Nobles v. State
Nobles appealed her 60-month VOP sentence as vindictive after the trial judge, who had actively participated in plea negotiations and offered 36 months, imposed the statutory maximum when she opted for a final hearing instead. The State conceded the issue, and the Fifth DCA applied the four-factor totality-of-circumstances test from Pickard/Simplice/Wilson to find vindictiveness, reversing and remanding for resentencing before a different judge.
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Key facts
- Nobles was subject to a violation of probation proceeding and received a 60-month sentence after rejecting a plea offer of 36 months that the trial judge had actively negotiated.
- The trial judge who participated in plea negotiations imposed the statutory maximum sentence when Nobles elected to proceed to a final hearing instead of accepting the settlement offer.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
This opinion reinforces and applies the Fifth DCA's recently announced four-factor vindictive-sentencing framework from Pickard v. State, giving practitioners another concrete application of how courts weigh judicial… — full analysis with a trial
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