Summary
reversing 20 year sentence on defendant's negotiated plea to a 2nd degree felony since the statutory maximum for a 2nd degree felony was 15 years; a defendant cannot agree to an illegal sentence
Summary of this case from Jackson v. StateOpinion
No. 1D01-3024.
March 12, 2002.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Nassau County, Robert M. Foster, J.
Appellant, pro se.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and James W. Rogers, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for appellee.
[1, 2] The appellant challenges an order of the trial court summarily denying his motion to correct illegal sentence. The appellant alleged that he was convicted of a second-degree felony, and that his current sentence of 20 years total exceeds the statutory maximum for second-degree felonies, which is 15 years. See § 775.082(3)(c), Fla. Stat. (1999). The trial court denied the motion on the ground that the appellant agreed to a negotiated plea. However, a defendant cannot plead to an illegal sentence. See Blanchette v. State, 620 So.2d 258 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). Therefore, we reverse the trial court's order denying the appellant's motion to correct his illegal sentence and remand for attachments from the record which conclusively refute the appellant's claim or for reconsideration of the motion on its merits.
ERVIN, BARFIELD, and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., concur.