We have for review T.G. v. State,
Although T.G. was not represented in the trial court, he requested and received counsel for his direct appeal. On appeal, the Fifth District concluded that the trial court should have advised T.G. of his right to counsel and inquired whether his waiver of that right was freely and intelligently made. Accordingly, the court reversed the adjudication of delinquency and disposition due to the court’s noncompliance with Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.165. On motion for rehearing, the State contended that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to consider the appeal because T.G. never moved the trial court to withdraw the plea. In its opinion denying rehearing, the Fifth District concluded that L.L. v. State,
Several cases, statutes, and court rules address the requirement of filing a motion to withdraw plea as a prerequisite to obtaining appellate review of the plea. In Robinson, this Court upheld the constitutionality of section 924.06(3), Florida Statutes (1977), which limited defendants’ right of appeal from a guilty plea to matters occurring contemporaneously with the plea. See
Furthermore, we find that an appeal from a guilty plea should never be a substitute for a motion to withdraw a plea. If the record raises issues concerning the voluntary or intelligent character of the plea, that issue should first be presented to the trial court in accordance with the law and standards pertaining to a motion to withdraw a plea. If the action of the trial court on such motion were adverse to the defendant, it would be subject to review on direct appeal.... To adopt the view asserted by the appellant in this case would in effect eliminate both the necessity for a defendant to move for a withdrawal of his plea and the obligation to show a manifest injustice or prejudice as grounds for such a plea withdrawal after sentence.
Robinson,
Section 924.051(b)(4) is directed to the same end but is worded slightly differently. Insofar as it says that a defendant who pleads nolo contendere or guilty without expressly reserving the right to appeal a legally dispositive issue cannot appeal the judgment, we believe that the principle of Robinson controls. A defendant must have the right to appeal that limited class of issues described in Robinson.
See Amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure,
The Fifth District applied Robinson to juvenile appeals in L.L. v. State,
[T]he juvenile delinquency system is different from the adult criminal system. Among other differences is the fact that, in the juvenile delinquency system rehabilitation is the principal focus, while in the adult criminal system punishment is the principal focus. In addition, established principles of statutory construc*208 tion militate against the conclusion that the legislature intended that section 924.051 apply to juvenile delinquency proceedings.
Section 924.051 was added by the legislature to chapter 924.... Appeals in juvenile delinquency proceedings are addressed in section 39.069, Florida Statutes .... Section 39.069 appears to have been intended by the legislature to deal exhaustively with the subject of appeals in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
Id. at 270 (quoting J.M.J. v. State,
However, in a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Pariente concurred, Justice Wells noted that the rules of appellate and juvenile procedure require juvenile defendants to preserve error in the same manner as the Criminal Appeals Reform Act of 1996. See T.M.B.,
In 1999, the Legislature revisited this issue when it amended section 985.234, Florida Statutes (1997). Section 985.234 currently provides that juvenile appeals shall be handled “in the manner prescribed by s. 924.051 and the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure.” § 985.234(1), Fla. Stat. (1999). The former version only provided that appeals should be taken pursuant to the appellate rules. See § 985.234(1), Fla. Stat. (1997). Indeed, T.M.B. was based, in part, on our recognition that section 39.069, Florida Statutes (1985) (presently section 985.234), which referenced only the rules of appellate procedure, exhaustively governed juvenile appeals. The Legislature, however, subsequently included an explicit incorporation of the standards enunciated in section 924.051.
The State contends that the Fifth District’s interpretation of T.M.B. is overly broad. According to the State, the critical issue in T.M.B. was whether juvenile defendants must preserve alleged dispositive errors for appeal, not whether juveniles may appeal the validity of a plea without first moving to withdraw the plea in the trial court.
In the decision below, the Fifth District extended T.M.B.’s holding to juvenile appeals from alleged involuntary pleas. Admittedly, the similarity of the statutes and rules provides credible support for this interpretation. However, as the State correctly observes, the statute at issue in T.M.B. did not apply to errors occurring contemporaneously with the plea but rather involved the preservation of alleged dis-positive errors. Indeed, Robinson distinguishes these errors, noting that section 924.06(3) did not apply to errors which occurred contemporaneous with the plea. Moreover, the same construction is true of section 924.051(4). See Amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure,
As Justice Wells pointed out in T.M.B., public policy concerns also militate in favor of requiring preservation of error
The requirement of a contemporaneous objection is based on practical necessity and basic fairness in the operation of a judicial system. It places the trial judge on notice that error may have been committed, and provides him an opportunity to correct it at an early stage of the proceedings. Delay and an unnecessary use of the appellate process result from a failure to cure early that which must be cured eventually.
Similarly, in J.B. v. State,
Notwithstanding the foregoing discussion, we note that fundamental error occurred in the present case because T.G. was denied his right to counsel.
The State, however, contends that what occurred in the present case was not denial of the right to counsel, but merely noncompliance with a procedural rule. It contends that T.G. never indicated that he wanted an attorney or that he would have requested one had a more thorough inquiry been conducted. Moreover, the State points out that T.G. requested and received counsel on direct appeal, demonstrating that he was capable of exercising that right.
Contrary to the State’s assertions, the trial court’s violation of rule 8.165 resulted in the denial of the right to counsel. Rule 8.165 is not merely procedural in nature, but contains guidelines to ensure that the substantive right to counsel is protected. In the present case, the trial court not only made a mere technical error by failing to obtain a written waiver, see Johnson v. State,
In order to raise an error on appeal, a contemporaneous objection generally must be made at the trial court level. See J.B.,
[W]e find that an appeal from a guilty plea should never be a substitute for a motion to withdraw a plea. If the record raises issues concerning the voluntary or intelligent character of the plea, that issue should first be presented to the trial court in accordance with the law and standards pertaining to a motion to withdraw a plea.
Robinson,
Thus, under Robinson, if a juvenile who is represented by counsel claims that his or her plea is involuntary because of an inadequate plea colloquy, it is appropriate to first require the juvenile to file a motion to withdraw the plea. The Second District followed this procedure in J.M.B. v. State,
We conclude that the policy underlying Robinson that requires a motion to withdraw the plea to be filed before challenging the validity of the plea is not served where a juvenile enters into a guilty plea without the benefit of counsel and the juvenile has not knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel. We cannot overemphasize the principle articulated by the Fourth District in P.L.S. that the waiver of counsel inquiry is especially significant in juvenile cases because children may not fully comprehend the importance of counsel or the consequences of waiving the right to counsel. See P.L.S.,
Although some cases without explanation call the error in failing to comply with rule 8.165 “fundamental,” the Fifth District reasoned in J.R.V. v. State,
Because of this unique concern for juveniles who enter pleas without the benefit of counsel, we find that it is appropriate to recognize a narrowly drawn and extremely limited exception to Robinson. “Fundamental error” occurs in instances when juveniles enter uncounseled pleas where the trial court failed to comply with the requirements of rule 8.165. In these circumstances if the waiver of counsel is invalid as a matter of law, it follows that the guilty plea entered without advice of counsel should also be deemed involuntary as a matter of law. Thus, if it appears from the face of the record that the trial court did not comply with the specific procedures of rule 8.165, including conducting a “thorough inquiry into the child’s comprehension of that offer [of the assistance of counsel] and the capacity to make that choice intelligently and understanding^,” any subsequent plea should be deemed involuntary as a matter of law and the appellate court would have the authority to reverse absent a motion to withdraw or a contemporaneous objection.
We again emphasize that in all other cases involving a challenge to the voluntariness of the plea, including those cases where the appellate court cannot determine the voluntariness of the waiver from the face of the record, the procedure of Robinson should be followed. Further, in the event the juvenile fails to raise the issue on appeal and it becomes necessary to attack the plea collaterally, it is important that rules 3.800 and 3.850 be amended to apply to juveniles in order to avoid the necessity of the juvenile having to later challenge the voluntariness of a plea by petition for writ of habeas corpus. See J.M.B.,
Accordingly, we approve J.S., and J.L., and disapprove the Fifth District’s opinion to the extent it holds that Robinson does not apply to juvenile appeals. However, we approve the ultimate result because the denial of counsel constituted fundamental error. Thus, we remand this case to the trial court so that it can properly advise T.G. of his right to assistance of counsel, ensure by a thorough inquiry that any waiver is free and intelligent, and allow T.G. to enter a new plea if appropriate.
It is so ordered.
Notes
. Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(b)(2) provides:
(b) Appeals by Defendant....
(2) Guilty or Nolo Contendere Pleas.
(A) Pleas. A defendant may not appeal from a guilty or nolo contendere plea except as follows:
(i) Reservation of Right to Appeal. A defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contende-re may expressly reserve the right to appeal a prior dispositive order of the lower tribunal, identifying with particularity the point of law being reserved.
(ii) Appeals Otherwise Allowed. A defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere may otherwise directly appeal only
a. the lower tribunal's lack of subject matter jurisdiction;
b. a violation of the plea agreement, if preserved by a motion to withdraw plea;
c. an involuntary plea, if preserved by a motion to withdraw plea;
d. a sentencing error, if preserved; or
e. as otherwise provided by law.
Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(b)(2).
. In light of the recent amendment, there appears to be some ambiguity as to whether Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b), which provides a mechanism for preserving sentencing errors, now applies in juvenile proceedings. We therefore request the Juvenile Court Rules Committee to consider whether rule 3.800(b) should apply to juvenile cases, or whether a companion rule for juvenile proceedings should be created.
. We note that the State characterizes its argument as jurisdictional, contending that the Fifth District lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal. This Court recently addressed whether sections 924.051(3) and (4) posed a jurisdictional bar to appellate review following the entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. See State v. Jefferson,
. Although this issue was not the basis of conflict jurisdiction, once the Court grants jurisdiction, it may, in its discretion, address other issues properly raised and argued before the Court. See Savoie v. State,
. Rule 8.165 provides:
(a) Duty of court. The court shall advise the child of the child's right to counsel. The court shall appoint counsel as provided by law unless waived by the child at each stage of the proceeding. This waiver shall be in writing if made at the time of a plea of guilty or no contest or at the adjudicatory hearing.
(b) Waiver of counsel.
(1)The failure of a child to request appointment of counsel at a particular stage in the proceedings or the child’s announced intention to plead guilty shall not, in itself, constitute a waiver of counsel at any subsequent stage of the proceedings.
(2) A child shall not be deemed to have waived the assistance of counsel until the entire process of offering counsel has been completed and a thorough inquiry into the child's comprehension of that offer and the capacity to make that choice intelligently and understandingly has been made.
(3) No waiver shall be accepted where it appears that the party is unable to make an intelligent and understanding choice because of mental condition, age, education, experience, the nature or complexity of the case, or other factors.
(4) If a waiver is accepted at any stage of the proceedings, the offer of assistance of counsel shall be renewed by the court at each subsequent stage of the proceedings at which the party appears without counsel.
Fla. R. Juv. P. 8.165.
. More recently, however, the Fourth District in J.A. v. State, 758 So.2d 1276 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), dismissed an appeal without receding from, referencing, or distinguishing its earlier decisions in J.A.S. or P.L.S. because the juvenile did not first move to withdraw the plea where the allegation was that the trial court did not make the required thorough inquiry into whether the juvenile voluntarily and intelligently waived his right to counsel before accepting the plea. J.A. cited to the Second District’s decision in J.M.B.,
