THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
VALERIE MALLOY, APPELLEE
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Florida appeals a departure sentence imposed below the guideline range after the defendant accepted a plea bargain with a credit-time-served offer. The court reversed because the state had effectively withdrawn its plea offer prior to the motion-to-suppress hearing, rendering the departure sentence unjustified.
The appellate court held that once the state clearly and effectively withdrew its plea offer prior to the motion-to-suppress hearing, the departure sentence was unjustified and must be vacated. The defendant must either receive a guideline sentence or be permitted to withdraw her plea.
[1] A state's offer of a plea bargain is effectively withdrawn when the defendant's dispositive motion to suppress is denied.
[2] A downward departure sentence is unjustified when the only defense to it is a withdrawn state offer.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The appellee's only defense to a clearly unjustified court-offered plea bargain to a downward departure sentence, the alleged existence of a state offer, is itself completely without merit. This is so because the offer, which was tendered prior to a hearing on the defendant's dispositive motion to suppress, was clearly and effectively withdrawn after that motion was denied.”
Establishes the core holding that the state's withdrawal of the plea offer before acceptance defeats any justification for a departure sentence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant, Valerie Malloy, faced criminal charges. The state made a plea offer including credit time served prior to a hearing on the defendant's …
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The appellee’s only defense to a clearly unjustified court-offered plea bargain to a downward departure sentence, the alleged existence of a state offer, is itself completely without merit. This is so because the offer, which was tendered prior to a hearing on the defendant’s dispositive motion to suppress, was clearly and effective*1293ly withdrawn after that motion was denied.1 See State v. Berry, 976 So.2d 645 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008); State v. Watson, 971 So.2d 946, 947 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007). Hence, the departure sentence is vacated and the cause is remanded with directions to enter a guideline sentence or to permit the defendant to withdraw her plea. See State v. Smith, 23 So.3d 229 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009); State v. Armenteros, 19 So.3d 432 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009).
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Herrera-Fernandez, 271 So. 3d 1124 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)…es offer2 or an offer below the 15-year mandatory minimum. See State v. Kelly, 147 So. 3d 1061, 1063 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (explaining that only the State Attorney has the authority to waive a mandatory minimum sentence). See also State v. Malloy, 23 So. 3d 1292 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (reversing where the State’s plea offer was withdrawn before the trial court made its own below-guidelines offer); State v. Berry, 976 So. 2d 645 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (noting: “Had the State's downward departure offer remained op…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Laffayette Berry, 976 So. 2d 645 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
- State v. Watson, 971 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)
- State v. Leyva, 23 So. 3d 229 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
- State v. Maxie Smith, 23 So. 3d 229 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
- Martin v. State, 19 So. 3d 432 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
- State v. Armenteros, 19 So. 3d 432 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)