  In this work we study the critical behavior of a three-state ($+1$, $-1$,
$0$) opinion model with independence. Each agent has a probability $q$ to act
as independent, i.e., he/she can choose his/her opinion independently of the
opinions of the other agents. On the other hand, with the complementary
probability $1-q$ the agent interacts with a randomly chosen individual through
a kinetic exchange. Our analytical and numerical results show that the
independence mechanism acts as a noise that induces an order-disorder
transition at critical points $q_{c}$ that depend on the individuals'
flexibility. For a special value of this flexibility the system undergoes a
transition to an absorbing state with all opinions $0$.
