State v. Hoyt

11 Fla. Supp. 2d 147
CourtPalm Beach County Court
DecidedJuly 16, 1985
DocketCase No. 84-20294MO A08
StatusPublished

This text of 11 Fla. Supp. 2d 147 (State v. Hoyt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Palm Beach County Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hoyt, 11 Fla. Supp. 2d 147 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

ROBERT M. GROSS, County Judge.

This case concerns Defendant’s right to specifically enforce an executory plea agreement with the prosecutor. At an evidentiary hearing, the Court took testimony and received documents into evidence.

Findings of Fact

By a Notice to Appear issued by the Riviera Beach Police Depart[148]*148ment, Defendant was charged with attempted possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. At the time of his arrest, Defendant was on probation in an unrelated case. Defendant was especially concerned that this new charge would adversely affect his probationary status.

Defendant’s attorney negotiated a plea bargain with the prosecutor. Defendant agreed to pay the City’s police department $200.00 as costs of investigation and to execute a general release in favor of the City. In return, the State agreed to nolle prosse the charge. Defendant accepted the State’s offer. He executed the release, gave his attorney the money for the payment, and told his probation officer that these charges would be dropped. Defendant then moved to upstate New York where he is now a permanent resident.

After Defendant had moved out of Florida, the prosecutor changed his mind about the plea bargain. Even though Defendant’s attorney was eager to turn over the $200.00 and the release, the prosecutor refused to nolle prosse the case. After the prosecutor refused the attorney’s offer of performance, this motion to enforce the plea bargain or to dismiss the case was filed.

Conclusions of Law

Defendant contends that his plea bargain with the prosecutor bars the State from continuing to prosecute him. However, neither the United States Constitution nor the Rules of Criminal Procedure afford Defendant a basis of relief. In addition, the facts of this case do not demonstrate a prosecutorial violation of the public trust extreme enough to warrant specific enforcement of the plea bargain.

I

Florida courts have recognized that prosecutors have broad discretion in performing their duties. E.g., State v. Werner, 402 So.2d 386, 387 (Fla. 1981). Without having to obtain leave of court, a prosecutor may discontinue prosecution by entering a nolle prosequi prior to a jury being sworn, Wilson v. Renfroe, 91 So.2d 857, 859 (Fla. 1957); State v. Sokol, 208 So.2d 156 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1968), or before a defendant’s guilty plea has been accepted by the trial court. Cabrera v. State, 415 So.2d 898 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1982). Similarly, in the give and take negotiations of plea bargaining, a prosecutor may freely exercise his own judgment concerning the method and means of resolving a case. E.g., Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 364-65, 98 S.Ct. 663, 667-68, 54 L.Ed.2d 204 (1978).

However, in the plea bargaining process, a prosecutor’s conduct is [149]*149subject to certain controls. As a matter of constitutional law, a prosecutor may not undermine the voluntariness or consensual nature of a defendant’s guilty plea. Mabry v. Johnson, — U.S. —, 104 S.Ct. 2543, 81 L.Ed. 2d 437 (1984). Thus, in carrying out a plea bargain, a prosecutor at a plea conference before the Court is required to take the position or to make the recommendation which formed part of the plea agreement with the defendant. Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed. 2d 427 (1971) (prosecutor’s office reneged on promise to make no recommendation to the Court as to sentence); Crossin v. State, 262 So.2d 250 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972) (prosecutor failed to recommend that defendant be placed on probation); Vetter v. State, 425 So.2d 575 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (prosecutor indirectly breached his plea agreement by making damaging statements to be included in a presentence investigation); Wood v. State, 357 So.2d 1060 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). If a defendant has pled guilty based in part on a prosecutor’s broken promise, such a plea is not intelligent and knowing, and is in violation of the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. Mabry v. Johnson, 104 S.Ct. at 2547; see, Crossin v. State, 262 So.2d at 251. Where Forida courts have found that prosecutors have so breached plea agreements, the cases háve been remanded to the trial court either for resentencing by a different judge, Vetter v. State, 425 So.2d at 576-77, or to allow the defendant to withdraw his plea. Lollar v. State, 443 So.2d 1079 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Crossin v. State, 262 So.2d at 25; Nova v. State, 439 So.2d 255, 263 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1983).

In the case at bar, Defendant complains that the prosecutor withdrew a plea offer after acceptance by Defendant and before the plea was accepted by the Court. This is not a case where a defendant entered a plea and was sentenced after the prosecutor reneged on the plea agreement. A defendant’s mere acceptance of a prosecutor’s proposed plea bargain creates no constitutional right to have the bargain specifically enforced. Mabry v. Johnson, 104 S.Ct. at 2548.

A plea bargain standing alone is without constitutional significance; in itself it is a mere executory agreement which, until embodied in the judgment of a court, does not deprive an accused of liberty or any other constitutionally protected interest. Id. at 2546.

The principle that no constitutional protection clothes executory plea agreements is embodied in Florida’s Rule of Criminal Procedure. Rule 3.172(f) plainly states that no “plea offer or negotiation is binding” until formally accepted by the trial judge. Until such in-court acceptance, either party may withdraw its offer. State v. Reasbeck, 359 So.2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Harden v. State, 453 So.2d 550 (Fla. 4th [150]*150DCA 1984). Thus, in this case, neither the Due Process Clause nor the Rules of Criminal Procedure prohibit the prosecutor’s change of heart.

II

On other than constitutional or rule grounds, Florida courts have held prosecutors to their word. No clear rule of law has emerged from these cases. In dicta, one court has indicated that “specific performance of a plea bargain is not available to a defendant in the absence of a clear showing of irrevocable prejudice. . .” Odom v. State, 310 So.2d 770, 771 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); see, Barker v. State, 259 So.2d 200, 204 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972). In passing, the Florida Supreme Court has suggested that a defendant’s reliance on a prosecutor’s promise requires specific performance of the promise. Davis v. State, 308 So.2d 27, 29 (Fla. 1975). Other courts have specifically enforced prosecutors’ plea bargain promises while pointing to a defendant’s (1) complete performance of his side of a plea agreement, Williams v. State, 341 So.2d 214, 216 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Flaherty v. State, 367 So.2d 1111 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1979), (2) detrimental reliance upon the State’s promise, cf., State v. Reasbeck, 359 So.2d at 564; Ballard v. State, 458 So.2d 796 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1984), or (3) detrimental reliance upon the State’s promise and resulting prejudice, cf., State v. Borrego, 445 So.2d 666, 668 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1984).

The rationale for specific enforcement of a prosecutor’s side of an executory plea agreement was articulated in Davis v.

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Related

Santobello v. New York
404 U.S. 257 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Bordenkircher v. Hayes
434 U.S. 357 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Mabry v. Johnson
467 U.S. 504 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Wood v. State
357 So. 2d 1060 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1978)
James v. State
305 So. 2d 829 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
Barker v. State
259 So. 2d 200 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1972)
Butler v. State
228 So. 2d 421 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1969)
Harden v. State
453 So. 2d 550 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
Davis v. State
308 So. 2d 27 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1975)
Nova v. State
439 So. 2d 255 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1983)
Odom v. State
310 So. 2d 770 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
State v. Borrego
445 So. 2d 666 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
State v. Werner
402 So. 2d 386 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1981)
Flaherty v. State
367 So. 2d 1111 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1979)
Williams v. State
341 So. 2d 214 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1976)
State v. Sokol
208 So. 2d 156 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1968)
State v. Davis
188 So. 2d 24 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1966)
State v. Davis
194 So. 2d 621 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1966)
Lollar v. State
443 So. 2d 1079 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
F. K. G. Co. v. Keys Bottled Gas Co.
91 So. 2d 857 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1957)

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Bluebook (online)
11 Fla. Supp. 2d 147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hoyt-flactyct50-1985.