Riddle v. State
| Decision Date | 31 May 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 67--435,67--435 |
| Citation | 212 So.2d 122 |
| Parties | Thomas C. RIDDLE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
C. Wade Yeakle, III, of Law Offices of Lawrence E. Lyman, St. Petersburg, for appellant.
Earl Faircloth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and William D. Roth, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lakeland, for appellee.
The appellant has timely filed an appeal from a final judgment of conviction and sentence rendered by the court below. The appellant seeks to have reviewed the action of the trial court in entering an order denying appellant's motion to withdraw a plea of guilty and to enter a plea of not guilty and also for reconsideration of sentence. Ard v. State, Fla.1959, 108 So.2d 42.
The facts of this case are that appellant was arrested on November 11, 1966, on the charge of rape. Appellant was formally indicted by the grand jury of Pinellas County for rape. He was arraigned on February 9, 1967, and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. On April 13, 1967, this indictment was nolle prosequi and another charge was made against appellant. This charge was for handling and fondling a female child under the age of fourteen years. The appellant plead guilty to this charge.
On May 25, 1967, the appellant was formally adjudged guilty and given a maximum sentence of ten years. At this formal sentencing the appellant orally asked the court to allow him to withdraw his plea of guilty and proceed to trial on the original charge of rape.
Up until this point in the proceedings appellant was represented by the Public Defender's office in Pinellas County. After the hearing of May 25, 1967, present counsel of record was retained by the family of appellant. On May 31, 1967, a petition for reconsideration of sentence was filed. After an investigation by counsel for appellant, a verified motion to withdraw plea of guilty and to enter plea of not guilty was filed on August 16, 1967. On September 1, 1967, a hearing was held on all pending motions, and the lower court denied both the motion to change the plea and the petition for reconsideration of the sentence.
At the hearing a sworn affidavit was introduced into the record signed by Mrs. Rose O'Keefe and dated August 22, 1967. Mrs. O'Keefe is the mother of the alleged victim of the crime with which appellant is charged. Appellant, Mrs. O'Keefe and the victim had been living together as a family for sometime even though appellant and Mrs. O'Keefe were not married.
The substance of the sworn affidavit stated that Mrs. O'Keefe had procured her daughter, the alleged victim, to tell the various policemen and officials in Pinellas County that appellant forcibly raped the said daughter. The affidavit also in essence states that statements made by the affiant, Mrs. O'Keefe, and her daughter were not true.
Another affidavit was presented showing that Mrs. O'Keefe had independently consulted an attorney of her choice before presenting this affidavit to appellant's counsel. These affidavits were presented only a few days prior to the hearing on the pending motions.
Additional evidence presented at the hearing tends to support the position of appellant on this appeal.
The record on appeal and the petition of appellant indicates ignorance, fear, and misapprehension on appellant's part in entering the plea of guilty. The appellant alleges that he was improperly advised by third parties in entering the plea of guilty. The appellant alleges that he was persuaded by the mother, Mrs. Rose O'Keefe, to enter the plea of guilty. Appellant also contends that he pleaded guilty to protect the alleged victim from having to go through the emotional experience of the trial. Appellant also contends that he is ignorant of his actual guilt, having been under the influence of alcohol and barbiturates on the night of the alleged crime.
Section 909.13, Fla.Stats., F.S.A., states:
'The court may in its discretion at any time before sentence permit a plea of guilty to be withdrawn and, if judgment of conviction has been entered thereon, set aside such judgment, and allow a plea of not guilty * * * to be substituted for the plea of guilty.'
The guidelines that have been set down to determine when it is proper to allow a plea of guilty to be withdrawn and a plea of not guilty to be entered are found in Pope v. State, 1908, 56 Fla. 81, 47 So. 487.
'The law favors trials on the merits; and, if the discretion of the trial court is abused in denying leave to withdraw a plea of guilty and to go to trial on the merits, the appellate court may interfere. * * *'
While it is shown that a defendant should be allowed to...
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State v. Braverman
...180 So. 764 (1938); Pope v. State, 56 Fla. 81, 47 So. 487 (1908); Stapleton v. State, 239 So.2d 140 (Fla.1st DCA 1970); Riddle v. State, 212 So.2d 122 (Fla.2d DCA 1968); Ostermann v. State, 183 So.2d 873 (Fla.2d DCA 1966); Jackman v. State, 160 So.2d 554 (Fla.3d DCA 1964); Hill v. State, 11......
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Hoffman v. State, s. 2282
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Ferguson v. Stone, 81-2198
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Morton v. State, 74-1258
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