STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
BUNYAN L. KENDRICK, JR., RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1976-06-09
No. 47116
OVERTON, C. J., and ROBERTS, BOYD and ENGLAND, JJ., concur.
336 So. 2d 353 Florida Supreme Court (1976) Caution
Cited by 22 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

Florida Supreme Court holds that when a defendant denies an essential element of a crime while entering a guilty plea, the trial court must make an adequate factual basis inquiry before accepting the plea, but the remedy is remand for such inquiry rather than automatic vacation of the plea and opportunity to withdraw the guilty plea.


Holding

The trial court must make an adequate and specific inquiry into the factual basis before accepting a guilty plea, particularly when the defendant raises potential defenses or denies essential elements. However, the proper remedy is not automatic vacation and remand with opportunity to withdraw the plea, but rather remand to the trial court to conduct the factual basis inquiry, receive evidence, and determine whether manifest injustice occurred.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must determine a factual basis for a guilty plea before accepting it.

[2] A defendant challenging a guilty plea for lack of a factual basis must demonstrate prejudice or manifest injustice.

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Key Quotes

“It is settled that the presence of a deadly weapon is an essential element of aggravated assault.”

Establishes that possession of a knife is a necessary element that must have a factual basis when the defendant enters a guilty plea to aggravated assault.

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Facts & Procedural History

Kendrick was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest with violence. At trial, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and resisting arres…

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Opinion of the Court
ADKINS, Justice.

ADKINS, Justice.

Certiorari was granted to review a decision of the District Court of Appeal, Second District (Kendrick v. State, 308 So. 2d 152), on ground of direct conflict with a decision of this Court.

Charged with aggravated assault and with resisting arrest with violence, respondent pleaded not guilty. Then, on the date set for trial, he withdrew the not guilty pleas and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and to resisting arrest without violence. At the change-of-plea proceedings, the trial court accepted the guilty pleas after determining that they were freely and voluntarily made. But the court failed, at that time, to determine a factual basis for the pleas.

At the sentencing proceeding, however, the trial court considered the presentence investigation report; the court also considered depositions in which witnesses stated that respondent possessed a knife at the time of the alleged aggravated assault. Respondent denied possession of a knife. Nevertheless, the court sentenced respondent to three years on the aggravated assault charge. Respondent was also sentenced on the charge of resisting arrest without violence.

Respondent appealed to the District Court of Appeal, challenging the guilty pleas because of the trial court’s failure to determine their factual basis. The District Court of Appeal [Kendrick v. State, 308 So. 2d 152 (Fla.App.2nd, 1975), hereinafter referred to as Kendrick] affirmed the judgment and sentence on the charge of resisting arrest without violence, holding that respondent failed to allege any prejudice stemming from the lack of a factual basis determination for the plea relating to that charge. But the District Court reversed the judgment and sentence for aggravated assault, implicitly holding that the trial court’s failure to adequately determine a factual basis resulted in prejudice when respondent denied possession of a knife. The District Court “remanded with the opportunity for appellant [respondent here] to change his plea to not guilty.” 308 So. 2d at 154.

Subsequently, the State filed a petition for writ of certiorari with this Court, claiming that the decision of the District Court of Appeal conflicts with the following decisions: Hall v. State, 309 So. 2d 226 (Fla.App.2nd, 1975); Estes v. State, 294 So. 2d 122 (Fla.App.1st, 1975); Mower v. State, 308 So. 2d 586 (Fla.App.1st, 1975); and Reyes v. Kelly, 224 So. 2d 303 (Fla.1969).

The circumstances of the Kendrick and Hall cases are strikingly similar. The defendants in both cases entered guilty pleas which the respective trial courts accepted. At the sentencing proceedings, the defendants in both cases denied elements of the charges against them; despite the denials, both trial courts sentenced the defendants. Yet, where the Kendrick court reversed judgment and sentence, the Hall court affirmed judgment and sentence. But as the Hall court specifically stated, the two cases are distinguishable. See Hall v. State, supra at 227. Upon review of the Hall decision, it is clear that the trial court therein made adequate inquiry into the factual basis of the guilty plea. It is equally clear that the trial court in Kendrick failed to make an adequate inquiry. The two cases are not in conflict.

There is no conflict with Estes v. State, supra. The defendant in Estes did not “say or contend that indeed there was no factual basis for his guilty plea.” 294 So. 2d at 123. Further, the conflict within the Estes opinion was resolved by this Court in Estes v. State, 316 So. 2d 276 (Fla.1975), when we recognized that “[t]he fact that the plea is negotiated does not eliminate the ‘factual basis’ requirement . . . 316 So. 2d at 277.

Nor is there conflict with Mower v. State, supra. In Mower, the District Court noted that the trial judge made adequate inquiry into the factual basis of the defendant’s guilty plea; judgment and sentence were affirmed. Further, the Mower opinion does not indicate that the defendant, during the course of the trial court proceedings, disputed the evidence or denied any element of the crime charged.

Finally, Kendrick does not conflict with Reyes v. Kelly, supra. The issue in Reyes was whether the trial court’s acceptance of the defendant’s plea of guilty caused former jeopardy to attach. The dictum in which the Reyes court construed the predecessor of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(j) generates no conflict because the factual basis requirement was not added to the rule until after Reyes. See In re Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 272 So. 2d 65 (Fla.1972).

Thus, the decision below conflicts with none of the four decisions suggested by the State. But as will be shown herein, the decision below does conflict with a decision of this Court. Accordingly, we have jurisdiction pursuant to Fla. Const. art. V, § 3(b)(3), F.S.A. It is settled that the presence of a deadly weapon is an essential element of aggravated assault. See, e. g., Goswick v. State, 143 So. 2d 817, 820 (Fla.1962). In the instant case, respondent denied possession of a deadly weapon — specifically, a knife.

This Court recently recognized that where a defendant claims a defense during the course of a guilty plea proceeding, the plea may be subject to attack. Williams v. State, 316 So. 2d 267, 273 (Fla.1975). But' in order to challenge a guilty plea for lack of a factual basis determination by the trial judge, a defendant must show prejudice or manifest injustice. Id. at 275. Where a defendant raises the possibility of a defense to his guilty plea, the potential prejudice is apparent. In such circumstances, a trial judge should make extensive inquiry into factual basis before accepting the guilty plea. See State v. Lyles, 316 So. 2d 277 (Fla.1975)., Correspondingly, the showing in the record of the source of the factual information supporting the plea (required by Williams v. State, supra at 273) should be made with greater specificity than was done in the instant case.

The court below reversed the judgment and sentence for aggravated assault. That result conflicts with the result reached by this Court in State v. Lyles, supra, where we indicated that a plea entered and accepted under the above-outlined circumstances should not be vacated. In Lyles, we stated:

“We direct the District Court to remand this cause to the trial court for the following purposes: (a) to make inquiry of the defendant and his counsel concerning their discussions relative to the defenses to the charge; (b) to receive evidence of a factual basis for the plea; and (c) to allow the defendant an opportunity to present evidence on his own behalf to show how, if at all, manifest injustice occurred.” 316 So. 2d at 279.

In our opinion, the Lyles result is the proper one. Accordingly, the decision of the District Court is quashed. The cause is remanded with directions to remand this cause to the trial court for proceedings consistent with Lyles and with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

OVERTON, C. J., and ROBERTS, BOYD and ENGLAND, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (22 total)

  • Bell v. State, 589 So. 2d 1374 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
    …ery. We therefore remand for an evidentiary hearing to permit the trial court to determine whether Bell was prejudiced by the trial court’s failure to ascertain whether there was a factual basis for the minimum mandatory sentence. State v. Kendrick, 336 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1976); Williams v. State, 534 So. 2d 929 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). If he was so prejudiced, such would be grounds for vacating the sentence. In count three, Bell was adjudicated guilty of committing robbery without a firearm, and in count four of r…
  • Gust v. State, 558 So. 2d 450 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
    …hallenge a guilty or nolo contendere plea on the ground that the trial court failed to make a factual basis determination, a defendant must show “prejudice or manifest injustice.” Williams v. State, 316 So. 2d 267, 275 (Fla.1975); State v. Kendrick, 336 So. 2d 353, 355 (Fla.1976); Fitzpatrick v. State, 414 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). In this, the defendant has obviously failed. Unlike Kendrick, the defendant has never denied that he was in possession of the knife. The defendant’s contention that the knif…
  • Williams v. State, 534 So. 2d 929 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)
    …lement of the charge. See Williams v. State. The failure of the court to make a complete inquiry, or to receive a complete proffer, will generally not result in reversal on appeal without a corresponding showing of prejudice. See State v. Kendrick, 336 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1976); Williams v. State, 316 So. 2d 267 (Fla.1975); Fitzpatrick v. State, 414 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). However, where the defendant raises the possibility of a defense in the course of his response, the potential prejudice is considere…
    1 / 2

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