ROBERT EARL WILLIAMS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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In this collateral attack on a guilty plea conviction, the Florida appellate court reversed and remanded because the trial court failed to make an explicit record of determining whether the defendant's guilty plea was voluntary and made with understanding of the charge, as required by criminal procedure rule.
The court held that the trial court erred by failing to make a record determining that the plea was voluntary and made with understanding of the charge, as explicitly required by Rule 1.170. The court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing before the trial court to determine whether the required inquiry was actually conducted.
[1] A trial court must determine that a guilty plea is made voluntarily and with an understanding of the nature of the charge before accepting it.
[2] The absence of a record showing the trial court inquired into the voluntariness of a guilty plea necessitates an evidentiary hearing on a collateral attack.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The court * * * shall not accept the plea without first determining that the plea is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge.”
This establishes the mandatory requirement for trial courts under Rule 1.170, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, establishing the strict procedural safeguard for guilty pleas.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Earl Williams, represented by private counsel, withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a guilty plea to Count 1 (breaking and entering with…
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By this collateral attack pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 33 F.S.A., appellant challenges the judgment and sentence upon the grounds of (1) involuntariness of his plea of guilty because of coercion by the prosecuting attorney, and (2) denial of relief by the trial court without granting an evidentiary hearing.
An examination of the record in this cause reveals that appellant, who was duly represented by privately-employed counsel, entered a plea of guilty. The record does not reveal any inquiry by the trial court as to the voluntariness of the plea. Rule 1.-170, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides as follows:
“(a) Type of Pleas; Court’s Discretion in Accepting.— * * * The court * * * shall not accept the plea without first determining that the plea is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge.”
As noted above, defendant was represented by privately-employed counsel at the time he withdrew his former plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty. The record reveals that the plea of guilty was entered as to Count 1 of the information which charged appellant with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony. Concurrently therewith, a nolle prosequi was announced by the State as to Count 2 of the information which charged defendant with grand larceny.
*268In our opinion it would ordinarily be presumed that a member of The Florida Bar always adequately informs his client concerning the nature of the charge pending against him and the consequences of a plea of guilty before allowing such a plea to be entered. We cannot invoke this presumption in the instant case because the Rules of Criminal Procedure provide explicitly that the trial judge shall not accept a plea of guilty without first determining that it is made voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the charge. Solely because of this rule, after considering prior United States Supreme Court decisions which served as a catalyst for adoption of the rule, we are compelled to remand this cause to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing upon the question of whether or not the trial judge made such inquiry as contemplated by said rule.
This court in McPherson v. State, 237 So.2d 18 (1970), stated:
“ * * * we deem it appropriate to invite the attention of trial courts to the importance of causing the record of the proceedings conducted by them on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to clearly reflect that the plea was knowingly and understanding^ tendered by the defendant and was voluntarily made free from any threats, intimidation, coercion, promises or inducements of any kind.”
This court then stated therein that the proper method for seeking such a review would be pursuant to procedure authorized by Criminal Procedure Rule 1.8S0. The appellant herein has followed the procedure as outlined in McPherson v. State, supra, therefore, the cause is remanded with directions to the trial court to grant appellant an evidentiary hearing.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
WIGGINTON, Acting C. J., and SPEC-TOR, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Williams v. State, 259 So. 2d 753 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972)…d and remanded for further proceedings in conformity with Rule 1.830, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the cited cases. Affirmed in part and reversed in part. CARROLL, DONALD K., Acting C. J., and JOHNSON, J., concur. . Williams v. State, 245 So. 2d 267 (1 Fla.App.1971),. . Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1.170, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 33 F.S.A. . Thomas v. State, 201 So. 2d 834 (2 Fla. App.1967). . Cf. Laws v. State, 235 So. 2d 754 (4 Fla. App.1970). . Lockhart v. State, 274 N.…
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Clark v. State, 256 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972)…save a great deal of time for both the trial court and the appellate court at some future date. As did the First District Court of Appeal in the case of McPherson v. State, Fla.App.1970, 237 So. 2d 18 (reiterated in Williams v. State, Fla.App.1971, 245 So. 2d 267), we invite the attention of the trial courts to the importance of causing the record of [*553] the proceedings conducted by them on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to clearly reflect that the plea was knowingly and understandingly tendered by t…
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State v. Rhoden, 36 Fla. Supp. 194 (Brevard Cty. Ct. 1972)…endant entered his plea of guilty, a copy of which is attached to the record in case no. 70-693 in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, will reveal that the trial court followed CrPR Rule 1.170(a) as interpreted in Williams v. State, Fla. App. 1971, 245 So. 2d 267, and that the trial court conducted a thorough examination to ascertain the voluntariness of the plea and accepted it only after being assured that it was freely and voluntarily given, see Huguenot v. State, Fla. App. 1970, 230 So. 2d 488; Hooper v.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- McPHERSON v. State, 237 So. 2d 18 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970)