CHARLES D. STANFORD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Stanford challenged the denial of his Rule 3.850 postconviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The court affirmed the denial of ground one but reversed on ground two, finding that trial counsel should have objected to the state's untimely written notice of intent to classify Stanford as a habitual felony offender, and remanded for resentencing.
Trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the untimely written notice of habitual felony offender intent. The appropriate remedy is resentencing pursuant to the sentencing guidelines, not vacation of the plea, because the state's violation of the statute's plain language requirement (first prong of the Ashley test) requires resentencing rather than plea withdrawal.
[1] Written notice of intent to classify a defendant as a habitual felony offender must be served a sufficient time prior to the entry of a plea or imposition of sentence to…
[2] A defendant's habitual felony offender classification is invalid if the state fails to provide timely written notice of its intent to habitualize.
Previewing 2 of 6 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“written notice shall be served on the defendant and the defendant's attorney a sufficient time prior to the entry of a plea or prior to the imposition of sentence in order to allow the preparation of a submission on behalf of the defendant.”
This establishes the statutory requirement for timely written notice of intent to classify as habitual felony offender
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceStanford entered a plea in his criminal case. The state did not provide written notice of its intent to classify him as a habitual felony offender unt…
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The appellant challenges the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm without comment the lower court’s denial of ground one of the appellant’s motion. However, as we find the appellant’s second ground has merit, we reverse and remand for resentencing.
In ground two, the appellant alleges that trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the state’s written intent to classify him as a habitual felony offender because it was untimely filed. The habitual felony offender statute states, “[wjritten notice shall be served on the defendant and the defendant’s attorney a sufficient time prior to the entry of a plea or prior to the imposition of sentence in order to allow the preparation of a submission on behalf of the defendant.” § 775.084(3)(a)2, Fla. Stat. (2007). In Ashley v. State, 614 So.2d 486, 490 (Fla.1993), the Supreme Court of Florida construed this statute to mean that written notice must be given to defendants prior to pleading guilty. Also in Ashley, the court laid out two criteria the state must meet before a defendant can be classified as a habitual felony offender. First, the state must provide the defendant with a “written notice of intent to habitualize.” Id. Second, the court must confirm that the defendant understands the consequences of habitualization. Id.
In this case, the record conclusively shows the state did not provide the appellant with a written notice of intent to habitualize until almost two months after the appellant entered his plea. While the record does indicate that the state verbally informed the appellant that it would be seeking sentencing as a habitual felony offender, that fact does not cure the failure to timely file a written notice. Ashe v. State, 951 So.2d 1023, 1023 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007). If the written plea agreement indicated a habitual felony offender sentence, the written notice requirement would have been moot. See State v. Blackwell, 661 So.2d 282 (Fla.1995). However, in this case, the written agreement did not contain any mention of the habitual felony offender status. Competent counsel would have objected to the untimely notice and the resulting habitual felony offender sentence.
*1041This leaves only the question of the correct remedy in this case. In State v. Thompson, 735 So.2d 482, 484 (Fla.1999), the Florida Supreme Court discussed the two prongs of the Ashley test, and stated that the first prong “is based on due process concerns and is dictated by the plain language of the habitual offender statute. ...” The second prong, however, deals with voluntariness of the plea, and is dictated by case law and rules of procedure. Id. The court further noted that the remedy for an involuntary plea is the option to withdraw that plea. Id. at 485. If the state violates the first prong of the Ashley test and wholly fails to classify a defendant as a habitual felony offender, it is a violation of the plain language of the habitual felony offender statute, and the only remedy in that situation is resentenc-ing. See Rhodes v. State, 704 So.2d 1080, 1081 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).
Additionally, the facts of Ashley are almost identical to this case. In both cases, the state filed its notice of intent to habitu-alize after the appellant had entered a plea in the case. Neither appellant asked for his plea to be vacated, but rather asked for resentencing based on the guidelines scoresheet. In Ashley, the court deemed resentencing to be the correct remedy. We therefore conclude the remedy in this case is for the appellant to be resentenced pursuant to the guidelines. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s summary denial on ground two, and remand for resen-tencing in accordance with this opinion.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.
PADOVANO, ROBERTS, and MARSTILLER, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Kareem A. Johnson v. State, 109 So. 3d 319 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013)…lant pled to the charges. While the record discloses that the State verbally informed Appellant that it would seek sentencing as an habitual felony offender, that fact does not cure the failure to timely file a written notice. See Stanford v. State, 69 So. 3d 1039, 1040 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011) (holding that the fact that the State verbally informed a defendant of its intent to habitualize does not cure the failure to timely file a written notice). By failing to [*320] give Appellant written notice of intent to ha…
Authorities Cited
- Ashley v. State, 614 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 1993)
- State v. Blackwell, 661 So. 2d 282 (Fla. 1995)
- Rhodes v. State, 704 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)
- State v. Thompson, 735 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 1999)
- Ashe v. State, 951 So. 2d 1023 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)