Watson v. State

Defendant, Richard Watson, appeals the summary denial of his 3.850 motion, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, to vacate his sentence.1 We reverse.

The defendant, charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident after committing vehicular homicide, elected to change his plea to guilty at his status conference hearing. A few weeks prior to this hearing, the state had filed notice of its intent to seek habitual offender status. During the plea colloquy, the trial court advised the defendant about the maximum statutory penalties as follows:

THE COURT: The maximum penalty as…