GREGORY J. GRIBBLE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2013-08-21
No. 4D12-799
MAY, LEVINE and FORST, JJ., concur.
120 So. 3d 153 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2013) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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

Gregory Gribble appeals the summary denial of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, alleging his trial counsel misadvised him about the maximum sentence he faced, causing him to reject a five-year plea offer. The appellate court reversed and remanded, finding that the summary record did not refute his prejudice claim and that the trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing to address whether he would have accepted the plea had counsel properly advised him of his potential habitual offender sentence.


Holding

The court reversed and remanded, holding that the summary record did not refute the defendant's prejudice claim under the framework established in Alcorn v. State. The trial court must either attach portions of the record conclusively refuting the claim or hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the defendant would have accepted the plea offer had counsel properly advised him of the correct statutory maximum sentence and whether the prosecutor and court would have accepted the offer.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant alleging ineffective assistance of counsel based on misadvice regarding maximum sentencing must demonstrate a reasonable probability that the outcome of the c…

[2] The prejudice inquiry for ineffective assistance of counsel based on plea misadvice focuses on whether the defendant would have accepted the plea if properly advised, not…

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Key Quotes

“counsel can be deemed deficient for misinforming a defendant about the maximum length of the sentence”

Establishes that misadvice regarding sentencing exposure constitutes potential ineffective assistance of counsel

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Facts & Procedural History

Gribble was charged with driving with a suspended or revoked license and possession of cocaine. He claims counsel advised him the maximum sentence for…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The defendant appeals the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 motion alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850. He argues that counsel was ineffective for misadvising him of the maximum sentence he faced, which caused him to reject a five-year plea offer. We agree that the summary record does not refute this allegation. We therefore reverse and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings.

The State charged the defendant with driving with a suspended or revoked license and possession of cocaine. The defendant argues that counsel advised him that he faced a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment if convicted of driving with a suspended or revoked license, but failed to advise him of the potential of receiving a habitual offender sentence of ten years on the driving charge. See § 322.34(5), Fla. Stat. (2007). He alleges that he rejected a five-year plea offer based on that misadvice.

At trial, he was convicted of driving with a suspended license, but acquitted of the felony drug charge, which also carried a five-year maximum penalty. The State sought habitualization under section 775.084, Florida Statutes (2007). The court sentenced the defendant to eight years in prison as a habitual felony offender-three years more than he thought he faced on that charge. The defendant alleges that had counsel advised him of this possibility, he would have accepted the five-year plea offer.

The State acknowledges that counsel can be deemed deficient for misinforming a defendant about the maximum length of the sentence. It argues, however, that there is no prejudice because the defendant could have received a total of ten years if convicted of both the driving and drug offenses, and the court sentenced him below that amount. See, e.g., Steel v. State, 684 So.2d 290, 291 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). The State contends the defendant continued to have exposure to a ten-year *155sentence as a habitual offender, which is the same as the ten years he thought he faced if convicted of both charges. Therefore, the State argues he was not prejudiced by any alleged misadvice of counsel.

Even assuming that counsel misad-vised the defendant as alleged, the summary record does not refute the lack of prejudice under these circumstances. As the Florida Supreme Court recently explained, the proper prejudice inquiry should focus on whether the defendant would have accepted the plea if properly advised. Alcorn v. State, 121 So.3d 419, 2013 WL 2631143 (Fla. June 13, 2013).

[ T]he prejudice inquiry under Frye and Lafler is now whether the defendant has shown a reasonable probability that the end result of the criminal process would have been more favorable by reason of a plea to a lesser charge or a sentence of less prison time, not whether he received the same sentence as what he was incorrectly advised.

Id. at 432 (citations omitted) (citing Missouri v. Frye, - U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1399, 182 L.Ed.2d 379 (2012); Lafler v. Cooper, - U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1376, 182 L.Ed.2d 398 (2012)).

We therefore reverse and remand the case to the trial court to either attach portions of the record conclusively refuting the defendant’s claim or to hold an eviden-tiary hearing addressing Alcorn. Beginning with the last prong first, the defendant’s sentence under the terms of the offer (five years) was less severe than the sentence imposed (eight years). Therefore, the remaining issues to be resolved by the trial court are whether the defendant can demonstrate a reasonable probability that: (1) he would have accepted the offer had counsel advised him of the correct statutory maximum sentence; (2) the prosecutor would not have withdrawn the offer; and (3) the court would have accepted the offer’s terms. See id.

Reversed and Remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

MAY, LEVINE and FORST, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Massaro v. State, 127 So. 3d 690 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
    …h a transcript wherein there is a reference to a plea. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850. The claim was not refuted by the record furnished. We, therefore, reverse and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings. See, e.g., Gribble v. State, 120 So. 3d 153 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013). Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded. STEVENSON, GROSS and CIKLIN, JJ., concur.…

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