JORDAN WAGNER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
The court held that dual convictions for computer solicitation and unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony violate double jeopardy, but the trial court did not err in denying the motion to withdraw the guilty plea.
[1] Convictions for computer solicitation of a child and unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony violate double jeopardy when the elements of th…
[2] A defendant does not waive a double jeopardy claim by entering an open guilty plea when the violation is apparent from the record and there is no indication of waiver.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant engaged in sexual discussions and exchanged nude photographs with a minor via a cell phone application. He pleaded guilty to charges includi…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Open Guilty Plea cases and more on FLexlaw
Jordan Wagner (“Appellant”) raises two issues that merit discussion. First, he argues that his dual convictions for computer solicitation of a child or another person believed to be a child and unlawful use of a two-way communications device to facilitate the commission of a felony violate double jeopardy. Second, Appellant claims that the trial court erred by denying his motion to withdraw his open guilty plea to those charges and to additional charges of transmission of child pornography and materials harmful to a minor. We find the dual convictions in* this case violated double jeopardy and reverse as to that issue. We find no error in the trial court’s denial of Appellant’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, and affirm as to that and all other issues raised.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY ISSUE
Appellant, an adult, engaged in sexual discussions and exchanged nude photographs with a fourteen-year-old girl via the “Kik” messenger application on his cell phone. Appellant pretended to be a fifteen-year-old boy. He resumed communicating with the victim one day after being released on bond from his arrest on child pornography charges. The police were notified and assumed the identity of the child. The communications continued for several days and culminated in Appellant inviting the “child” to use the swimming pool in his apartment complex.
As to the dual convictions, Appellant correctly contends that under the facts and crimes charged in this case, the elements of computer solicitation of a child or another person believed to be a child wholly subsume the elements of unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime. Thus, conviction of both offenses constitutes a violation of the proscription against double jeopardy. See Holubek v. State, 173 So.3d 1114 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) and Holt v. State, 173 So.3d 1079 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015).
The State contends that Appellant waived this double jeopardy argument because he pleaded guilty to all charges. “The general rule is that a plea of guilty and subsequent adjudication of guilt precludes a later double jeopardy attack on the conviction and sentence.” Novaton v. State, 634 So.2d 607, 609 (Fla.1994) (citing United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 569, 109 S.Ct. 757, 102 L.Ed.2d 927 (1989)). *697However, “[t]here is an exception to this general rule when (a) the plea is a general plea as distinguished from a plea bargain; (b) the double jeopardy violation is apparent from the record; and (c) there is nothing in the record to indicate a waiver of the double jeopardy violation.” Id. In other words, “if [the] defendant enters into a general plea of guilty or no contest to the criminal charges, but leaves sentencing up to the court, then there is no waiver of the double jeopardy violation.” Grene v. State, 702 So.2d 510, 511 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). Here, Appellant entered an open guilty plea, which provided the trial court with absolute discretion to determine Appellant’s appropriate sentence. As there was no plea agreement between Appellant and the State, and no express waiver of the right to appeal a double jeopardy violation, Appellant is entitled to raise this issue on appeal. Holubek, 173 So.3d at 1116. We reverse the dual convictions and remand to the trial court to vacate one of the dual convictions and resentence Appellant accordingly.
MOTION TO WITHDRAW GUILTY PLEA
Appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to withdraw his plea as he was misadvised by defense counsel that he would receive concurrent, not consecutive, sentences for the charges. Additionally, Appellant contends that he was under the influence of psychotropic drugs when he entered the open guilty pleas. The trial court properly denied Appellant’s motion because the allegations in the motion are clearly refuted by the sworn statements he made during the plea colloquy, which included the following: (i) Appellant was not under the influence of any drugs; (ii) no promises were made to him by anybody regarding sentencing; (iii) he understood the judge had discretion to sentence him up to 170 years; and (iv) that he was satisfied with the representation provided by his counsel. See Henry v. State, 920 So.2d 1245, 1246 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Iacono v. State, 930 So.2d 829, 831 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Accordingly, we find no error in the denial of Appellant’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas and affirm as to that issue. The remaining issues raised by Appellant do not merit discussion.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
PALMER and BERGER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Avery Corbitt v. State, 220 So. 3d 446 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…the reasons Corbitt alleged are clearly rebutted by the sworn admissions he made during the plea colloquy. The courts have consistently held that when defendants seek to set aside their pleas, they are bound by those admissions. See Wagner v. State, 177 So. 3d 695, 697 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015); Conner v. State, 97 So. 3d 976, 976 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012); Henry v. State, 920 So. 2d 1245, 1246 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Thompson v. State, 50 So. 3d 1208, 1211 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). Once the trial court made its ruling and findi…
-
Senger v. State, 200 So. 3d 137 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…e downward departure sentence. . We reject Senger’s other arguments on entrapment without further discussion. . Because Senger tendered an open-, no contest plea, he did not waive his right to assert his double jeopardy claim. See Wagner v. State, 177 So. 3d 695, 696-97 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015). . Finally, we find no reason in this record to remand this case for resentencing on the traveling after solicitation conviction. After delet-tag the sentencing points from Senger’s criminal punishment code scoresheet fo…
-
Koppe v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2023)…__________________/ Opinion filed March 3, 2023 3.850 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, Tesha Scolaro Ballou, Judge. Christopher Lynn Koppe, Avon Park, pro se. No Appearance for Appellee. PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See Wagner v. State, 177 So. 3d 695, 697 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (recognizing that when a defendant enters an open plea, there is no plea agreement between the defendant and the State, and the trial court has the absolute discretion to determine the appropriate sentence); Jacoby v. Stat…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563 (U.S. 1989)
- Novaton v. State, 634 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 1994)
- Iacono v. State, 930 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
- Watson Grene v. State, 702 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)
- Holt v. State, 173 So. 3d 1079 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)
- Henry v. State, 920 So. 2d 1245 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
- Holubek v. State, 173 So. 3d 1114 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)