VERONICA ELDER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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A guilty plea is invalid if the defendant was not adjudicated competent at the time the plea was entered, even if previously found competent.
[1] A guilty plea is invalid if the defendant was not adjudicated competent to proceed at the time the plea was entered.
[2] A trial court must hold a hearing and enter an order finding a defendant competent to proceed when the defendant has previously been adjudicated incompetent.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceElder, previously adjudicated incompetent, later entered a guilty plea after a doctor found her competent and parties stipulated to competence, but no…
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Veronica Elder appeals from her judgment and eighteen-year sentence, entered pursuant to a negotiated guilty plea, for attempted second-degree murder of a police officer and several other offenses. She argues the trial court erred in accepting her plea without holding a hearing or entering an order finding her competent to proceed when she had previously been adjudicated incompetent. We agree and reverse.
Early on in these proceedings, Elder was found incompetent and she was committed to a mental health facility. A few months later, Elder was re-evaluated by a doctor who concluded she was competent. At the hearing that followed, the parties stipulated to Elder’s competence based on the doctor’s report. The trial judge asked defense counsel to submit a proposed order but the record does not show that an order adjudicating Elder competent was ever filed. ’Approximately a year later, Elder entered a guilty plea before the trial court in exchange for an eighteen-year sentence. The trial court conducted a plea colloquy with Elder, accepted her plea as freely and‘voluntarily given, and sentenced her -in accordance with the agreement. However, Elder’s competency was never addressed.
Citing Dougherty v. State, 149 So.3d 672 (Fla.2014), this court relinquished jurisdiction to the trial court to hold' a hearing to assess Elder’s competency at the time she entered her plea. In accordance with our directive, the trial court appointed several doctors to evaluate Elder and held a competency hearing. . Based on the doctors’ evaluations, the trial court found that Elder is presently incompetent and that it is not possible to determine her 'competency retroactively. Because Elder was not adjudicated to be competent at the time she entered her plea,- her plea was invalid. *828 See id. at 678-79. Accordingly, we reverse Elder’s judgment and sentence and remand for further proceedings or such other action as may be appropriate.
Reversed and remanded.
ALTENBERND and SILBERMAN, JJ., Concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Elder v. State, 268 So. 3d 995 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019)…nges the trial court's "reinstated" judgment and sentence which was rendered on remand from this court's reversal of the judgment and sentence wherein we held that Elder's plea-the basis for the judgment and sentence-was invalid. See Elder v. State, 198 So. 3d 827, 827-28 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). We treat this appeal as a motion to enforce the mandate in Elder's previous case, Case No. 2D13-3440, and grant it. As a result, we dismiss the appeal in Case No. 2D17-551. I. Background In October 2011, Elder was charg…
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Elder v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2019)…trial court's "reinstated" judgment and sentence which was rendered on remand from this court's reversal of the judgment and - 2 - sentence wherein we held that Elder's plea—the basis for the judgment and sentence— was invalid. See Elder v. State, 198 So. 3d 827, 827-28 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). We treat this appeal as a motion to enforce the mandate in Elder's previous case, Case No. 2D13-3440, and grant it. As a result, we dismiss the appeal in Case No. 2D17-551. I. Background In October 2011, Elder was charg…
Authorities Cited
- Dougherty v. State, 149 So. 3d 672 (Fla. 2014)