Brannon v. State
The trial court dismissed a pro se defendant's post-judgment motions, including a motion to withdraw plea, without offering him counsel and without jurisdiction concerns since his rule 3.800(b)(1) motion tolled rendition of the appeal. The Sixth DCA held the trial court retained jurisdiction because the sentencing-correction motion tolled the appeal, but affirmed dismissal of the other motions since Brannon did not challenge the independent legal-insufficiency findings on appeal. However, the court reversed the dismissal of the motion to withdraw plea because the trial court failed to renew the offer of counsel before ruling on it, since a rule 3.170(l) motion is a critical stage requiring such an offer.
Key facts
- Pro se defendant Brannon filed post-judgment motions after entering a plea, including a motion to withdraw plea under Rule 3.170(l) and a sentencing-correction motion under Rule 3.800(b)(1).
- The trial court dismissed Brannon's motions without offering him counsel and without addressing the merits of the withdrawal motion.
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Why it matters
This opinion reinforces and applies the established rule that a motion to withdraw plea under rule 3.170(l) is a critical stage requiring renewed offer of counsel, giving practitioners a citable Sixth DCA case for this… — full analysis with a trial
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