Wilson Francois v. State of Florida

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida

Opinion filed May 20, 2026.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D25-1526
Lower Tribunal No. F21-6451
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Wilson Francois,
Appellant,

vs.

State of Florida,
Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Laura
Shearon Cruz, Judge.

Law Offices of Philip R. Horowitz, and Philip R. Horowitz, for appellant.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Jason Michael Ross,
Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before SCALES, C.J., and LOGUE and MILLER, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The standard of review for a lower court’s denial of a motion to

withdraw a plea is abuse of discretion. See Coley v. State, 350 So. 3d 168,
168 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022). Moreover, “[w]here (as here) [a motion to withdraw

a plea] is filed after sentence has been imposed, the defendant bears the

burden of establishing that a ‘manifest injustice has occurred.’” Toomer v.

State, 410 So. 3d 709, 712 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025) (quoting Williams v. State,

919 So. 2d 645, 646 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)). Nothing in this record indicates

the trial court abused its discretion in denying Appellant’s motion to withdraw

his plea considering the extensive colloquy conducted by the trial court when

it accepted the Appellant’s plea.

Affirmed.

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