Filing # 103170464 E-Filed 02/12/2020 10:04:23 AM

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA

FOURTH DISTRICT

STATE OF FLORIDA, Case No. 4D19-2024

Appellant,
RECEIVED, 02/12/2020 10:05:50 AM, Clerk, Fourth District Court of Appeal

L.T. No. 2019CF001606AMB

v. 2019CF001606BMB
2019CF001606CMB
2019CF001606DMB
HUA ZHANG, ET AL.,
Appellee.
____________________________/

UNOPPOSED MOTION TO RELINQUISH JURISDICTION

IN STATE v. LEI CHEN, 2019CF001606CMB

Appellant, the State of Florida, hereby moves the Court for an order

relinquishing jurisdiction to the circuit court in State v. Lei Chen,

No. 2019CF001606CMB, for the purposes of resolving Ms. Chen’s case via guilty

plea. This motion is unopposed, and the grounds are as follows.

1. The present case is the State’s consolidated interlocutory appeal from

an order of the circuit court suppressing video evidence of Appellees’ felony and

misdemeanor prostitution offenses. Briefing is concluded and the case is pending the

parties’ request for oral argument. There are four Appellees in the case; this motion

affects only Appellee Lei Chen’s case (No. 2019CF001606CMB).

2. While this appeal was pending, Ms. Chen agreed to plead guilty to

resolve the charges against her.

3. Because of the pending appeal, however, the circuit court lacks

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jurisdiction to accept Ms. Chen’s plea and sentence her. To facilitate that resolution,

relinquishment of jurisdiction for a period of 45 days is necessary.

4. Once the circuit court has accepted Ms. Chen’s plea and her conviction

and sentence have become final, the State will dismiss its appeal as to Ms. Chen and

will proceed with its appeal of the other three Appellees.

5. Because this motion seeks relinquishment only of Ms. Chen’s case, it

should not affect this Court’s ability to conduct oral argument or issue a decision

with respect to the remaining Appellees.

6. The undersigned has consulted with Michael Brown, counsel for

Ms. Chen, and is authorized to represent that this motion is unopposed.

Wherefore, the State and Appellee Lei Chen agree that case

No. 2019CF001606CMB should be relinquished for 45 days for the purpose of

resolving her case via plea bargain.

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Respectfully submitted,

Ashley Moody
ATTORNEY GENERAL

/s/ Jeffrey Paul DeSousa

Amit Agarwal (FBN 125637)
SOLICITOR GENERAL
Amit.Agarwal@myfloridalegal.com
Jeffrey Paul DeSousa (FBN 110951)
DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL
Jeffrey.DeSousa@myfloridalegal.com
Office of the Attorney General
PL-01, The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Tel. (850) 414-3300
Fax (850) 410-2672

Counsel for State of Florida

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing was served via the e-filing portal

on this tenth day of February 2020 to the following:

William Shepherd Michael S. Brown

Edward Diaz Law Office of Michael S. Brown, PLLC
Jeffrey Schacknow 150 North Orange Avenue, Ste 407
Holland & Knight LLP Orlando, Florida 32801
222 Lakeview Avenue, Suite 1000 msblawofficefl@gmail.com
West Palm Beach, FL 33401 (352) 514-7494
william.shepherd@hklaw.com Counsel for Lei Chen and
edward.diaz@hklaw.com Shen Mingbi
jeffrey.schacknow@hklaw.com
(561) 650-8338
Counsel for Lei Wang

Katie Phang
Katie S. Phang, P.A.
283 Catalonia Ave Fl 2
Coral Gables, FL 33134-6712
katie@katiephang.com
(305) 614-1223
Counsel for Lei Wang

Tama Beth Kudman

Tama Beth Kudman, P.A.
The Comeau Building
319 Clematis Street, Suite 107
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
tama@tkudmanlaw.com
(561) 472-0811
Counsel for Hua Zhang

/s/ Jeffrey Paul DeSousa

Jeffrey Paul DeSousa
DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL