Banks v. State

• Decision Date: 14 October 2004
• Docket Number: No. SC01-2733.,SC01-2733.
• Citation: 887 So.2d 1191
• Parties: Gregory BANKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

887 So.2d 1191

Gregory BANKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC01-2733.

Supreme Court of Florida.

October 14, 2004.

Stephen F. Hanlon, Susan L. Kelsey and Kevin M. O'Brien of Holland and Knight, LLP, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, James W. Rogers, Bureau Chief, Criminal Appeals and Alan R. Dakan, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Banks v. State, 801 So.2d 153 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001), which certified two questions of great public importance. We have jurisdiction, see art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.¹ We approve the First District's decision.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

On May 21, 2001, petitioner Gregory Banks filed a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 based upon this Court's decision in Heggs v. State, 759 So.2d 620 (Fla.2000). According to his motion, on October 7, 1996, Banks entered into a negotiated plea of nolo contendere and an agreed sentence based on his belief that the 1995 sentencing guidelines were valid. He claimed that he entered into a plea at the top of the 1994 guidelines in order to avoid a sentence under the harsher 1995 guidelines and that he would not have entered into the plea had he known those guidelines were invalid. Attached to his motion were two sentencing guideline scoresheets, one representing the sentencing range for the charges he pled to under the 1995 guidelines and one representing the range under the 1994 guidelines. Under the 1995 guidelines, the permitted sentencing range was 133.35 to 222.25 months, while under the 1994 sentencing guidelines, the permitted sentencing range was 80.1 months to 133.5 months.² In the motion, Banks requested alternative forms of relief, including: (1) resentencing to 80.1 months, the low end of the 1994 guidelines; (2) allowing him to withdraw his plea in favor of a new plea agreement; or (3) affording the State the chance to withdraw from the original plea agreement and proceed to trial.

The trial court summarily denied Banks' motion, attaching a copy of Banks' written plea agreement and transcripts from Banks' plea colloquy and sentencing hearing. In its order on Banks' postconviction motion, the trial court denied Banks' claim that he should be resentenced to the low end of the 1994 guidelines. The trial court noted that Banks had negotiated for a sentence of imprisonment for a term of years and not for a "minimum range" guidelines sentence. The trial court denied Banks' other requested relief, finding that the issues and arguments set forth in the motion were essentially identical to those that the court had previously considered in Banks' earlier 3.800 motion to correct an illegal sentence.

The agreement attached to the trial court's order indicated that in exchange for Banks' plea of nolo contendere, the State merged the charges from two other cases with the case in which Banks entered the plea and that Banks would receive a sentence of eleven years, or 132 months. Thus, although Banks' agreement to a sentence of 132 months was within the range shown on the 1994 guidelines scoresheet attached to his postconviction motion, it was at the very top of that range and only 1.5 months short of the maximum sentence of 133.5 months. The written agreement also reflected that Banks understood his sentence would be imposed under the uniform sentencing guidelines.³

On appeal, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's summary denial. See Banks, 801 So.2d at 154. The First District first determined that Banks was not entitled to resentencing pursuant to Heggs because (1) his plea was for a negotiated term of years and was not tied to the guidelines and (2) his sentence could have been imposed under the 1994 guidelines. Id. Furthermore, relying on its decision in Booker v. State, 771 So.2d 1187 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), review dismissed, 804 So.2d 328 (Fla.2001), the First District determined that Banks' claim to withdraw his plea also failed because his sentence fell within the range permissible under the 1994 guidelines. Id.⁴ Moreover, the First District determined that even if Banks' claim had merit, his motion would have been untimely under its decision in Regan v. State, 787 So.2d 265 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001).

ANALYSIS

We conclude that Banks' sentence was valid under the 1994 sentencing guidelines and approve the First District Court of Appeal's decision to affirm the trial court's order denying postconviction relief.

At the time the 1995 sentencing guidelines were in place, Banks entered a plea and negotiated a sentence for a prison term that fell at the lower end of the 1995 sentencing guidelines but still within the 1994 sentencing guidelines. After Banks was sentenced, the 1995 guidelines were invalidated. See Heggs v. State, 759 So.2d 620 (Fla.2000). Because the 1995 sentencing guidelines were invalidated, they could not have legally superseded the 1994 guidelines; therefore, the 1994 guidelines were still in effect. Banks' sentence was legal under the 1994 sentencing guidelines.

Nonetheless, Banks sought postconviction relief arguing that he should be allowed to withdraw his plea, or he should be resentenced at the lower end of the 1994 guidelines (to comport with the negotiated sentence at the lower end of the 1995 guidelines), or he should be allowed to proceed to trial. The trial court denied postconviction relief, attaching Banks' plea agreement as record evidence that he is not entitled to relief since his sentencing fell within the 1994 guidelines. The First District agreed with the trial court and held that Banks could not challenge his sentence under rule 3.850 because his plea was for a negotiated term not tied to the sentencing guidelines, and because his sentence was legal under the 1994 sentencing guidelines. We agree with the trial court and the First District that Banks' sentence was valid under the 1994 guidelines and that the invalid 1995 sentencing guidelines are not a sufficient ground to grant postconviction relief.

In Heggs, we explicitly recognized that only those persons who had been adversely affected by reliance on the validity of the 1995 guidelines may be entitled to relief. We stated in Heggs:

[O]ur decision here will require, among other things, the resentencing of a number of persons who were sentenced under the 1995 guidelines, as amended by chapter 95-184. However, only those persons adversely affected by the amendments made by chapter 95-184 may rely on our decision here to obtain relief. Stated another way, in the sentencing guidelines context, we determine that if a person's sentence imposed under the 1995 guidelines could have been imposed under the 1994 guidelines (without a departure), then that person shall not be entitled to relief under our decision here.

Id. at 627. Hence, under Heggs, if a sentence imposed under the 1995 guidelines could have been imposed under the 1994 guidelines (without a departure), then that defendant is not entitled to relief. Heggs imposes a bright-line test that precludes individuals from challenging their plea agreements when the sentences imposed pursuant to those agreements could have been imposed under the 1994 guidelines without a departure.

It is undisputed that Banks' sentence could have been imposed without a departure under the 1994 sentencing guidelines. Banks negotiated a plea for a sentence of imprisonment for a term of years and not for a "minimum range" guidelines sentence. Under the 1994 guidelines, the allowable sentencing range was between 80.1 months and 133.5 months. Banks received a sentence of 132 months, thereby placing him within the acceptable range under the 1994 guidelines. Therefore, under the plain language of our decision in Heggs, relief must be denied.

We conclude that Banks has not been adversely affected by reliance on the 1995 guidelines because the sentence he ultimately received was a valid sentence under the 1994 guidelines.

Therefore, we approve the First District's decision in this case.

It is so ordered.

WELLS, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANTERO and BELL, JJ., concur.

ANSTEAD, J., dissents with an opinion, in which PARIENTE, C.J., concurs.

ANSTEAD, J., dissenting.

Because this case was appealed from the trial court's summary denial of Banks' motion without an evidentiary hearing, rule 9.141(b)(2) of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure applied. Notably, the standard of review on appeal from such a denial is that "unless the record shows conclusively that the appellant is entitled to no relief, the order shall be reversed and the cause remanded for an evidentiary hearing or other appropriate relief." Fla. R.App. P. 9.141(b)(2)(D). Applying this standard, I cannot agree with the majority's approval of the district court's decision denying Banks a hearing on the merits of his claim.

I agree that Banks would not be entitled to resentencing because he entered into a negotiated plea for a term of years that was not specifically tied to the guidelines, i.e., the "low end," of the sentencing guidelines. However, that is not the issue here. Banks asserts that he relied on the validity and application of the 1995 guidelines in deciding to agree to his plea.⁵ In support of this claim, as has already been noted, he alleges he accepted a sentence at the very top of the 1994 guidelines, thereby avoiding the possibility of a sentence under the much harsher 1995 guidelines. The limited record in this case contains nothing to refute Banks' claim that he would not have pled nolo contendere if he had known that the 1994 sentencing range represented the maximum punishment that could be imposed even if he went to trial and lost.⁶ In other words, because the 1995 guidelines were invalid he would have had nothing to lose by going to trial since the top of the 1994 guidelines would have represented the...