Smith v. State

I respectfully dissent. It appears to me that the issue is not whether there is a formal order in the file permitting the defendant to withdraw his plea, but whether, in fact, the defendant elected to go to trial rather than be sentenced under the appropriate guidelines. And we must find the answer to that question from the record.

Appellant concedes he entered a plea agreement with the court to plead no contest to all three counts as charged (two felonies and one misdemeanor) and that he would receive three years in prison followed by three years probation. Even though the state was under the…