Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/withhold-of-adjudication-what-everyone-needs-to-know/
Timestamp: 2019-02-21 04:14:58
Document Index: 56837353

Matched Legal Cases: ['§921', '§322', '§322', '§318', '§922', '§ 948', '§316', '§327', '§775', '§790', '§849', '§784', '§784', '§893', '§806', '§784', '§784', '§790', '§827', '§860', '§787', '§782', '§794', '§817', '§839', '§812', '§810', '§784', '§4', '§1182']

Withhold of Adjudication: What Everyone Needs to Know – The Florida Bar
Vol. 82, No. 2 February 2008 Pg 48 George E. Tragos and Peter A. Sartes Criminal Law
Additionally, the case law has changed the way withholds are to be treated. The Florida Supreme Court has held that a guilty plea or verdict with a withhold of adjudication constitutes a conviction which could be considered as an aggravating circumstance in a capital sentencing proceeding.8 The court’s reasoning is that the word “convicted” as used in F.S. §921.141(5)(b) means a valid guilty plea or jury verdict of guilty for a violent felony; an adjudication of guilt is not necessary for such a “conviction” to be considered in the capital sentencing character analysis. Furthermore, the Florida Supreme Court has also held that the term “conviction” as used in the statute that provides for increased sanctions for a third conviction of driving with a suspended driver’s license includes offenses for which adjudication was withheld.9 he reasoning for this decision is that a common sense reading of the F.S. §322.34 indicates that the legislature intended the term “conviction” to mean a determination of a defendant’s guilt by way of plea or verdict. Therefore, the court concluded that it is clear that the Florida Legislature intended that a conviction, for purposes of F.S. §322.34(1), is to include both adjudications and withholds, unless the disposition is made pursuant to F.S. §318.14(10), which allows individuals cited with civil traffic infractions to elect traffic school in exchange for a withholding of adjudication and no assessment of traffic points.
Government agencies have also embedded provisions within their employment regulations, which specifically indicate that a plea and a judgment, regardless of whether adjudication was withheld or not, is considered a conviction and may subject an employee to sanctions including termination.10 Furthermore, entities outside Florida, including federal entities, do not recognize the withhold of adjudication since there are no parallel provisions. This effect is most dramatically manifested in federal prosecutions for felon in possession of a firearm where the withhold of adjudication of a Florida State felony may satisfy the predicate requirement of a felony conviction.11 Curiously, the Southern District of Florida seems to repeatedly hold that a withhold is not a conviction which can be treated as a predicate for a felon in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. §922.12 Under the same reasoning, the criminal history calculation within the advisory federal sentencing guidelines calculates a withhold as a prior sentence for the assessment of criminal history points.13 I n addition, resident aliens may find themselves either deported or excluded from the United States because of felonies and certain misdemeanors that qualify as crimes of moral turpitude regardless of the withhold of adjudication.14
2 See Thomas v. State, 356 So. 2d 846, 847 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 1978), cert. denied, 361 So. 2d 835 (Fla. 1978) (“If the defendant successfully completes his probation he is not a convicted person but if the probation is violated the court may then adjudicate and sentence.”); United States v. Thompson, 756 F. Supp. 1492, 1495 (N.D. Fla. 1991); Davis v. State, 623 So. 2d 579, 580 (Fla. 3d D.C.A. 1993) (However, once the “probationary period expires, the court is divested of jurisdiction over the probationer unless, prior to that time, the appropriate steps were taken to revoke or modify the probation.”); Purvis v. Lindsey, 587 So. 2d 638, 639 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 1991); see also Fla. Stat. § 948.04.
3 Snyder v. State, 673 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1996). Federal criminal charges for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon can be predicated upon a felony regardless of withhold of adjudication.
4 Brown v. State, 787 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 2001) (Court held it was improper impeachment to allude to felony cocaine possession case where adjudication had been withheld); Martin v. State, 791 So. 2d 1115 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 2000) (Court held it was improper to deny post-trial release based on prior withhold of adjudication).
5 See Fla. Stat. §§316.656, 784.07, and 893.135(3). See also Fla. Stat. §327.36 (other offenses for which a judge is prohibited from withholding adjudication include: boating under the influence which results in manslaughter); Fla. Stat. §775.087 (offenses for which a minimum mandatory term of imprisonment must be imposed under “10-20-Life”); Fla. Stat §§790.163, 790.164, 790.165, and 790.166 (offenses relating to weapons of mass destruction); Fla. Stat. §849.25 (bookmaking); Fla. Stat. §784.08 (assault or battery on a person over the age of 65); Fla. Stat. §784.07 (assault or battery on a law enforcement officer); Fla. Stat. §893.135 (drug trafficking).
6 Fla. Stat. §806.01 (arson); Fla. Stat. §784.021 (aggravated assault); Fla. Stat. §784.045 (aggravated battery); Fla. Stat. §790.001(5) (illegal use of explosives); Fla. Stat. §827 (child abuse); Fla. Stat. §860.16 (hijacking); Fla. Stat. §787 (kidnapping); Fla. Stat. §782 (homicide and manslaughter); Fla. Stat. §§794, 800.04, 827.071, 787.025, 796.03, 825.1025, 847 (sexual offenses); Fla. Stat. §817.034 (communications fraud); Fla. Stat. §839 (offenses by public officers or employees); Fla. Stat. §812 (robbery and car jacking); Fla. Stat. §810.02 (burglary of a dwelling); Fla. Stat. §784 (stalking).
8 McCrae v. State, 395 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1980).
9 Raulerson v. State, 763 So. 2d 285 (Fla. 2000).
11 United States v. Orellanes, 809 F.2d 1526 (11th Cir. 1987).
12 See United States v. Gispert, 864 F. Supp. 1193 (S.D. Fla. 1994).
13 United States v. Rockman, 993 F.2d 811 (11th Circuit, 1993); see also U.S.S.G. §§4A1.1, 4A1.2(f), and 2K2.1.
14 See 8 U.S.C. §1182; 8 U.S.C. 1227.
15 Sloan v. State, 884 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 2004).