Caristi v. State

578 So. 2d 769, 1991 WL 54130
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 11, 1991
Docket90-97
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 578 So. 2d 769 (Caristi 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
Caristi v. State, 578 So. 2d 769, 1991 WL 54130 (Fla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

578 So.2d 769 (1991)

Robert Francis CARISTI, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 90-97.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

April 11, 1991.

*770 Barbara M. Linthicum, Public Defender, and David P. Gauldin, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Carolyn J. Mosley, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

ZEHMER, Judge.

The principal issue raised on this appeal is whether a negotiated written plea agreement upon which judgment of conviction and sentence has been entered may be collaterally attacked by the defendant. We affirm the appealed order denying such collateral relief without prejudice to the filing of a rule 3.850 motion containing proper allegations of grounds for relief pursuant to this opinion.

Several months after entry of judgment of conviction and sentence on several criminal charges based on his plea of nolo contendere, Caristi filed a motion for leave to withdraw his plea. The plea had been accepted by the trial court pursuant to a written plea agreement signed by Caristi and his counsel, an assistant public defender. Caristi signed the agreement in the presence of his counsel when he appeared in open court for sentencing on March 22, 1989. Among other things, the written agreement recited that Caristi would be sentenced as a habitual felony offender. During the sentencing hearing, the trial court made no inquiry whatsoever of appellant concerning the circumstances of the charged offenses and his understanding of the plea, as required by rules 3.170(j) and 3.172, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure; the written plea agreement was simply accepted without significant inquiry or comment. Appellant was adjudicated guilty and sentenced as a habitual felony offender pursuant to section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1988 Supp.), to five years' imprisonment on two third degree felony charges of aggravated assault, these sentences to be served consecutively, and to one year's imprisonment on a battery charge and six months' imprisonment on a petit theft charge, to be served concurrently with the sentences imposed on the assault charges. It should be noted that the assistant state attorney handling this hearing was not the same attorney who had negotiated the plea agreement.

About three months later, around June 30, 1989, Caristi filed a pro se motion to correct his sentence pursuant to rule 3.800(a), alleging that upon entering service of his sentence with the Department of Corrections, he was informed of his classification as a habitual offender and apparently then realized that this classification denied him eligibility for certain gain time. His motion sought to have this classification set aside on grounds the court failed to comply with the procedural requirements in section 775.084, including a separate hearing on the adjudication as a habitual offender. His motion was denied based on the written plea agreement.

In November 1989, Caristi filed a second motion to correct his sentence, this time through his appointed counsel who had represented him throughout the proceedings before the trial court. This motion alleged that Caristi and his counsel had negotiated a plea agreement for ten years in prison, and that neither Caristi nor his counsel realized that he was being sentenced as a habitual offender because the negotiations with the state attorney's office were "for a straight ten (10) years in prison and that was what the Defendant was prepared to enter a plea to." The motion prayed that the sentence be corrected to ten years "without the aspects of a habitual sentence being imposed as it was through inadvertence and not intent that the Defendant signed the plea agreement and was sentenced as a habitual offender." This motion was also denied in view of the written plea agreement.

Also in November 1989, Caristi's counsel filed a motion to withdraw the plea of nolo contendere as not being freely and voluntarily entered, alleging in part that: (1) the requirements of rule 3.170 were not satisfied; (2) the requirements of rule 3.172 were not satisfied; (3) "due to last minute plea negotiations with the State Attorney's Office which substantially altered the terms of the written plea agreement, the Defendant plead (sic) to and was sentenced *771 not in accordance with the plea agreement and his understanding of the negotiated plea;" (4) the defendant signed a written plea agreement in open court that did not reflect the true terms of his negotiated sentence; and (5) the defendant has suffered prejudice "in that he was sentenced as a habitual offender without intending to plead as a habitual offender, without being fully advised that the written plea included the habitual offender status, and without prior knowledge of the ramifications of being sentenced under habitual offender status." The record reflects that appointed counsel representing Caristi has confirmed to the court his belief in the truthfulness of these allegations. The assistant state attorney handling the case at sentencing indicated that the state disputes these allegations, but no evidentiary hearing has been held to determine this or any other disputed issues of fact. The trial court again denied the motion in reliance on the written plea agreement. On this timely appeal taken from that order Caristi urges three points for reversal.

I.

First, Caristi argues that he and his counsel believed Caristi would be sentenced to a straight ten years, not as a habitual felony offender, and that the plea and sentence are invalid and must be vacated because the trial court did not comply with any of the requirements of rules 3.170 and 3.172. The state responds that a "formal" violation of the procedures for receiving a plea pursuant to the cited rules is not a valid ground for a collateral attack and that Caristi is procedurally barred from raising this issue on this appeal. The state argues that the motion does not meet the requirements of rule 3.850 because the issues sought to be raised could or should have been raised on direct appeal, citing by way of example, based on similar provisions in federal law, United States v. Timmreck, 441 U.S. 780, 99 S.Ct. 2085, 60 L.Ed.2d 634 (1979). Even if the issue is so reviewable, the state urges, the trial court's failure to strictly comply with the formal procedures for accepting Caristi's plea was harmless because the written plea agreement executed by Caristi and his counsel recited the defendant's consideration of substantially the same information that the trial court was obligated to cover with the defendant when accepting his plea under the cited rules.

The state argues persuasively that there must be a limit on the defendant's right to further review, either by direct appeal or collateral attack, after his conviction and sentence entered upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere without reserving the right of appeal. See § 924.06(3), Fla. Stat. (1987). Pointing out that rule 3.850 does not authorize collateral relief on grounds that could have or should have been raised at sentencing or on direct appeal of the judgment or sentence, the state argues that the grounds alleged in Caristi's motion to withdraw his plea cannot form the basis of a collateral attack at this time because these grounds could have been raised at sentencing and on direct appeal, citing "Mickens v. State, [562 So.2d 856] 15 F.L.W. D1661 (Fla. 1st DCA June 21, 1990) (issue raised sua sponte by court where Anders brief was filed); Martinez v. State, 417 So.2d 770 (Fla.

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Bluebook (online)
578 So. 2d 769, 1991 WL 54130, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caristi-v-state-fladistctapp-1991.