State v. Segarra

Citation388 So.2d 1017
Decision Date04 September 1980
Docket NumberNo. 54928,54928
PartiesSTATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Miguel SEGARRA, Respondent.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Florida

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Margarita Esquiroz and Steven L. Bolotin, Asst. Attys. Gen., Miami, for petitioner.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Beth C. Weitzner, Asst. Public Defender, Miami, for respondent.

ADKINS, Justice.

By petition for certiorari we have for review a decision of the Third District Court of Appeal Segarra v. State, 360 So.2d 79 (Fla.3d DCA 1978), which allegedly conflicts with a prior decision of another district court of appeal Mulder v. State, 356 So.2d 870 (Fla.4th DCA 1978), on the same point of law. Art. V, section 3(b)(3), Fla.Const.

The defendant, Segarra, was charged with burglary, a second degree felony carrying a maximum sentence of fifteen years. Plea negotiation resulted in a plea of guilty with a five-year cap in possible sentence. After a presentence investigation the trial court sentenced defendant to five years probation with two conditions, one of which defendant violated. The trial court revoked defendant's probation and sentenced defendant to fifteen years. The district court of appeal reversed this decision and held that the maximum sentence which the court could impose upon violation of the probation was five years. The court pointed out that there had been an agreed maximum sentence of five years as part of plea negotiations which was accepted and approved by the defendant, the prosecutor and the judge.

In Mulder v. State, supra, the defendant, after plea negotiations, entered a plea of guilty with an agreement that the maximum sentence to be imposed would be for a two-year term. The trial judge placed defendant on probation. Defendant violated the conditions and, upon revocation of probation, was sentenced to three years incarceration. The district court of appeal affirmed and referred to section 948.06(1), Florida Statutes (1975), which provides that after probation has been revoked the trial judge can "impose any sentence which it might have originally imposed before placing the probationer on probation." In its opinion the Court said:

Accepting appellant's contentions would lead to absurd results. If the original plea negotiations including (sic) an understanding that a defendant would be placed on probation, and the court agreed, the court would then be unable to impose any prison sentence in the event probation was subsequently revoked. It cannot be said that the legislature intended to leave society without any recourse against those defendants who receive the benefit of the court's mercy by being placed on probation and, subsequently, violate the terms thereof.

Appellant, having violated the terms of his probation, cannot now be heard to argue that the State is bound by the terms of an agreement which resulted in the initial imposition of probation.

356 So.2d at 871.

In Johnson v. State, 378 So.2d 335 (Fla.2d DCA 1980), defendant pled guilty pursuant to a plea bargain under which he was to receive no more than concurrent sentences of five years on both charges. At the sentencing hearing defendant's attorney requested that he receive another chance. The court placed defendant on probation but admonished him that if revocation became necessary it might imprison him for a period of up to twenty years. A year and a half later the defendant violated his probation. The court revoked probation and sentenced him to concurrent five and ten-year terms. Upon appeal, this judgment and sentence was affirmed, the court saying:

The third district court of appeal has held that since the punishment received by a probation violator is imposed under the original charge, this punishment cannot be in excess of the terms of the bargain upon which the defendant first entered a plea. Payne v. State, 372 So.2d 152 (Fla.3d DCA 1979); Overman v. State, 368 So.2d 434 (Fla.3d DCA 1979); Kord v. State, 361 So.2d 800 (Fla.3d DCA 1978); Segarra v. State, 360 So.2d 79 (Fla.3d DCA 1978). The fourth district court of appeal held to the contrary in Mulder v. State, 356 So.2d 870 (Fla.4th DCA 1978).

As between the two views, we opt for the position taken by the fourth district court of appeal. So long as the order of probation was within the terms of the agreement, the court has fulfilled the plea bargain. The events which bring about a revocation open a new chapter in which the court ought to be able to mete out any punishment within the limits prescribed for the crime.

In a different context the supreme court has held that the conduct of a defendant which leads to a probation revocation may be such as to allow the imposition of a greater punishment than would have been permitted at the time of the entry of the order of probation. In Scott v. State, 326 So.2d 165 (Fla.1976), the court held that a trial judge who previously sentenced a defendant to a term of years less than the maximum allowed by law could, after a new trial in which the defendant is placed on probation, impose for violation of the terms of probation any sentence up to the maximum which could have been originally imposed. 378 So.2d 335-36.

We follow the reasoning of the Second District Court of Appeal and the Fourth District Court of Appeal. We therefore hold that when a defendant pleads guilty pursuant to a plea bargain and the court places him on probation, if he violates his probation the court can sentence him to a term in excess of the provisions of the original bargain.

The decision of the district court of appeal is quashed and the cause is remanded with instructions to affirm the sentence imposed by the trial court.

It is so ordered.

SUNDBERG, C. J., and OVERTON and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.

ENGLAND, J., dissents with an opinion, with which BOYD, J., concurs.

ENGLAND, Justice, dissenting.

I respectfully dissent. The result which the majority has adopted does not comport with fundamental fairness or evenhanded treatment between the state and criminal defendants. The Court's error, I believe, is based on an implicit misconception as to the role of resentencing in a probation revocation proceeding. The correct role, when analyzed against the three events which in fact occurred in this case, leads me to conclude that the Third District Court of Appeal was correct in limiting the maximum sentence following probationrevocation to the five-year term stipulated in the plea agreement. 1

The first step in this proceeding was preliminary to sentencing. The prosecuting attorney struck an agreement to obtain Segarra's guilty plea in exchange for a maximum possible sentence (i.e., a sentencing "cap") of five years imprisonment. The agreement was taken to the trial judge and approved. At that point, it became, for all intents and purposes, a binding executory contract.

The second step in the sequence was sentencing. At the sentencing proceeding, the judge elected to provide more leniency than the agreement had afforded, and he sentenced Segarra to probation. The contract thus became executed, or fulfilled. The court acted within the bounds of the agreement it had approved. Segarra received the benefit of the state's concession that he not be sentenced for more than five years. The state received the benefit of its bargain by being relieved of the necessity of proving at a trial that Segarra was guilty of the crime with which he was charged. Neither party could complain at that point, for both had received precisely what they had bargained for, and all terms of the agreement were satisfied.

The third step in this proceeding occurred when Segarra violated the terms of his probation, which precipitated his resentencing at a revocation proceeding. As will be explained, my disagreement with the majority stems from its characterization of that event.

The majority correctly notes that section 948.06(1), Florida Statutes (1977), enables the trial court, upon revocation of probation, to "impose any sentence which it might have originally imposed before placing the probationer on probation." Although this provision generally has been interpreted to mean that the court can impose any penalty within the maximum prescribed by statute, 2 the presence of a completed plea agreement compels an exception to this interpretation, at least in cases such as this one. The distinctive feature here was that the trial court accepted Segarra's guilty plea, in exchange for which the state relinquished the opportunity for incarceration beyond a five-year term. Once the plea agreement was approved, I would argue that five years became the maximum sentence which the court could "originally impose" under the statute.

As a consequence of his failure to abide by the terms of probation in the third phase of these events, Segarra should be placed in the same position he occupied prior to the end of the second phase, or sentencing-namely, at risk of being imprisoned for up to five years without the state having to...

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31 cases
  • Finney v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • October 5, 1982
    ...Richmond v. State, 375 So.2d 1132 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Segarra v. State, 360 So.2d 79 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978) rev'd on other grounds, 388 So.2d 1017 (Fla.1980); State ex rel. Wilhoit v. Wells, 356 So.2d 817 (Fla. 1st DCA), cert. denied, 359 So.2d 1222 (Fla.1978); Slay v. State, 347 So.2d 730 (Fl......
  • Connor v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • December 8, 2006
    ...and sentence him or her to a prison sentence that exceeds the maximum sentence agreed upon in a plea agreement, see State v. Segarra, 388 So.2d 1017 (Fla.1980);3 and revoke the defendant's probation and sentence him or her to the maximum period in prison, see Bruggeman v. State, 681 So.2d 8......
  • State v. Payne
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • October 8, 1981
    ...Petitioner, the state, then sought review by this Court. Subsequent to the above proceedings, we released our decision in State v. Segarra, 388 So.2d 1017 (Fla.1980), reversing the third district's decision in Segarra v. State. In State v. Segarra, we held that under the provisions of subse......
  • Aponte v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 6, 2002
    ...it may have imposed before placing the defendant on probation. Id. The Florida Supreme Court approved Mulder. See State v. Segarra, 388 So.2d 1017, 1018 (Fla.1980). In Segarra, the defendant was charged with burglary, a second degree felony carrying a maximum sentence of fifteen years. Id. ......
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1 books & journal articles
  • Misdemeanor defense
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Florida Small-Firm Practice Tools - Volume 1-2 Volume 2
    • April 1, 2023
    ...[Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.151(d).] A trial court may not impose a sentence in excess of a plea-bargained punishment. [ State v. Segarra, 388 So. 2d 1017, 1018 (Fla. 1980).] §17:154 Appeal After a Plea Bargain Where a defendant has entered a pre-trial plea of guilty or nolo contendere based upon a......

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