Case Name: Tony PRADO, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2002-05-08
Citations: 816 So. 2d 1155
Docket Number: No. 3D00-3055
Parties: Tony PRADO, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: Before JORGENSON, SHEVIN and SORONDO, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 816
Pages: 1155–1164

Head Matter:
Tony PRADO, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 3D00-3055.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
May 8, 2002.
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Bruce A. Rosenthal, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Roberta G. Mandel, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Before JORGENSON, SHEVIN and SORONDO, JJ.

Opinion:
SHEVIN, Judge.
Tony Prado appeals the sentence imposed following a conviction for sale of cocaine within 1000 feet of a school. We reverse and remand for resentencing.
An undercover Miami Beach Police detective had been trying to purchase cocaine from a suspect. After over two hours of negotiating with the suspect, the suspect walked with the detective several blocks to find Prado. The suspect spoke with Prado, Prado gave the suspect an item that was later revealed to be a gram rock of cocaine; the suspect handed the rock to the detective. The detective paid the suspect, who turned the money over to Prado. Prado was arrested at a nearby supermarket holding the money. No other drugs were found on Prado's person. The transaction occurred about 450 feet from an elementary school on a Saturday afternoon.
Prado's first trial ended with a hung jury as five persons voted not guilty and one person voted guilty. At the beginning of the second trial, the court initiated a lengthy exchange with Prado regarding the benefits of accepting the state's four-year prison plea offer, in lieu of proceeding to trial. In the colloquy, which spans the first eleven pages in the trial transcript, the court emphasized the merits of the plea offer, the uncertainty of possible trial outcomes, and the possibility of receiving a harsher sentence upon conviction. Prado declined the plea offer and elected to proceed to trial.
The second jury found Prado guilty as charged. Thereafter, the court sentenced Prado to forty years in prison. Prado appeals the sentence, asserting that there is no reason for the exponentially longer sentence other than judicial vindictiveness. Based on the record before us, we agree.
Although court participation in plea bargaining is permissible, State v. Warner, 762 So.2d 507 (Fla.2000), "judicial involvement must be limited 'to minimize the potential coercive effect on the defendant, to retain the function of the judge as a neutral arbiter, and to preserve the public perception of the judge as an impartial dispenser of justice.' " Id., at 513 (quoting People v. Cobbs, 443 Mich. 276, 505 N.W.2d 208 (1993)). "To avoid the potential for coercion, a judge must neither state nor imply alternative sentencing possibilities which hinge upon future procedural choices, such as the exercise of a defendant's right to trial." Id. at 514(emphasis added). The transcript of the colloquy in this case demonstrates that the court went beyond the admonitions in Warner. Instead, the transcript demonstrates the court's zealous advocacy for the benefits of the plea.
"[W]hen the trial judge is involved with the plea bargaining, and a harsher sentence follows the breakdown in negotiations, the record must show that no improper weight was given the failure to plead guilty." Stephney v. State, 564 So.2d 1246, 1248 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). Here, nothing in the record "affirmatively demonstrates that the defendant's insistence on a trial was given no consideration in the sentencing." McDonald v. State, 751 So.2d 56, 59 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)(citing Stephney). Therefore, the sentence must be reversed. Byrd v. State, 794 So.2d 671 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), review granted, No. SC01-2333, 817 So.2d 850 (Fla. April 12, 2002); King v. State, 751 So.2d 691 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000); Jones v. State, 750 So.2d 709 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). The transcript reveals no other reason for imposition of the harsh sentence, a tenfold increase from the 4 year plea offer; the court's comments on their face support the presumption of judicial vindictiveness. Nothing in the record rebuts this presumption. The only possible conclusion is that the harsher sentence was imposed because Prado failed to accept the favorable plea bargain championed by the court prior to trial.
Therefore, the sentence is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court to sentence the defendant to four years in prison in accordance with its prior plea offer.
Sentence reversed and remanded.
JORGENSON, J., concurs.