Legal Opinion
Santoni v. State
District Court of Appeal of Florida
Decided July 30, 2014No. 14-0609Published
1Opinion of the CourtLogue, J.
Nelson Santoni petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to accept his guilty plea to second-degree murder. We deny the petition.
The State, by information, charged San-toni with second-degree murder. At the arraignment on the charge, the State informed the trial court that it was seeking a grand jury indictment on first-degree murder, which, unlike second-degree murder, carries as its maximum penalty the sentence of death. 1 Defense counsel immediately announced Santoni’s unconditional offer to plead guilty to second-degree murder. The State objected to the plea due, in part,…
2Cases cited6 opinions
- North Carolina v. AlfordSupreme Court of the United States · 1970
- Santobello v. New YorkSupreme Court of the United States · 1971
- Huffman v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 2000
- Cecil Mathews v. Michael D. Crews, etc.Supreme Court of Florida · 2014
- State Ex Rel. Schieres v. NimmonsDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida · 1978
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