Opinion
No. 99-2829.
Opinion filed November 17, 1999.
Appeal of order denying rule 3.850 motion from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; James I. Cohn, Judge; L.T. No. 96-19218 CF10A.
Horace Charles Thomas, Lake Butler, pro se.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Joseph A. Tringali, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
Appellant Horace Thomas filed a timely postconviction motion alleging that his plea of no contest to burglary of a dwelling was involuntary. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that he was estopped from challenging his conviction after he had accepted the benefits of a probationary sentence and had violated the terms of probation.
The law is clear that a defendant cannot challenge the legality of a probationary term after he has violated the conditions of probation. See, e.g., Brown v. State, 659 So.2d 1260, 1261 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). However, Thomas is not attacking his probationary sentence; he is challenging the legality of his conviction based on an allegedly involuntary plea. The acceptance and subsequent violation of probation does not prevent a defendant from seeking postconviction relief from his conviction. See Allman v. State, 642 So.2d 1203 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (reversing the denial of a motion to dismiss the underlying charge, which was filed in probation revocation proceedings).
The State conceded below that if his claim was not procedurally barred, Thomas would be entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his allegations. Accordingly, we reverse the order summarily denying Thomas' motion and remand for evidentiary hearing.
DELL, STONE and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.