Can the State Refuse to Certify Defendants Substantial Assistance If He Is Charged With Another Crime ?

In Miller v. State, 775 So. 2d 394 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), the defendant entered into a substantial assistance agreement and entered a guilty plea. The Court deferred sentencing in accordance with the agreement. 775 So. 2d at 394. Subsequently, Miller was charged with another crime, and the State refused to certify Miller's substantial assistance. Miller moved to withdraw his plea (for reasons not revealed in the opinion), and the trial court denied the motion. Id. at 395. The district court concluded that "while the issue on appeal was not raised below, ... the issue has been sufficiently preserved under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.172(f)." Id. at 395 n.1. The Fourth District Court of Appeal presumably found that filing the motion to withdraw sufficiently preserved the trial court's failure to accept the plea. The Court reversed the judgment and sentence to permit Miller to withdraw his plea. Id.