FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

STATE OF FLORIDA

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No. 1D16-2235

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AARON PIAZZA,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Clay County.

John H. Skinner, Judge.

March 15, 2018

B.L. THOMAS, C.J.

Appellant agreed to a negotiated plea and entered pleas of 

guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and one 

count of grand theft of a firearm. The charges were based on the 

following facts: Appellant, a felon, entered a gun store, where he 

possessed one rifle, then possessed a handgun, then possessed 

another rifle, and then stole the handgun he had previously 

possessed. Originally charged with two counts of possession of a 

firearm by a felon based on the two possessions of two rifles, the 

trial court granted a motion to dismiss one of those counts. 

Appellant then pled guilty to two separate charges based on his 

possession of the rifle and theft of the firearm. 
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Appellant now argues on appeal that he cannot be sentenced 

for possession of a firearm by a felon and also for grand theft of a 

firearm. 

The Florida Supreme Court has directly held that when a 

criminal defendant agrees to a negotiated plea, he cannot raise a

claim based on double jeopardy: 

The general rule is that a plea of guilty and subsequent 

adjudication of guilt precludes a later double jeopardy 

attack on the conviction and sentence. United States v. 

Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 569 (1989)). There is an exception 

to this general rule when (a) the plea is a general plea as 

distinguished from a plea bargain; (b) the double 

jeopardy violation is apparent from the record; and 

(c) there is nothing in the record to indicate a waiver of 

the double jeopardy violation.

Novaton v. State, 634 So. 2d 607, 609 (Fla. 1994). 

Appellant’s argument is thus foreclosed under Novaton. 

Appellant asserted a double jeopardy argument on one count and

was successful. Appellant then entered into a negotiated plea,

and accepted the benefits of the plea, thus waiving any further 

argument based on double jeopardy. Appellant argues that, 

because he is challenging the denial of a motion to dismiss filed 

before he entered his plea, his double jeopardy argument is 

preserved. However, “where [the appellant] entered into a 

bargained plea with the State, we find that [the appellant] 

waived any double jeopardy claim that may affect either his 

convictions or his sentences . . . .” Id. (emphasis added); see also

Guynn v. State, 861 So. 2d 449, 450 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (rejecting 

state and federal double-jeopardy claims as foreclosed under 

Novaton, because appellant entered negotiated plea). Here, none 

of the three factors required under Novaton are present that 

would justify consideration of Appellant’s argument based on 

double jeopardy. 

AFFIRMED. 

WETHERELL 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, Jasmine Quintera Russell, 

Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Trisha Meggs Pate, 

Tallahassee Bureau Chief, Criminal Appeals, Robert Charles 

Lee, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.