Opinion ID: 1896138
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State v. Harris

Text: In 1995, Morris Harris entered a plea of nolo contendere and was adjudicated guilty of two counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a child under sixteen years of age. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, with eight years of the sentence suspended for probation with sexual offender counseling. [1] On May 27, 1999, four days before Harris's tentative release date from prison, the State filed a petition seeking civil commitment under the Ryce Act. See §§ 394.910-.931, Fla. Stat. (1999). Harris then filed a motion to enforce the plea agreement and sentence in the 1995 criminal case, arguing that the involuntary civil commitment proceedings violated the plea agreement. The trial court denied the motion, finding that the State had not violated the plea agreement because (1) the Ryce Act had not been enacted at the time of the plea, (2) the civil commitment was an unforeseen, collateral consequence of the plea, and (3) Harris was serving probation while awaiting trial in the civil proceeding. Harris later filed a motion to dismiss the commitment petition, arguing that as applied to him, the Ryce Act constituted an ex post facto law and violated his right to due process. The trial court denied this motion as well. [2] After a non-jury trial, the trial court found by clear and convincing evidence that Harris met the criteria for civil commitment. Harris appealed the verdict and the denial of the motion to dismiss, and the cases were consolidated. The First District reversed and remanded on both appeals, finding that the state breached its plea agreement to allow Harris the privilege of seeking treatment as a sexual offender during the probationary portion of his sentence by seeking civil commitment shortly before he had completed the incarcerative portion of his sentence. Harris, 879 So.2d at 1228. The First District also certified the first question stated above. Id. In denying the State's motions for rehearing and rehearing en banc, the First District issued another opinion addressing Harris's probationary status. Evidently, the State had represented at oral argument that Harris was not on probation while civilly committed, and would not begin serving probation until he successfully completed treatment and was released. 879 So.2d at 1235. On motion for rehearing, the State claimed that its concession was ill-advised and in error. The State argued that Harris was receiving sexual offender treatment during the probationary period of his sentence, and thus, the State had honored the plea agreement. The First District disagreed that Harris was then currently on active probation while confined under the Ryce Act. Moreover, [e]ven if it could be said that [Harris] is currently on active probation while in the custody of DCFS, this would raise a double jeopardy issue, because of the change in probationary conditions his internment represents. Id. The First District then certified the second and third questions stated above. Id. at 1236.