ROCCO J. SURACE, 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.
The court held that the defendant's guilty pleas were contaminated by an honest misunderstanding and prejudice, warranting withdrawal.
Defendant pleaded guilty to murder, sexual battery, and kidnapping, receiving a death sentence. He later moved to set aside the sentences, alleging hi…
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 Involuntary Sexual Battery cases and more on FLexlaw
ADKINS, Justice.
These are consolidated appeals, one of which is from a judgment convicting defendant of first degree murder, involuntary sexual battery, and kidnapping, resulting in a sentence of death and concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. We have jurisdiction of this appeal.
The other appeal is from an order of the trial court denying defendant’s motion to set aside the imposition of the sentences pursuant to Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850. This appeal was transferred to us by the District Court of Appeal.
The defendant, after withdrawing pleas of not guilty, entered pleas of guilty in all charges and was adjudged guilty. His waiver of the penalty hearing over the objection of the state attorney was refused by the trial judge. The jury recommended the death penalty. The sentences were then imposed.
Defendant, through counsel other than trial counsel, then filed a motion to vacate the sentences and the withdrawal of the guilty pleas on the ground that the pleas were induced by a commitment of the trial judge which was communicated to him by his court-appointed counsel. The motion was bolstered by written statements of trial counsel. The record is sufficient to bring this case squarely within the rule pronounced by this Court in Costello v. State, 260 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1972).
The pleas were based on a failure of communication or misunderstanding of the facts. In the colloquy preceding the plea the defendant was not asked if any promises were made to him. The defendant has established to our satisfaction that he was prejudiced by an honest misunderstanding which contaminated the voluntariness of the pleas.
The judgments and sentences are reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial judge with instructions to grant the motion for withdrawal of the guilty pleas and proceed to trial.
It is so ordered.
OVERTON, C. J., and BOYD, ENGLAND, SUNDBERG, HATCHETT and KARL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Thompson v. State, 389 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 1980)…at the death penalty is clearly an appropriate punishment in this cause. It is so ordered. SUNDBERG, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, ENGLAND and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur. McDONALD, J., dissents. . Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla.Const. . Surace v. State, 351 So. 2d 702 (Fla.1977). . Surace v. State, 378 So. 2d 895 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980).…
-
Birdsall v. State, 350 So. 2d 798 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)…indicate the appellant was present “when we had conversation in Court” and of course the State concedes there was plea bargaining not of record. Hopefully, Rule 3.172(c)(vii) will eliminate any “misunderstandings” in the future. . Surace v. State, 351 So. 2d 702 (Fla.1977); Costello v. State, 260 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1972).…
-
Spinkellink v. Louie L. Wainwright, 578 F.2d 582 (5th Cir. 1978)…as answered in Gregg, Proffitt, or Jurek, so we must look further. Spenkelink’s contention is without merit for several reasons. First, in Florida a defendant may be sentenced to death whether he pleads guilty or not guilty. E. g., Surace v. State, 351 So. 2d 702 (Fla.1977); Thompson v. State, 351 So. 2d 701 (Fla.1977); Lamadline v. State, 303 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1974). United States v. Jackson, supra, therefore, is inapplicable to the petitioner’s contention because there the condemned statute provided in effect…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Costello v. State, 260 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 1972)