Larson v. State
| Decision Date | 14 November 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-753,88-753 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 2630 Myren Wayne LARSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Michael E. Allen, Public Defender, and Phil Patterson, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Carolyn J. Mosley, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
The defendant appeals an order withholding adjudication of guilt and placing him on probation, imposed for the felony offense of tampering with a witness entered following his plea of nolo contendere. We reverse only that point relating to the lower court's imposition of costs in the absence of notice or opportunity to be heard, and remand the cause to the trial court for further proceedings. The probation order is otherwise affirmed.
Appellant was initially charged with felony tampering with a witness. He pled nolo to the lesser included offense of misdemeanor tampering with a witness, with the understanding that the state would recommend a term of probation to the court. The court, after first ascertaining that appellant understood the nonbinding effect of the plea negotiations, determined that appellant's plea was voluntarily made and, therefore, accepted the plea. The trial court deferred sentencing until a presentence investigation could be completed, however, it did modify the conditions of appellant's bond to include a provision that appellant not contact the witness with whom he was charged with tampering and that he stay away from the Florida State University campus, where the witness resided, until sentencing was imposed.
Upon appellant's later return to court for sentencing, it was reported to the court that appellant had, during the interim, violated the conditions of his bond by going to the university campus on at least two occasions, and in fact had been seen inside the dormitory where the witness resided. The prosecutor thereupon announced that he was withdrawing his original recommendation of probation due to appellant's conduct following the arraignment, and instead recommended that the court impose the maximum sentence of one year in county jail. In the colloquy between the court and appellant, the court asked appellant whether he wished to withdraw his nolo plea to the misdemeanor charge and proceed to trial on the felony count of tampering with a witness. Appellant never answered, explaining instead that he wished to be a medical doctor. 1
After a brief recess, appellant, through his attorney, announced that he wished to withdraw his plea to the lesser included misdemeanor offense and to instead plead no contest to the felony charge, conditioned upon the imposition of five years' probation, together with psychological counseling. As part of the plea agreement, he agreed not to reside in Leon County during the probationary period and to stay away from both the victim and the Florida State campus. Appellant indicated that he understood that the maximum penalty he faced on the felony charge was five years; that if he violated any of the terms or conditions of his probation, he could be adjudicated a felon and sentenced to the maximum term; that he waived his rights to trial; and he advised the court that no one had threatened or coerced him into entering his plea to the felony charge. The trial court thereupon found that the plea was entered freely, intelligently, and voluntarily, and placed appellant on five years' probation, with the conditions that he stay out of Tallahassee, Florida, during the term of his probation; that he reimburse Leon County $200 as partial costs of prosecution, as directed by the probation officer; that he submit to mental health counseling, as directed by the probation officer; and that he undergo a psychological evaluation and, if deemed necessary, obtain and satisfactorily complete counseling, as directed by the probation officer.
Appellant first argues that the trial court coerced him into withdrawing his previously entered plea to a misdemeanor and substituting a plea to a felony, and that the plea, therefore, was invalid, because it was not voluntary. We disagree. In ...
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