Baxter v. State

127 So. 3d 726, 2013 WL 6171262, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 18793
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 26, 2013
DocketNo. 1D11-5703
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 127 So. 3d 726 (Baxter v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baxter v. State, 127 So. 3d 726, 2013 WL 6171262, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 18793 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

MAKAR, J.

Alicia F. Baxter claims that the imposition of a twenty-year state prison sentence, which followed her rejection of the trial court’s offer of eleven months and twenty-nine days in county jail, meets the standard for what is known as “judicial vindictiveness.” In addition, she claims the trial court erred by refusing to allow her to accept the initial offer after she rejected it. For the reasons that follow, we vacate her sentence and remand for resentencing.

I.

On Halloween Day 2009, Ms. Baxter and codefendant, Damian Johnson, had two goals: make methamphetamine and have sex. They first embarked on the dangerous and toxic process of attempting to manufacture meth, neither being skilled in the task. Johnson bought various ingredients and supplies; Ms. Baxter bought Su-dafed, a necessary component, at a local drug store. The venue for their portable “meth lab” was a motel in Marianna, Florida, at which they requested a smoking room. Shortly after they checked in, the manufacturing process was begun — but it soon ended dramatically. Johnson — still under the effects of meth taken the night before — shook various ingredients in a Gatorade® bottle, which exploded into the bathroom area and then ignited, causing significant injury to him. Johnson and Ms. Baxter fled the room, leaving behind substantial damage to the motel and inconvenience to the many people who had to flee the premises when police and firefighters arrived.

Ms. Baxter was charged with attempted manufacture of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a listed chemical, and arson to an occupied structure, the latter punishable by up to thirty years of imprisonment.1 Johnson, who also faced similar charges, agreed to testify against Ms. Baxter.

Almost three years passed between the motel incident and Ms. Baxter’s trial. During that time, at some point the trial judge became involved in plea discussions, though it is somewhat unclear who initi[730]*730ated them due in part to at least three off-the-record conversations.2 The first, for which no transcript exists, occurred in conjunction with the initiation of the plea bargaining process. Ms. Baxter avers that the trial judge discussed with Ms. Baxter’s counsel, Assistant Public Defender Guy-Green, what sentence he would impose if Ms. Baxter entered a “straight up” plea at that time. The trial judge allegedly offered to sentence Ms. Baxter to two years of drug offender community control if the first eleven months and twenty-nine days were spent in county jail, followed by three years of drug offender probation, followed by ten years of administrative probation, which would expire when restitution was paid.

On March 15, 2011, the trial court held a plea hearing at which Mr. Green accepted the deal on her behalf. The trial judge sentenced her to the agreed upon sentence. The prosecutor was present, but did not speak. Before the hearing concluded, however, Ms. Baxter told the trial judge that she wanted to withdraw her plea. This exchange ensued:

COURT: All right. You sure you know what you’re doing, ma’am?
DEFENDANT: I hope so.
MR. GREEN: Can I—
COURT: You’re looking at 50 years; do you understand that?
DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
COURT: It’s withdrawn. Set it for trial. There ain’t no more talking, Mr. Green, that’s all I can do. Is she set for trial next week?

Later that day, after the plea hearing had concluded, the trial judge along with Mr. John Y. Roberts, (who was later appointed as Ms. Baxter’s conflict counsel), the Clerk, and three unidentified males held a second off-the-record conversation. Mr. Roberts told the trial judge that Ms. Baxter “was outside throwing up and she said it’s about the adjudication.... She wants to take the deal, she just kind of was ... she wants to take it.” The conversation continued, in relevant part, as follows:

COURT: Okay, We don’t need to take it today. There’s too much on the record.
MR. ROBERTS: Want me to tell her to come (indiscernible)?
COURT: I don’t know. I don’t need to take a plea and her throwing up and stuff today. See, this is going to come back. She’s going, she’s going to change her mind when she gets to the jail, so I don’t know. We might complete her after drug court. What have we got after drug court tomorrow? Talk to Guy, but I mean, like, now, you know, and I’m not sure I’m going to take it tomorrow, but I mean, like, you know, I understand, but I’m just saying—
MR. ROBERTS: Yes, sir.
COURT: —it’s better if we let some time pass.
MR. ROBERTS: Yes, sir.

The next day, March 16, 2011, a hearing was held to set the trial date. Ms. Baxter apologized for her actions the previous day, saying that she was nervous. At [731]*731some point that same day, the trial judge, along with Mr. Roberts and the prosecutor, held a third off-the-record conversation — without Ms. Baxter present — in which Mr. Roberts stated that he did not know whether Ms. Baxter wanted to take the plea offer, but assumed she would do so.3 The relevant parts of this conversation are as follows:

COURT: I don’t think I’m going to take it.
MR. GREEN: Okay.
COURT: I’d just sent that guy to prison for five and a half years for the same thing, I guess.
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But this, this one just, it’s, it’s got me to the point I’m real uncomfortable about everything. I mean, I don’t want to have to beg somebody to take it and I understand it’s not your fault. The cops don’t like it. We’re all just better off doing our jobs and just try her and whatever happens, I won’t necessarily nail her but you know, if they convict her she’s probably looking at prison. I don’t know, but I’m just saying it’s just easier on all of us—
MR. GREEN: Okay.
COURT: —to do our job. We’re going, we’re going to bend over backwards to help this girl and it’s going to come back to hurt us. One way or the other, something’s going to happen. I mean, she’s going to get in the jail and raise hell about something and, you know, fall and hurt her back or some b* * * * * *t. I mean I just see this coming, I’ve seen it happen too many times and I just don’t need to take a chance. I was doing it for you and—
MR. GREEN: Okay, we’ll I’m—
COURT: —bless your heart. You know what I’m saying.

The trial was conducted on August 28, 2011, the jury finding Ms. Baxter guilty of all three charges (she was now represented by Clifford Davis). On October 5, 2011, the trial court sentenced her to five years for Count I; fifteen years for Count II; and twenty years for Count III, all sentences to run concurrently (with credit for time served).

Ms. Baxter’s codefendant, Mr. Johnson, was sentenced by a different judge to eleven months and twenty-nine days in county jail, a sentence that had been offered by the trial judge in Ms. Baxter’s case.4 Specifically, Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
127 So. 3d 726, 2013 WL 6171262, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 18793, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baxter-v-state-fladistctapp-2013.