State v. Seraphin

• Decision Date: 16 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC01-1344.,SC01-1344.
• Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Peter B. SERAPHIN, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

818 So.2d 485

STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Peter B. SERAPHIN, Respondent.

No. SC01-1344.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 16, 2002.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Celia Terenzio, Bureau Chief, and Claudine M. LaFrance, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

No Appearance for Respondent.

LEWIS, J.

We have for review Seraphin v. State, 785 So.2d 608 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), in which the Fourth District certified conflict with Johnson v. State, 760 So.2d 992 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000).¹ See Seraphin v. State, 792 So.2d 526 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)

(granting the State's motion for certification of conflict). This Court has jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

MATERIAL FACTS

The respondent, Peter B. Seraphin, was deported after pleading guilty to robbery with a deadly weapon. Subsequently, in his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, Seraphin alleged that, after he had completed his sentence, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service sought to deport him, and served him with a notice to appear. A copy of the notice, which listed his conviction as grounds for deportation, was attached to his motion, as well as a transcript of his plea colloquy. The transcript reflected that immigration consequences had not been discussed at that hearing. Seraphin sought to withdraw his plea as involuntary, because the court had failed to inform him that his plea might subject him to deportation.² He alleged that he had no actual knowledge of the immigration consequences of his plea and that, had he been aware of the deportation consequences, he would not have entered it, but would have gone to trial and probably been acquitted. Although the State conceded that an evidentiary hearing was necessary, the trial court, after learning that Seraphin had been subsequently deported, dismissed the motion, ruling that deportation rendered Seraphin's motion moot.

The district court disagreed, concluding that Seraphin's deportation did not render his motion moot. 785 So.2d at 609. It also determined that Seraphin was entitled to relief based upon the motion, reasoning:

On the merits, the motion appears to be legally sufficient. A trial court's failure to comply with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172(c)(8) and advise a defendant of the consequences of his plea may entitle him to withdraw his plea, if he shows that he was prejudiced, such as by threat of deportation. See, e.g., Marriott v. State, 605 So.2d 985 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992),

approved by Peart v. State, 756 So.2d 42, 44 (Fla.2000).

The state contends that appellant may not have been prejudiced by the trial court's failure to inform him of the deportation consequences of his plea. During the plea colloquy, in response to questioning by the court, appellant replied that he was a United States citizen. The state argues that if appellant was under the impression that he was a citizen of the United States, he may have suffered no prejudice. Although we recognize conflicting case law from our sister courts, see State v. Rajaee, 745 So.2d 469 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999),

and Johnson v. State, 760 So.2d 992 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), we have consistently held that the trial court's compliance with rule 3.172(c)(8) is mandatory. See Sanders v. State, 685 So.2d 1385 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (rejecting state's argument that defendant invited error by falsely stating he was United States citizen and reversing denial of motion for postconviction relief with directions to allow defendant to withdraw plea); see also Griffiths v. State, 776 So.2d 280 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000); State v. Richardson, 785 So.2d 585 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); Elharda v. State, 775 So.2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000), rev. denied, 780 So.2d 915, No. SC00-1429 (Fla. 2001).

Id. at 609-10. The State filed a timely petition for review in this Court.

ANALYSIS

To the extent that the Fourth District's decision may be viewed as creating a "per se" rule permitting a defendant threatened with deportation to withdraw his plea any time a trial court fails to provide the information required by rule 3.172(c)(8) during the defendant's plea colloquy, such does not correctly follow the guidance provided by this Court's decision in Peart v. State, 756 So.2d 42 (Fla.2000). In Peart, we identified the proper vehicle through which a noncustodial defendant could present, as a basis for postconviction relief, a violation of rule 3.172(c)(8) clue to the trial court's failure to provide advice regarding the possible immigration consequences of the defendant's plea. In the context of concluding that, following Wood v. State, 750 So.2d 592, 594 (Fla.1999), "such claims should be pled via rule 3.850," Peart, 756 So.2d at 48, the Court addressed the requirement of demonstrating prejudice in such cases:

We begin our analysis of this issue by observing that prior to Peart [v. State, 705 So.2d 1059 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)], district courts of appeal have uniformly held that in order for a defendant to obtain postconviction relief based on a rule 3.172(c)(8) violation, the defendant had to prove that the trial court did not provide advice regarding the possible immigration consequences of the plea and resultant prejudice. See Perriello v. State, 684 So.2d 258, 259-60 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)

; Beckles [v. State, 679 So.2d 892 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)]; De Abreu v. State, 593 So.2d 233, 234 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). [Note 5] In order to show prejudice pursuant to a rule 3.172(c)(8) violation, defendants had to establish that they did not know that the plea might result in deportation, that they were "threatened" with deportation because of the plea, and that had they known of the possible consequence they would not have entered the plea. See Perriello, 684 So.2d at 259 (holding prejudice shown where defendant was "threatened" with deportation); Marriott [v. State, 605 So.2d 985, 987 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)] (holding that "threat" of deportation of alien was a sufficient showing of prejudice in such cases); De Abreu, 593 So.2d at 234 (holding that the defendant's allegation in a rule 3.850 motion that the trial court violated rule 3.172(c)(8), and that the defendant was subsequently surprised by the "threat" of deportation, constituted a sufficient showing of prejudice to justify an evidentiary hearing). [Note 6] Accordingly, based on established precedent, in order to obtain relief from an alleged rule 3.172(c)(8) error, defendants are not required to prove a probable acquittal at trial.

[Note 5] This Court included advisement of the possible immigration consequences of the plea during the plea acceptance hearing because deportation of a person from the United States often is just as harsh as other consequences, if not more so. See In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 536 So.2d 992 (Fla.1988)

. Before the amendment, this Court treated a trial court failure to warn a defendant of the possible deportation consequences of a plea as a "collateral consequence" that would not support a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. State v. Ginebra, 511 So.2d 960 (Fla.1987). One year later, however, we established rule 3.172(c)(8). We subsequently acknowledged that our old case law was superseded by the new rule in State v. De Abreu, 613 So.2d 453 (1993) ("In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 536 So.2d 992 (Fla.1988),... supersede[s] Ginebra to the extent of any inconsistency.").

[Note 6] See Beckles, 679 So.2d at 892

(holding that being taken into custody by immigration authorities because of the conviction based on the plea was sufficient to show prejudice); Spencer v. State, 608 So.2d 551 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992) (holding that appellate immigration court decision that defendant was deportable was sufficient to show prejudice); see also State v. Oakley, 715 So.2d 956, 957 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (holding that defendant failed to show prejudice, despite rule 3.172(c)(8) violation, where defendant was deportable based on previous drug trafficking conviction).

Peart, 756 So.2d at 47-48 (emphasis supplied).

This Court has not interpreted Peart as establishing that the threat of deportation itself constitutes prejudice. See State v. Luders, 768 So.2d 440 (Fla.2000)

("The State makes clear on rehearing (in an unopposed motion) that Luders was not prejudiced by the trial court's failure to advise him of the immigration consequences of entering his plea because Luders' defense counsel advised him thereof and he decided to accept the risk. Because Luders was not prejudiced by the trial court's error, he was not entitled to relief."); Peart, 756 So.2d at 47 n. 6 (citing, inter alia, State v. Oakley, 715 So.2d 956, 957 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (holding that the defendant had failed to show prejudice, despite a rule 3.172(c)(8) violation, where the defendant was deportable based upon a previous drug trafficking conviction)). Rather, pursuant to Peart, a defendant must show prejudice not only by the subsequent threat of deportation, but also because the trial court failed to provide the information required by rule 3.172(c)(8).³ In other words, to establish prejudice in such cases, a defendant threatened with deportation must demonstrate that he or she was prejudiced in the process by entering the plea because the trial court failed to provide the information required by rule 3.172(c)(8).

This distinction becomes important where the defendant is unaware of the deportation consequences of his plea because the defendant mistakenly believes that he or she is a United States citizen. Even in those instances, however, if the defendant alleges that he or she would not have entered the plea had information been provided as required by rule 3.172(c)(8), this would require review of the record in light of the defendant's allegations, and an evidentiary hearing in the event that the record did not conclusively refute them. By providing a defendant the information required by the rule, the defendant is at least on notice that the...