Case Name: Francisco GARCIA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1999-06-09
Citations: 736 So. 2d 89
Docket Number: No. 98-3979
Parties: Francisco GARCIA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: KLEIN, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 736
Pages: 89–91

Head Matter:
Francisco GARCIA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 98-3979.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
June 9, 1999.
Michael D. Gelety, Ft. Lauderdale, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Melynda L. Melear, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
STEVENSON, J.
Appellant, Francisco Garcia, was tried by jury, convicted of shooting into an occupied dwelling and second degree murder, and sentenced to concurrent sentences of 15 years and 22 years imprisonment. On direct appeal, this court affirmed. See Garcia v. State, 694 So.2d 815 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Garcia filed a timely 3.850 motion which was summarily denied by the trial court. In this appeal from that order, we affirm as to all claims raised in the motion except for Garcia's first claim, alleging that trial counsel failed to properly inform him as to the consequences of pleading guilty and improperly induced him not to accept the State's plea offer.
Prior to trial, the State made an offer to Garcia to end the case with a plea to a lesser included offense of manslaughter and a sentence of five and a half (5fé) years in prison. While Garcia admits that his attorney relayed this offer, Garcia claims that counsel waited until the last minute to convey the offer, failed to discuss with Garcia the details and the strength of the State's case, urged Garcia not to take the deal because he would succeed at trial, erroneously advised Garcia that he would get one-third knocked off any sentence he did receive, and failed to advise Garcia that he was subject to a three-year minimum mandatory for use of a firearm. Garcia further alleges that, had he been properly advised, he would have taken the deal offered by the State and would have served far less time in prison (5¡é years instead of 22 years).
Garcia has stated a claim for relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. See Cottle v. State, 24 Fla. L. Weekly S166, 733 So.2d 963 (Fla.1999)(finding that to be entitled to relief on a claim that a defendant was unable to make an informed decision whether to plea bargain due to counsel's neglect, the defendant must prove that had he been correctly advised he would have accepted the plea offer and that his acceptance of the plea would have resulted in a lesser sentence); Gonzales v. State, 691 So.2d 602 (Fla. 4th DCA)(holding that to be entitled to relief, defendant must allege and prove that his attorney failed to communicate a plea offer or misinformed defendant concerning the penalty he faced), rev. denied, 700 So.2d 685 (Fla.1997).
While the Florida Supreme Court, in Cottle, discussed the elements that a 3.850 movant must prove when he alleges that counsel failed to correctly convey a plea offer, the opinion did not discuss the appropriate remedy. Since Garcia has not yet established counsel's ineffectiveness, we too have no occasion to address the parameters of the remedy that Garcia might be due based on the facts in his case. Since our supreme court, in Cottle, has so recently acknowledged that a proper claim may be stated under these circumstances, if appellant does prove that he is entitled to relief, we will leave it to the trial court to fashion a remedy that "is tailored to the injury suffered and [does] not unnecessarily infringe on competing interests." United States v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 364, 101 S.Ct. 665, 66 L.Ed.2d 564 (1981).
Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for attachment of portions of the record conclusively establishing that appellant is not entitled to relief or for an evidentiary hearing concerning the first claim raised in the 3.850 motion.
KLEIN, J., concurs.
GROSS, J., concurs specially with opinion.