Thompson v. State
Thompson v. State
Opinion of the Court
Joseph Thompson entered an open plea to the trial court to possession of cannabis in excess of twenty grams, possession of cannabis with intent to sell, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Having previously filed a motion to suppress based on what he perceived to be insuffi-ciencies in the factual allegations of the search warrant to establish probable cause, Thompson entered a plea of no contest to the charges and reserved his right to appeal the trial court’s order denying that motion.
True to his expressed intent to appeal that order, Thompson asks this court to reverse the trial court’s denial of his motion and remand this case with instructions to discharge him. Having thoroughly considered his arguments in support thereof, we decline that request and affirm the order denying his motion to suppress without further comment.
Thompson presents an alternative issue: his convictions for both possession of cannabis in excess of twenty grams and possession of cannabis with intent to sell, which arise from possession of the same cannabis, violate the proscription against double jeopardy. We note, parenthetically, that because Thompson entered an open plea to the charges and there is nothing in the record indicating that Thompson otherwise knowingly waived any double jeopardy violation, he may properly challenge his convictions on double jeopardy grounds. See Melvin v. State, 645 So.2d 448 (Fla. 1994); Novaton v. State, 684 So.2d 607 (Fla. 1994) (holding that a bargained-for plea waives the right to attack multiple convictions on double jeopardy grounds); Barfield v. State, 871 So.2d 929 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); see also Lewis v. State, 827 So.2d 1052 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002).
Resolution of this issue requires analysis of the statutes he was convicted of violating
Conceding the error, the State correctly suggests that the proper conviction to eliminate is the one for possession of cannabis over twenty grams. Crites; Williams. Accordingly, the conviction for possession of cannabis over twenty grams is reversed and the sentence imposed for that offense is vacated. The remainder of the judgment and sentences is affirmed. We remand to the trial court to enter a corrected judgment and sentence.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.
. § 893.13(l)(a)2., Fla. Stat. (2006) (prohibiting possession of cannabis with intent to sell); § 893.13(6)(a), Fla. Stat. (2006) (prohibiting possession of cannabis over twenty grams).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.