JOSEPH SAWYER, APPELLANT,
v.
THE 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.
A defendant who voluntarily pleads guilty cannot later claim coercion based on alleged perjured grand jury testimony known to the defendant at the time of the plea.
Defendant was indicted for first-degree murder, pled guilty to manslaughter, and was sentenced. He later moved to vacate the sentence, alleging the pl…
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 Coerced Guilty Plea cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Defendant-appellant was indicted for first degree murder and pled not guilty thereto. Subsequently, he withdrew the plea and pled guilty to the crime of manslaughter. He was sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary.
Thereafter, appellant filed a motion to vacate and set aside judgment and sentence in which he alleged that based upon the grand jury testimony of two witnesses, he pled guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter and subsequent thereto, he learned that this testimony was perjured and therefore he was coerced into pleading guilty to manslaughter. The trial judge denied this motion and appellant appeals therefrom.
Simply, we find the defendant’s position illogical as defendant had knowledge of his own guilt or innocence and therefore knew whether the subject grand jury testimony was true or false. The appellant in the case sub judice, having pled guilty voluntarily to the lesser offense and thereby having chosen not to chance trial and a resulting verdict of guilty and possible death sentence, is now precluded from complaining of the course of action which he elected to pursue. Accordingly, the order deny ing appellant’s motion is affirmed. Cf. Desort v. State, Fla.App.1974, 287 So. 2d 719.
Affirmed.