WILLIE FLEMING, 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.
A sentencing judge cannot receive a plea bargain product and then declare independence from the bargain.
Appellant pleaded guilty to robbery pursuant to a plea bargain where the state recommended a sentence of 18 years. The trial court imposed a sentence …
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 Sentencing Discretion cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Pursuant to a plea bargain, appellant plead guilty to the crime of robbery and the state, for its part recommended to the trial court that appellant be sentenced to a term of 18 years. The trial court imposed a sentence of 20 years.
In this case, as in Adams v. State,
the trial court informed the appellant that the court was not bound by the state’s recommendation, but the trial court failed to inform the appellant that it could not concur with the bargain. Repeating what was said in Adams:
“ . . . We do not conceive that a sentencing judge may knowingly receive a plea which is the product of a bargain with the prosecutor and yet declare himself independent of the bargain, so avoiding by finesse the provisions of Rule 3.171(c), R.Cr.P.”
With all due deference to the trial judge, who was without the benefit of this court’s opinion in Adams v. State, supra, at the time of the proceedings in the instant case, the sentence is vacated and the cause remanded so the trial court may either impose sentence in accordance with the plea bargain, or vacate the judgment and allow appellant to withdraw his guilty plea.
Reversed and remanded.
RAWLS, Acting C. J., and MILLS and SMITH, JJ., concur. . Adams v. State, 328 So. 2d 48 (Fla.App.1st, 1976).