November 2, 2016 - Court Resentences Client to Time Served Pursuant to a Plea Agreement Following Litigation of State Habeas (3.850 Motion)

November 2, 2016 Mr. Kent's client, Theodore J. Payne, was sentenced to time served pursuant to a plea agreement for a time served sentence on a charge of armed robbery.  This came after Mr. Kent had filed and litigated a 3.850 state habeas motion, which had argued that Mr. Payne had been denied effective assistance of counsel in relation to his rejection of a plea offer of six years.  After rejecting the six year plea offer, Mr. Payne had gone to trial on a charge of armed robbery, been convicted and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.  The Court had previously granted the 3.850 motion on this claim and vacated the plea and conviction, but placed the case back on the trial calendar for retrial. Mr. Kent then successfully argued that the proper remedy for this type 3.850 claim was for the State to reinstate its previously rejected plea offer or if the State refused to do so, for the Court to order the State to reinstate the offer.  At first neither the State nor Court agreed with Mr. Kent's position on the proper remedy. Mr. Kent had filed a memorandum of law in support of his argument that the proper remedy for this claim was reinstatement of the original plea offer.  Following a meeting in chambers with the Court, the week before final pretrial, on the final pretrial date the State reinstated its prior offer of six years, waiving the 10-20-life minimum mandatory, and Mr. Payne entered a plea to that offer, and was sentenced to time served.  Mr. Payne was released the following day after the Department of Corrections issued a clearance that he had no other holds.  Below is a picture of Mr. Payne's mother, smiling, after leaving court the morning his time served sentence was entered.