Ballien v. State, 5D05-3698.
| Decision Date | 01 December 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D05-3698.,5D05-3698. |
| Citation | 942 So.2d 981 |
| Parties | Donna Sue BALLIEN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Ailene S. Rogers, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Douglas T. Squire, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
Donna Sue Ballien appeals her judgment and sentence which were entered by the trial court after she was found guilty of violating her probation. Concluding that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that Ballien willfully violated her probation, we reverse.
Ballien pled nolo contendere to charges of forgery and uttering a forged check. She was sentenced to a term of three years of probation. As part of her plea agreement, Ballien was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
In a separate case, Ballien pled nolo contendere to the charge of deposit with intent to defraud. The trial court sentenced Ballien to a term of three years of probation. As part of her restitution order, Ballien was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
Subsequently, the trial court modified Ballien's orders of probation in both cases and converted the costs and fines associated with both cases to community service hours. Three months later, the Department of Corrections filed a violation of probation affidavit alleging that Ballien was in violation of her probation due to her failure to complete community service hours as directed by her probation officer.
Ballien filed a motion to dismiss the affidavit arguing that it failed to state grounds under which her probation could be violated because Ballien believed she had until the end of her probationary period to complete her community service hours. The trial court conducted a hearing on the motion. During the hearing, Ballien argued that she should have the entire term of her probation in which to complete her community service hours because the trial court did not specifically state she had to complete a certain amount of community service each month. The State argued that, because Ballien's cost of supervision was due every month, she could be violated for not performing community service hours each month.
The trial court denied Ballien's motion to dismiss. Thereafter, Ballien pled guilty to violating her probation, expressly reserving the right to appeal the trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss. Both parties agreed that Ballien's motion was dispositive. The trial court adjudicated...
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