KARRI HUGHEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2012-09-07
No. 2D11-3294
DAVIS and WALLACE, JJ„ Concur.
96 So. 3d 1114 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2012) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Karri Hughen appeals her conviction after pleading guilty to organized fraud and communications fraud, challenging the trial court's summary denial of her oral motion to withdraw her plea before sentencing. The court reversed and remanded because the trial court was required to conduct an evidentiary hearing when Hughen alleged she was misadvised by counsel at the time of the plea.


Holding

The trial court reversibly erred by failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing on Hughen's motion to withdraw her plea. Because Hughen asserted good cause—that she was misadvised by prior counsel regarding what she was agreeing to—and because the rule requires that courts shall permit withdrawal of a plea on good cause at any time before sentencing, an evidentiary hearing was required to determine whether good cause existed.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court commits reversible error by summarily denying a defendant's presentence oral motion to withdraw a guilty plea without conducting an evidentiary hearing.

[2] Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(f) requires a trial court to permit a plea withdrawal on good cause shown at any time before sentencing.

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Key Quotes

“The court may in its discretion, and shall on good cause, at any time before a sentence, permit a plea of guilty or no contest to be withdrawn”

Establishes the mandatory standard for plea withdrawal when good cause is shown before sentencing

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Facts & Procedural History

In December 2010, Hughen pleaded guilty to one count of scheme to defraud and 124 counts of communications fraud. At the June 2011 sentencing hearing,…

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Opinion of the Court
CRENSHAW, Judge.

CRENSHAW, Judge.

Karri Hughen appeals her judgment and sentence to ten years’ prison to be followed by twenty years’ probation after she pleaded guilty to organized fraud and communications fraud. Because the trial court erred by summarily denying Hughen’s oral motion to withdraw her plea before sentencing, we reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.

In December 2010, Hughen pleaded guilty to one count of scheme to defraud and 124 counts of communications fraud. At the June 2011 sentencing hearing, Hu-ghen’s counsel presented an allegedly exculpatory letter from Hughen’s husband. Hughen’s counsel stated that Hughen was “now maintaining her innocence.” Upon further inquiry by the trial court, Hughen stated, “I didn’t realize when — in December, what I was agreeing to. It was not what my attorney told me I was agreeing to.” The trial court noted that Hughen was represented at the plea hearing by different counsel, and it explained to Hu-ghen, “you can file a motion to this Court and I can reconsider your affidavits, but I have to do that by affidavits, not just by conversation.” The trial court then declared,

I’m here on a plea agreement I accepted in December of 2010, for the reasons I’ve told you, because you asked me to. If [former defense counsel] fooled you or anything else, [current defense counsel], I’m certain will put in the appropriate form for me to consider, so other than that, the Court is going to enforce this agreement. Today is the day.

Hughen’s counsel then clarified that Hu-ghen’s intent at the sentencing hearing was to withdraw her plea and go to trial. Despite this assertion, the trial court sentenced Hughen accordingly.

We conclude that the trial court erred when it summarily denied Hughen’s presentence oral motion to withdraw her plea. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(f) provides that “[t]he court may in its discretion, and shall on good cause, at any time before a sentence, permit a plea of guilty or no contest to be withdrawn .... ” (Emphasis added.) “Because the law favors a trial on the merits, [rule 3.170(f) ] should be liberally construed in favor of a defendant.” Moraes v. State, 967 So.2d 1100, 1101 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (citing Smith v. State, 840 So.2d 404, 406 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)). And “where a motion presents a sufficient basis for withdrawal of a plea, a trial court commits reversible error if it fails to ‘conduct an evidentiary hearing in order to develop the facts surrounding the entry of the plea.’ ” Crane v. State, 69 So.3d 357, 359 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (quoting Caddo v. State, 806 So.2d 520, 521 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)).

Here, Hughen asserted at the sentencing hearing that she was misad-vised by her prior counsel at the time she entered her plea. Because “[a] defendant’s entry of a plea based upon his attorney’s mistaken advice can be a valid basis for finding good cause,” Nicol v. State, 892 So.2d 1169, 1171 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005), we conclude that the trial court reversibly erred by failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine if Hughen could establish good cause to withdraw the plea. And contrary to the trial court’s implied assertion that a written motion was required, we note that Hughen was entitled to be heard on her oral motion to withdraw the plea. See, e.g., Lehmkuhle v. State, 20 So.3d 971 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (concluding *1116that defendant was entitled to a hearing on his presentence oral motion to withdraw plea); Morales v. State, 973 So.2d 679 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (same).

Accordingly, we vacate Hughen’s sentence and remand for the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing on the motion to withdraw plea.

Reversed and remanded.

DAVIS and WALLACE, JJ„ Concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • McINTURFF v. State, 111 So. 3d 296 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013)
    …g sentencing hearing); see also Morales v. State, 973 So. 2d 679 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Gunn v. State, 643 So. 2d 677 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). Additionally, there is no requirement that a motion to withdraw a guilty plea be in writing. See Hughen v. State, 96 So. 3d 1114, 1115 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012); Lehmkuhle; Morales. We vacate Mclnturffs judgment and sentence and remand this case to the trial court to give Mclnturff an opportunity to be heard on his motion to withdraw the guilty plea. REVERSED and REMANDED. COHEN,…
  • Paige M. Rivera v. State, 136 So. 3d 609 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)
    …it fails to ‘conduct an evidentiary hearing in order to develop the facts surrounding the entry of the plea.’ ” Crane v. State, 69 So. 3d 357, 359 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (quoting Caddo v. State, 806 So. 2d 520, 521 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)). Hughen v. State, 96 So. 3d 1114, 1115 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012); see also Molina v. State, 942 So. 2d 1036, 1037 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (stating that “if a misunderstanding of the [*611] nature and scope of a substantial assistance agreement is found, withdrawal of a defendant’s guilty plea…

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