Court Opinion

ID: 9883492
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 01:43:42.990802+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:23.872050
License: Public Domain

Justice KITTREDGE,
concurring:
I concur in result. Prior to formal acceptance of the Alford plea, the plea judge formally accepted Appellant’s guilty plea to two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the second degree. Appellant sought to withdraw the Alford plea prior to formal acceptance of that plea. I write separately because, in my judgment, in a typical guilty plea a defendant has a right to withdraw a guilty plea prior to formal acceptance by the plea judge. Harden v. State, 453 So.2d 550, 550-51 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1984) (“Until formal acceptance has occurred, the plea binds no one: not the defendant, the prosecutor, or the court.... [F]ormal acceptance of a plea occurs when the trial court affirmatively states to the parties, in open court and for the record, that the court accepts the plea.”) (internal citations omitted); State v. Creamer, 161 S.W.3d 420, 425 (Mo.Ct.App.2005) (“Up until acceptance of the guilty plea by the trial court, a defendant has unfettered latitude to withdraw his plea.”); see also Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(d)(1) (“A defendant may withdraw a plea of guilty or nolo contendere ... before the court accepts the plea, for any reason or no reason....”). Withdrawal of a guilty plea prior to formal acceptance is, therefore, generally a matter of right and not a matter within the plea judge’s discretion. This case, however, does not present the typical situation. In light of the package deal associated with all charges and the plea judge’s offer for *149Appellant to withdraw all pleas, I agree with the result reached by the majority.
TOAL, C.J., and BEATTY, J., concur.