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Cooper v. State
Citations: 956 So. 2d 1273; 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 8852; 2007 WL 1610451Docket: No. 2D06-3997
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; June 6, 2007; Florida; State Appellate Court
Robert W. Cooper, Jr. appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to withdraw his no contest plea to two counts of child abuse, which had been entered in exchange for a sentence of twelve months’ community control followed by forty-eight months’ probation. Cooper's motion argued that his plea was involuntarily made due to misadvice from his attorney and his physical illness at the time. He also requested conflict-free counsel, but the trial court did not address this request before questioning Cooper and his counsel about the plea. This led to a situation where Cooper and his attorney presented conflicting accounts regarding the plea's advisement. The trial court ultimately denied the motion, questioning Cooper's credibility. The appellate court found that the trial court erred in failing to address the request for conflict-free counsel, particularly once adversarial positions emerged between Cooper and his attorney. The court emphasized that denying a defendant the right to conflict-free counsel constitutes a significant error that cannot be deemed harmless. Citing relevant case law, the court ruled that Cooper was entitled to conflict-free representation during the critical stage of the proceedings concerning his motion to withdraw the plea. The court reversed the trial court's decision and remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing with conflict-free counsel for Cooper.