Wilson Francois v. State of Florida

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed May 20, 2026.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D25-1526

Lower Tribunal No. F21-6451

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Wilson Francois,

Appellant,

vs.

State of Florida,

Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Laura Shearon Cruz, Judge.

Law Offices of Philip R. Horowitz, and Philip R. Horowitz, for appellant.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Jason Michael Ross, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before SCALES, C.J., and LOGUE and MILLER, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The standard of review for a lower court’s denial of a motion to withdraw a plea is abuse of discretion. See Coley v. State, 350 So. 3d 168,

2

168 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022). Moreover, “[w]here (as here) [a motion to withdraw a plea] is filed after sentence has been imposed, the defendant bears the burden of establishing that a ‘manifest injustice has occurred.’” Toomer v. State, 410 So. 3d 709, 712 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025) (quoting Williams v. State, 919 So. 2d 645, 646 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)). Nothing in this record indicates the trial court abused its discretion in denying Appellant’s motion to withdraw his plea considering the extensive colloquy conducted by the trial court when it accepted the Appellant’s plea.

Affirmed.