172 So. 2d 245 - Thomas v. State

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently May 1991

8 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

¶1A.K. Black, Lake City, for appellant.

¶2Earl Faircloth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, Robert R. Crittenden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lakeland, for appellee.

¶3PER CURIAM.

¶4The appellant has taken an appeal from a summary denial of his motion to vacate judgment and sentence under Criminal Procedure Rule No. 1, F.S.A. ch. 924 Appendix.

¶5It is alleged that the appellant entered a coerced plea of guilty and is therefore entitled to relief under Jones v. State, Fla. App. 1964, 165 So.2d 191. The appellant states that he did not want to plead guilty, but did so upon the advice of his attorney, because his attorney informed him that the prosecution had "an airtight case" with 12 witnesses, including the defendant's children, testifying against him. There are no allegations or evidence to the effect that the defendant's attorney was incompetent, or to the effect that the prosecution played any part in the circumstances surrounding this plea of guilty. The appellant never moved to withdraw his plea of guilty and did not object to it in any manner until this proceeding. Viewing the allegations in a light most favorable to the appellant, it can only be said, at worst, that upon being advised by his attorney, the appellant may not have pursued the best possible course of action. The record does not even support this inference. *246 The contention that this was a coerced plea of guilty cannot be sustained.

¶6Other questions raised by the appellant do not merit discussion. See Brown v. State, Fla.App. 1964, 164 So.2d 34; Gammage v. State, Fla.App. 1964, 162 So.2d 529; and Everett v. State, Fla.App. 1964, 161 So.2d 714.

¶7Affirmed.

¶8SMITH, C.J., and SHANNON and ANDREWS, JJ., concur.