FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D18-0183
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AMOS DONALD BOYD,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County.
Thomas V. Dannheisser, Judge.
September 20, 2018
PER CURIAM.
Appellant challenges his criminal judgment and sentence,
arguing the trial court erred by adjudicating him guilty although
he had not entered a plea.
A trial court is required to inquire into a defendant’s
understanding of a plea so that the record contains information
showing the defendant entered into the plea intelligently and
voluntarily. Davis v. State, 187 So. 3d 1284 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016).
Here, the record shows the trial court conducted part of a plea
colloquy but then abandoned it because appellant was not aware
of the mandatory minimum sentence he was facing. In fact, the
trial court stated on the record that it was resetting the hearing
“[f]or plea hopefully.” At the subsequent hearing, the parties and
the trial court mistakenly believed appellant had already entered
a plea, and the court proceeded to sentence appellant without
first conducting a colloquy. The trial court thereby violated
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172(c). See Davis, 187 So.
3d at 1284.
Accordingly, we REVERSE and REMAND with instructions
either to conduct a plea colloquy before entering a judgment and
sentence or to allow appellant to proceed with a trial.
WOLF, JAY, and WINSOR, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Andy Thomas, Public Defender, and Steven L. Seliger, Assistant
Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Frank Xavier Moehrle
Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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