attempting to reserve the right to appeal the denial of his motion for a co…
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EN BANC
M.N., a juvenile, seeks review of the trial court’s order placing him on probation. M.N. entered a no contest plea to the charges in this case while attempting to reserve the right to appeal the denial of his motion to continue. We affirm because the motion to continue was not dispositive and M.N. did not otherwise preserve any issues for review. We write because our affirmance requires us to recede from a case suggesting that dismissal is the proper remedy.
M.N. entered an open, no contest plea to charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling and criminal mischief. At the change of plea hearing, counsel for M.N. requested a continuance because, on the previous evening, a witness the defense had been trying to locate contacted M.N. online and gave M.N. her telephone number. According to M.N., the witness had invited him to the house he allegedly burglarized. M.N. acknowledged that the online contact did not include any information as to what the witness might say. The court denied the motion, noting that the case had been reset several times.
M.N. then agreed to enter a no contest plea to the charges contingent upon his right to appeal the denial of his motion to continue. The court accepted M.N.’s plea, noting that M.N. was reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to continue. However, the court did not expressly find the motion to be dispositive. The State did not object to M.N.’s attempt to reserve the right to appeal the denial of his motion to continue. The court ordered adjudication withheld and placed M.N. on probation until M.N.’s nineteenth birthday.1
On appeal, counsel filed briefs pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and In re Appellate Court Response to Anders Briefs, 581 So.2d 149 (Fla.1991), and asserted that no meritorious issues exist for appellate review. Counsel recognized that M.N. had entered his plea while attempting to reserve his right to appeal the denial of his motion to continue. However, counsel asserted that there was no basis for review because the motion to continue was not truly dispositive.
A defendant may appeal from a judgment based on a no contest plea if he expressly reserves the right to appeal a dispositive order of the trial court. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(b)(2)(A)(i). A motion is dispositive if the State could not proceed to trial if the defendant prevailed on the appeal of the ruling on the motion. See Blow v. State, 993 So.2d 540, 542 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Ashley v. State, 611 So.2d 617, 618 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). In this case, the motion to continue was not dispositive because reversal on appeal would not have *282prevented the State from proceeding to trial; instead, reversal would have merely allowed M.N. to attempt to locate a defense witness to use at trial.
Because M.N. has not expressly reserved a dispositive order for review, we must affirm his conviction. See Leonard v. State, 760 So.2d 114, 119 (Fla.2000). We recognize that, under similar circumstances, this court has previously dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See Blow, 993 So.2d at 542; Ashley, 611 So.2d at 618. In Leonard, however, the supreme court determined that a defendant’s failure to preserve an issue for review after entry of a plea is not a jurisdictional bar to appeal but is a limitation on the issues that can be addressed on appeal. Id. at 118. Thus, the court held that district courts should not dismiss appeals from pleas upon a determination that they do not present a dispositive issue that was reserved for review but should summarily affirm such decisions.2 Id. at 119; see also Sears v. State, 920 So.2d 709, 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (affirming judgment and sentence entered pursuant to plea based on determination that the court’s ruling on his motion to suppress was not dispositive). The supreme court has recognized that Leonard, applies to juvenile cases. See State v. T.G., 800 So.2d 204, 209 n. 3 (Fla.2001).
In light of the controlling authority of Leonard, we recede from Blow to the extent it is inconsistent with this case. We also recede from that portion of any other case decided after Leonard in which this court dismissed an appeal from a plea for lack of jurisdiction based on the appellant’s failure to preserve a dispositive issue for review. To the extent that M.N. believes his plea was involuntary because he was led to believe he could appeal the denial of his motion to continue, our affirmance is without prejudice to any right M.N. might have to file a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the circuit court. See D.E.R. v. State, 993 So.2d 1030, 1030 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008).
Affirmed without prejudice to M.N.’s right to file a timely petition for writ of habeas corpus.
CASANUEVA, C.J., and ALTENBERND, FULMER, WHATLEY, NORTHCUTT, DAVIS, KELLY, VTLLANTI, WALLACE, LaROSE, CRENSHAW, and MORRIS, JJ.,3 Concur.
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Citator
Cited By (15 total)
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Renard Nealie Williams v. State, 134 So. 3d 975 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)…the plea is not cognizable on appeal. Fuller, 748 So. 2d at 294; Trujillo-Pentate v. State, 609 So. 2d 72, 73 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), quashed on other grounds, 620 So. 2d 1231 (Fla.1993). For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the appeal. M.N. v. State, 16 So. 3d 280 (Fla. [*977] 2d DCA 2009) (en banc) (citing Leonard v. State, 760 So. 2d 114, 118-19 (Fla.2000)); Sears v. State, 920 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (on mot. for reh’g and/or clarification). AFFIRMED. WETHERELL and RAY, JJ., concur. BENTON, C.J.,…
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Ruilova v. State, 125 So. 3d 991 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)…pically resulted in a dismissal of the [*995] appeal.6 Following the supreme court’s decision in Leonard v. State, 760 So. 2d 114 (Fla.2000), such cases are typically affirmed. See Bonfiglio v. State, 57 So. 3d 990 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011); M.N. v. State, 16 So. 3d 280 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). When the reservation has been a condition of the defendant’s plea, this outcome often results in an express declaration that the defendant may have, the right to withdraw the plea on remand.7 None of these typical mandates is qui…
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Lamb v. State, 55 So. 3d 751 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011)…ned from the pharmacies. Because the State could not proceed to trial without the prescription information from the Ke-naday Medical Clinic, we find that the court’s ruling on Lamb’s motion to suppress was dispositive of the case. See M.N. v. State, 16 So. 3d 280, 281 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (“A motion is dispositive if the State could not proceed to trial if the defendant prevailed on the appeal of the ruling on the motion.”). Next, we consider whether the trial court erred in denying suppression of the physici…
Previewing 3 of 15 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- Leonard v. State, 760 So. 2d 114 (Fla. 2000)
- In re App. Court Response to Anders Briefs, 581 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 1991)
- State v. T.G., 800 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 2001)
- Manning v. State, 611 So. 2d 617 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)
- Leoton R. Sears v. State, 920 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
- D.E.R. v. State, 993 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
- Elliot Antonio McNEIL v. State, 993 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
- Blow v. State, 993 So. 2d 540 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)