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State v. Smith

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Jul 12, 1994
639 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)

Opinion

No. 93-2258.

July 12, 1994.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, Robbie M. Barr, J.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Charles M. Fahlbusch, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Bruce A. Rosenthal, Asst. Public Defender, for appellee.

Before HUBBART, BASKIN and COPE, JJ.


The State appeals an order granting postconviction relief. We agree with the trial court that paragraph 11 of the written plea agreement is ambiguous. We disagree, however, as to the remedy. The trial court determined that since paragraph 11 could be read in two different ways, the court should choose the interpretation most favorable to the defendant, and consequently imposed a 15-year sentence rather than a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. In our view the remedy is to allow the defendant to withdraw his plea of guilty and proceed to trial. Elias v. State, 531 So.2d 418, 420 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). We reverse the order under review and remand with directions to permit the defendant to withdraw his plea and set the matter for trial.


Summaries of

State v. Smith

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Jul 12, 1994
639 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)
Case details for

State v. Smith

Case Details

Full title:THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT, v. JOHN SMITH, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Jul 12, 1994

Citations

639 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)