Brown v. State, 81-1548

CourtCourt of Appeal of Florida (US)
Citation428 So.2d 369
Docket NumberNo. 81-1548,81-1548
PartiesRalph Daryle BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Decision Date23 March 1983

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Theresa K. Edwards, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Sean Daly, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

ORFINGER, Chief Judge.

Based on a plea of guilty to a charge of sexual battery in violation of section 794.011(3), Florida Statutes (1979), appellant was adjudged guilty and sentenced to incarceration for seventy-five years. The court retained jurisdiction over the first twenty-five years of the term, pursuant to section 947.16(3), Florida Statutes (Supp.1978). On appeal from the judgment and sentence, appellant raises several issues, but only two warrant discussion.

The crime for which appellant was charged occurred in May, 1976. On September 30, 1976, appellant entered a plea of guilty to the charge. Based on psychiatric reports procured in response to appellant's motion, the trial court determined that appellant was a mentally disordered sex offender and, without sentencing him, committed appellant for hospitalization. Based on proceedings which followed, appellant was hospitalized until August, 1981, at which time the treatment staff recommended that he was no longer a sexual menace to society and should be returned to the court.

On September 23, 1981, appellant appeared before the trial court 1 for sentencing, at which time he announced to the court that he wished to withdraw his guilty plea because it had not been voluntarily or intelligently made. The court continued the sentencing until November 5, 1981, to give appellant the opportunity to show good cause for withdrawal of the plea. On the new sentencing date, appellant's counsel indicated that she had nothing to offer by way of tangible evidence or testimony, only that appellant thought he was pleading to something less than a life felony. The trial court indicated that he had thoroughly acquainted himself with the record [Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.700(c) ], and that he did not consider appellant's grounds sufficient to show good cause to set aside the plea. He adjudicated appellant guilty, sentenced him to seventy-five years in prison, and retained jurisdiction over the first twenty-five years thereof.

Appellant complains of error in the trial court's refusal to set aside the guilty plea. The withdrawal of a guilty plea is a question addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and appellate courts may reverse the trial court if an abuse of discretion is demonstrated, Castello v. State, 260 So.2d 198 (Fla.1982). While a motion to withdraw a plea of guilty should be liberally construed in favor of a defendant, the defendant still must establish good cause for withdrawal of the guilty plea. Adler v. State, 382 So.2d 1298 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). It is the defendant who has the burden of establishing grounds in order to be entitled to withdraw a guilty or nolo contendere plea, and mere naked allegations contained in a motion to withdraw, unsupported by any proof, can never constitute a basis for withdrawal of a plea. State v. Braverman, 348 So.2d 1183 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). Despite two opportunities given appellant to do so, no good cause was shown the trial court, and we cannot say that he abused his discretion in rejecting the motion.

Appellant next contends that the trial court had no authority to retain jurisdiction over the first one-third of his sentence, because section 947.16(3) was first enacted in 1978, and the crime of which he was convicted was committed in 1976. Without question, the application of section...

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15 cases
  • Walcott v. State
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • November 15, 1984
    ...over parole release without stating reasons as required by § 947.16(3), Fla.Stat.), citing Barlow, Jones and Smith. Brown v. State, 428 So.2d 369 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), applied the COR to a sentencing error (the ex post facto application of § 947.16(3), Fla.Stat., authorizing trial court rete......
  • Wagner v. State, 5D03-756.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • February 4, 2005
    ...to establish good cause to set aside the plea under the rule. See Gunn v. State, 841 So.2d 629 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Brown v. State, 428 So.2d 369 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983); Adler v. State, 382 So.2d 1298 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). "Good cause has been found to exist where the defendant demonstrates `that......
  • State v. Rajaee, 98-3476.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • November 19, 1999
    ...to set aside a plea, an appellate court can reverse the decision if there has been an abuse of discretion. See Brown v. State, 428 So.2d 369 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). Here, the trial court's only reason for setting aside the plea was that Rajaee might be executed if he were deported to Iran. In ......
  • Robinson v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • August 19, 1999
    ...the plea was not voluntarily and intelligently entered. See Gore v. State, 552 So.2d 1185, 1186 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989); Brown v. State, 428 So.2d 369, 371 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983) ("[M]ere naked allegations contained in a motion to withdraw, unsupported by any proof, can never constitute a basis fo......
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