Terell Devon Ross v. State of Florida

Summary

The Fifth District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed Terell Devon Ross’s convictions and sentences following his negotiated guilty plea in an Anders appeal. The court remanded for ministerial corrections because the judgment incorrectly classified a heroin-trafficking conviction as a life felony and improperly assessed fines and a surcharge that had been waived. Ross was not required to be present for the corrections.

Holdings

1. The convictions and sentences are affirmed where the record revealed no reversible issue warranting relief and the appellant did not move to withdraw the guilty plea.
2. The trial court must correct the judgment because trafficking in heroin involving twenty-eight grams or more under section 893.135(1)(c)1.c., Florida Statutes (2023), is a first-degree felony, not a life felony.
3. The cost judgment must be amended to remove the fine and five-percent surcharge because the State waived mandatory fines as part of the plea bargain, no fine was orally announced at sentencing, and no fine was included in the plea agreement.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the convictions and sentences should be affirmed following Anders review of an appeal from a negotiated guilty plea where the defendant did not move to withdraw the plea.
2. Whether the sentencing judgment must be corrected because it incorrectly classified the count-nine trafficking conviction as a life felony.
3. Whether the cost judgment must be corrected to remove fines and a five-percent surcharge that were waived by the State, were not orally announced at sentencing, and were not part of the plea agreement.

Disposition

affirmed