STEVEN CURTIS RICHARDSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2016-08-19
No. 5D15-4131
TORPY, PALMER and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.
198 So. 3d 1075 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2016) 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

Richardson pleaded guilty to multiple charges under a plea agreement that specified a one-year county jail sentence followed by two years of probation, with the condition that he appear for sentencing. After failing to appear at sentencing, the trial court imposed an enhanced prison sentence without determining whether his failure to appear was willful. The appellate court reversed, holding that the State must prove willfulness by a preponderance of the evidence before an enhanced sentence may be imposed.


Holding

A trial court errs when it imposes an enhanced sentence for failure to appear at sentencing without making a factual determination regarding willfulness. The State bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant willfully failed to appear. If the State fails to establish willfulness, the defendant must be sentenced according to the original plea agreement terms.


Headnotes

[1] A claim of error is not preserved for appeal if the specific legal ground was not raised at trial.

[2] A defendant's failure to appear for sentencing under a Quarterman agreement must be willful to void the agreement.

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“[W]here timely appearance for sentencing is made a condition of a plea agreement, a non-willful failure to appear will not vitiate the agreement and permit the trial court to impose some greater sentence.”

Establishes the controlling legal standard that willfulness must be proven before an enhanced sentence can be imposed despite plea agreement language authorizing such a sentence.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Richardson was charged with burglary, grand theft, and related offenses. He negotiated a plea agreement requiring him to serve one year in county jail…

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM,

PER CURIAM,

Steven Curtis Richardson was charged by the State of Florida with committing burglary of a dwelling; three counts of dealing in stolen property; grand theft; and three counts of receiving money from a' pawnbroker by false verification of ownership or identification. Richardson failed to appear for- trial, and the trial court issued a capias for his arrest. Shortly thereafter, Richardson entered into a plea agreement with the State that included, inter alia,.the State filing a nolle prosequi on the burglary and grand theft charges and Richardson , pleading guilty to the re*1076maining charges. The plea agreement called for Richardson to serve one year in the county jail, followed by two years of probation on these charges, with his sentences running concurrently. The parties further agreed that sentencing would be deferred for approximately one week so that Richardson could spend time with his ailing mother. The trial court accepted the plea.

Richardson failed to appear at the sentencing hearing. The court proceeded to sentence Richardson in absentia, imposing a significant prison term for five of the six counts, followed by five years of probation on the remaining count, and issued a warrant for Richardson’s arrest. Ten days later, Richardson was located and arrested at an apartment complex in Winter Garden. Richardson thereafter filed a motion to withdraw his plea of guilty or, in the alternative, to modify his prison sentence to the terms of his sentence set forth in the plea agreement. The trial court denied the motion without a hearing.

Richardson’s only argument on appeal is that the trial court erred in sentencing him in absentia to an enhanced sentence without finding that his failure to appear for sentencing was willful.

Initially, we conclude that the trial court correctly denied Richardson’s motion to withdraw his plea. In paragraph 21 of his plea agreement, Richardson expressly agreed that if the court permitted him to remain at liberty pending sentencing, he would timely appear in court on the day of sentencing. Richardson further, agreed that if he violated this condition, he would not be allowed to set aside his plea and that the court could sentence him up to the total maximum sentence permitted by law.1 At the change of plea hearing, Richardson also testified ■ that he understood and agreed with these conditions.

Nevertheless, we find that the trial court erred when it imposed the enhanced sentence without making a factual determination or finding as to whether Richardson’s failure to appear at sentencing was willful. See Ingmire v. State, 9 So.3d 1278, 1281-82 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). “[Wjhere timely appearance for sentencing is made a condition of a plea agreement, a non-willful failure to appear will not vitiate the agreement and permit the trial court to impose some greater sentence.” Robinson v. State, 946 So.2d 565, 567 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (quoting Johnson v. State, 501 So.2d 158, 160-61 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)).

Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing to make a factual determination as to whether Richardson’s failure to appear at his sentencing was willful. At this hearing, the State bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that Richardson willfully failed to appear. See Peacock v. State, 77 So.3d 1285, 1288 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) (citing Ingmire, 9 So.3d at 1281). If the State fails to establish willfulness, then Richardson should be sentenced in accordance with the terms of the plea agreement previously accepted by the trial court. See Lowery v. State, 22 So.3d 745, 749 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009).

REVERSED and REMANDED.

TORPY, PALMER and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Jones v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2024)
    …s responsibility to seek to void the Quarterman agreement in the first instance, which was not done. And the State bore the burden to prove willfulness in an evidentiary hearing to prevail and nullify the agreed-to sentence. See Richardson v. State, 198 So. 3d 1075, 1076 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (“At this hearing, the State bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that Richardson willfully failed to appear.”). The State did not do the necessaries to void the Quarterman agreement; but it is equ…
  • Jones v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2024)
    …s responsibility to seek to void the Quarterman agreement in the first instance, which was not done. And the State bore the burden to prove willfulness in an evidentiary hearing to prevail and nullify the agreed-to sentence. See Richardson v. State, 198 So. 3d 1075, 1076 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (“At this hearing, the State bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that Richardson willfully failed to appear.”). The State did not do the necessaries to void the Quarterman agreement; but it is equ…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw