CARLTON GEORGE MITCHELL, JR., 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.
The court held that the rule forbidding the appointment of the same attorney for two defendants tried jointly does not apply when both defendants enter pleas of guilty.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to robbery after being declared indigent and assigned a Public Defender. He later filed a motion to vacate the judgment and se…
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 Judgment And Sentence cases and more on FLexlaw
On February 26, 1968 Mitchell was declared indigent, the Public Defender was assigned to represent him, he pleaded guilty to robbery, was adjudged guilty and sentenced. His motion to vacate and set aside judgment and sentence was filed on March 25, 1968, raising in vague language a number of questions. On March 28, 1968, the judge who had sentenced Mitchell denied the motion, without a hearing. He found that “all of the grounds except the last are without any merit whatsoever and not such matters as may be urged at this time.” On the last point, the court ruled that Baker v. State, 202 So.2d 563 (Fla.1967), forbidding the appointment of the same attorney to represent two defendants tried jointly does not apply to a case in which both defendants enter pleas of guilty.
We agree. The rationale of Baker is that the lawyer may be compelled during trial to take some action on behalf of one defendant which would be prejudicial to the other. It may be that the same lawyer could provide sound counsel to several defendants prior to trial.
The Special Assistant Public Defender briefed for this court only the applicability of Baker. He took as settled the denial, without hearing, of Mitchell’s other allegations. If Mitchell does have grounds for vacation of his plea of guilty they ought to be stated with particularly in a subsequent *290petition, after consultation with counsel. We assume that the Public Defender will find time for this purpose. See Bush v. State, 209 So.2d 696 (Fla.App.1968).
Affirmed.
LILES, C. J., and PIERCE, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Sower v. State, 216 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed on authority of Mitchell v. State, 213 So. 2d 289 (Fla.App.1968). ALLEN, Acting C. J., and' HOBSON and MANN, TL, concur.…
-
Williams v. State, 214 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)…cited in the Baker decision only apply when a defendant pleads “not guilty” and goes to trial. All the valid reasons set forth in those cases are not present where a defendant pleads “guilty”, as here, interposing no defenses. See Mitchell v. State, 213 So. 2d 289, filed August 14, 1968 in this court. No error having been made to appear, the judgment of the lower court is hereby Affirmed. ALLEN, Acting C. J., and PIERCE and HOBSON, JJ., concur.…
-
Baker v. State, 217 So. 2d 880 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969)…d States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680. . Baker v. State (Fla.1967), 202 So. 2d 563, 565, 566. . Youngblood v. State (Fla.App.1968), 206 So. 2d 665. . Belton v. State (Fla.App.1968), 211 So. 2d 238. . Mitchell v. State (Fla.App.1968), 213 So. 2d 289. . Williams v. State (Fla.App.1968), 214 So. 2d 29. . Dunbar v. State (Fla.App.1968), 214 So. 2d 52. . Rogers and Herring v. State (Fla.App.1968), 212 So. 2d 367. . Belton v. State, Fla., 217 So. 2d 97. Opinion filed December 17, 1968, but not y…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Baker v. State, 202 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 1967)
- Eddy Dutchville v. State, 209 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)
- Bush v. State, 209 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 4th DCA 1968)