Caristi v. State, 90-97

Decision Date11 April 1991
Docket NumberNo. 90-97,90-97
Citation16 Fla. L. Weekly 990,578 So.2d 769
PartiesRobert Francis CARISTI, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. 578 So.2d 769, 16 Fla. L. Week. 990
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

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 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 Sec. 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, 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. 2d DCA 1982) (issue implicitly raised by defendant); and Robinson v. State, 373 So.2d 898, 903 (Fla.1979), where the court held that 'a defendant's right to appeal from a guilty plea is limited to a class of issues which occur contemporaneously with the entry of the plea.' "

We join in the state's and the trial court's concern that, as most criminal prosecutions are resolved by pleas, to allow collateral attack of guilty and nolo contendere pleas made pursuant to written plea agreements on grounds that the court did not comply with all formal requirements of rules 3.170 and 3.172 at the sentencing hearing would open the door to a flood of post-conviction applications by incarcerated prisoners. The need for finality in regard to such judgments and sentences is a compelling state interest that must be observed and enforced consistent with the fairness requirements of due process; and enforcing limitations on the right to file 3.850 motions on these grounds will not ordinarily impair the fairness of the plea and sentencing proceedings because the failure to observe all formal requirements of the cited rules is always readily apparent at the hearing and subject to immediate correction by contemporaneous objection or appellate review by direct appeal. On the other hand, the trial court's failure to comply with any of the requirements of rules 3.170 and 3.172, as in this case, presents questions of significant concern regarding the fairness of the pleas and sentencing proceeding and the propriety of holding Caristi to the terms of the written plea agreement. Placing total reliance upon a written plea agreement made out of court without pursuing any of the required inquiries of the defendant after placing him under oath in open court does not comport with the purpose and intent of these rules. Indeed, full compliance with the express procedures and inquiries undoubtedly would have served to avoid problems such as those we are reviewing in this case.

The rules of criminal procedure expressly authorize certain means of relief from the imposition of invalid sentences. Rule 3.170(f) expressly authorizes a motion to withdraw a plea of guilty if made before sentence has been imposed. Moreover, a trial court's failure to comply with the requirements of rules 3.170 and 3.172 during the acceptance of the plea agreement and sentencing are valid grounds for reversal on a...

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13 cases
  • Spriggs v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 17, 1993
    ...alleging failure to follow the statutory requirements); Likely v. State, 583 So.2d 414 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (same); Caristi v. State, 578 So.2d 769 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (same). But cf. Smith v. State, 608 So.2d 567 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (plea arrangement in which defendant agreed that prosecuto......
  • Brown v. State, 90-3048
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • December 4, 1992
    ...by sections 775.084(1)(a) and 775.084(3)(d), Florida Statutes (1989). The opinion relied upon the holding in Caristi v. State, 578 So.2d 769, 774 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), that a defendant's knowing waiver of the procedural rights available under section 775.084, by entering into a plea agreemen......
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    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • June 19, 1991
    ...dismissal of the appeal, I respectfully suggest that they are inaccurate. For reasons more fully explained recently in Caristi v. State, 578 So.2d 769 (Fla. 1st DCA, 1991), I agree that appellant has not properly preserved the matters argued on this appeal for appellate review on direct app......
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