Opinion ID: 1106020
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Advise and Incorrect Advice

Text: We have held that counsel's failure to advise a defendant of the collateral consequences of a plea does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. In Major v. State, 814 So.2d 424 (Fla.2002), we reaffirmed the duty of counsel to inform a defendant of direct, but not collateral, consequences of a plea. We held that because the law does not require a defendant to be informed of collateral consequences, the failure to inform of such consequences does not affect a plea's voluntariness. Id. at 426-27. We then held that no duty exists to advise a defendant entering a plea that if the defendant commits another crime, the sentence for that crime may be enhanced. Id. at 426. Although Major resolved the effect of a failure to advise about the sentence-enhancing effects of future crimes, it did not address the consequences of wrong advice. Both this Court and the district courts, however, have addressed whether counsel's wrong advice in other contexts constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. Florida courts have held that some claims of wrong advice about collateral consequences of a plea do, at least facially, state claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. See, e.g., State v. Leroux, 689 So.2d 235, 236 (Fla.1996) (reversing for evidentiary hearing on defendant's allegation that counsel misinformed him about the amount of time that he would actually serve on his negotiated sentence); State v. Sallato, 519 So.2d 605, 606 (Fla.1988) (where the defendant alleged that counsel incorrectly advised that a guilty plea and conviction could not jeopardize his application for U.S. citizenship, remanding for the trial court to determine whether the accused was given positive misadvice by trial counsel and the legal ramifications of such advice); Joyner v. State, 795 So.2d 267, 268 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) (reversing for evidentiary hearing on defendant's claim that counsel affirmatively misadvised him that his youthful offender adjudication would not count as a prior conviction causing him to lose his right to vote); Roberti v. State, 782 So.2d 919, 920 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (reversing for evidentiary hearing on defendant's allegation that counsel was ineffective for misinforming him regarding applicability of the Involuntary Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act); Ray v. State, 480 So.2d 228, 229 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985) (reversing where counsel misadvised that defendant was eligible to receive incentive gain time on a minimum mandatory sentence). Although we have not considered the certified question, all five district courts of appeal have. Besides the First District in this case, three other courts have held that such misadvice does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel or render a plea involuntary. See McKowen v. State, 831 So.2d 794, 796 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); Rhodes v. State, 701 So.2d 388, 389 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Stansel v. State, 825 So.2d 1007, 1010 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). One court has held differently. See Smith v. State, 829 So.2d 940, 941 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). Many of these courts have analyzed the issue in terms of a plea's voluntariness, without considering either the deficient performance or prejudice prongs of Strickland.