BERNICIA PITTS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Bernicia Pitts, an eighteen-year-old first-time offender, pled guilty to aggravated assault without inquiry into her desire for counsel or understanding of her constitutional rights. The appellate court reversed, holding that the trial court should have granted her motion to withdraw the guilty plea due to the absence of constitutional safeguards during arraignment.
The trial court abused its discretion by denying the motion to withdraw the guilty plea. Although action on such motions is discretionary, the accumulated circumstances—including the defendant's youth, lack of prior criminal experience, lack of counsel, absence of inquiry into constitutional rights, and lack of understanding of the charge's seriousness—required the trial court to grant the motion.
“An Information such as this has-been held to be null, void, and of no effect.”
Establishes that an Information lacking proper constitutional safeguards may be void
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePitts was charged by Information with aggravated assault and arraigned on the same day. She entered a guilty plea while present in open court with her…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Withdrawal Of Guilty Plea cases and more on FLexlaw
The Assistant State Attorney of the-Twelfth Judicial Circuit signed an Information sworn to by him and filed it in the Circuit Court of Sarasota County, charging-the defendant-appellant here with aggravated assault. On the same day that the Information was filed, the defendant was arraigned and entered a plea of guilty, while-present in open court accompanied by her mother. Subsequently, the judgment and: sentence of the court was entered, after which the defendant filed a motion for leave to withdraw her plea of guilty. The motion was denied. The motion alleges the above-facts from the record and adds that the defendant is a minor, eighteen years of age, had never before been charged with a crime, that she was pregnant, did not have sufficient time in which to consult with or employ counsel, was not aware of the seriousness, of the charge against her, and did not know that the Constitution guaranteed her the-right of counsel and trial by jury.
An Information such as this has-been held to be null, void, and of no effect. State ex rel. Ricks v. Davidson, 1935, 121 Fla. 196, 163 So. 588. The record on arraignment does not disclose whether or not inquiry was made by anyone as to whether or not she was represented by, or desired .counsel, or advised of her Constitutional' right to be tried by jury and the consequence and effect of a plea of guilty. A detailed statement of these requirements are-set forth in Asbey v. State, Fla.App.1958, 102 So.2d 407. The record does not show compliance with § 906.28, Florida Statutes,. F.S.A. We do not adjudicate whether or not a defendant waives her rights to object to these items by the entry of her plea of' guilty.
Although action on a motion to> withdraw a plea of guilty is in the orbit of *702judicial discretion, it is also subject to our review. Asbey v. State, supra. The accumulation of all of the circumstances of this case impels us to the view that the trial court should have granted the motion.
The judgment and sentence is reversed with directions to enter an order granting the motion for leave to withdraw the plea of guilty and to allow the defendant a reasonable time to file motions and enter a plea.
Reversed.
ALLEN, Acting C. J., and KANNER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gerlaugh v. Fla. Parole Comm'n, 139 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 1962)…nd CALDWELL, JJ., concur. . Petitioner entered a plea of guilty at the trial. . Section 10 of the Declaration of Rights of the Florida Constitution, F.S.A. . This was the holding of the District Court of Appeal, Second District in Pitts v. State, 139 So. 2d 701. . See Sellers v. Bridges, 153 Fla. 586, 15 So. 2d 293, 148 A.L.R. 1240. . 94 Fla. 60, 113 So. 736. .Section 10 of the Declaration of Rights and Art. V of Section 28 (now Art. Y, Sec. 9 [5]) are, for the purposes of this discussion, identical. .…
-
State v. Pitts, 146 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 1962)…Certiorari denied without opinion. 139 So. 2d 701.…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Davidson, 121 Fla. 196 (Fla. 1935)
- City OF Fort Lauderdale v. Cavender, 102 So. 2d 407 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958)