Brooks v. State

• Decision Date: 25 October 2007
• Docket Number: No. SC06-1266.,SC06-1266.
• Citation: 969 So.2d 238
• Parties: James L. BROOKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

969 So.2d 238

James L. BROOKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC06-1266.

Supreme Court of Florida.

October 25, 2007.

Isaac Ramon Ruiz-Carus, Tampa, FL, for Petitioner.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL; and Celia Terenzio, Bureau Chief, and Laura Fisher Zibura, Assistant Attorneys General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent.

CANTERO, J.

In this case we decide which of two competing harmless error standards applies to sentencing scoresheet errors raised under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). Such motions can be filed "at any time," even long after the sentence is final, but must address errors apparent on the face of the record. The stricter "could-have-been-imposed" standard does not require resentencing if the sentence legally could have been imposed (absent a departure) using a correct scoresheet. The more defendant-friendly "would-have-been-imposed" standard requires resentencing unless the record conclusively shows that the same sentence would have been imposed using a correct scoresheet. See State v. Anderson, 905 So.2d 111, 112 (Fla.2005). In State v. Anderson, we held that the would-have-been-imposed standard applies to postconviction motions filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Id. at 118. Such motions must be filed within two years after the judgment and sentence are final. Because motions filed under rule 3.800(a) may be filed "at any time," however, we did not decide which standard applies to those motions. In the case under review, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, acting en banc, unanimously applied the stricter "could-have-been-imposed" standard. See Brooks v. State, 930 So.2d 835, 836 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). The court certified conflict with Wilson v. State, 913 So.2d 1277 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), which applied the "would-have-been-imposed" standard. Id. We have jurisdiction to resolve the conflict and granted review. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.; Brooks v. State, 948 So.2d 758 (Fla.2007) (granting review). We agree with the Fourth District.

Below, we first review our decision in Anderson. Next, we discuss the facts of this case and the conflict in the district courts. Finally, we analyze and resolve the conflict by holding that the could-have-been-imposed harmless error test applies to claims of sentencing error raised by rule 3.800(a) motions.

I. THE HARMLESS ERROR STANDARD FOR SENTENCING ERROR RAISED UNDER RULE 3.850

In Anderson, we confronted a similar conflict over which harmless error standard applies to a sentencing error raised in a postconviction motion. 905 So.2d at 112. The Second District had held that resentencing was warranted unless the record conclusively showed that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence using a correct scoresheet, see Anderson v. State, 865 So.2d 640, 642 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). On the other hand, the First District had concluded that sentence scoresheet error raised by postconviction motion was harmless if the sentence could have been imposed under a correct scoresheet. See Hummel v. State, 782 So.2d 450 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). After examining the historical changes in the statutory criminal sentencing schemes and the district courts' treatment of such errors, both on direct appeal and in postconviction motions, we noted that most courts applied the would-have-been-imposed harmless error test. That is, courts essentially applied the harmless error standard of State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla.1986), reviewing the record "for conclusive proof that the scoresheet error did not affect or contribute to the sentencing decision." Anderson, 905 So.2d at 115-16.¹ Limiting our decision to motions filed under rule 3.850, we held that "[b]ecause it is essential for the trial court to have the benefit of a properly calculated scoresheet when deciding upon a sentence, we agree that the would-have-been-imposed standard should apply to motions filed under rule 3.850 to correct scoresheet error." Id. at 118. Recognizing that different considerations may apply to claims under rule 3.800(a), however, we noted that

the would-have-been-imposed test, which requires a sentencing court to determine whether it would have imposed the same sentence using a correct scoresheet, may lose its effectiveness when a judge must decide the issue several years after the original sentencing. Therefore, the would-have-been-imposed standard may be too speculative and subjective for purposes of rule 3.800(a).

Id. at 118. Accordingly, we declined to address which harmless error standard applies to motions filed under rule 3.800(a). Id.²

II. THE CONFLICT IN THE DISTRICT COURTS

In the two conflict cases, the district courts addressed the question we left open in Anderson: when a sentencing error is raised under rule 3.800(a), which harmless error test applies? The courts answered the question differently.

In the case under review, Brooks pled no contest to carjacking without a firearm — a first-degree felony. See § 812.133(1)-(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1997). The court placed him on four years' probation. Subsequently, the trial court revoked his probation and sentenced him to ten years in prison.³ Four years later, Brooks filed a motion under rule 3.800(a), alleging that at his resentencing, his felony conviction was a level seven offense that should have been assessed 56 sentencing points, but was incorrectly scored as a level nine offense and assessed 92 points. As a result, his lowest permissible sentence under the Criminal Punishment Code was significantly higher than it should have been—66.3 months instead of 39.3 months.

On review, the Fourth District concluded that the would-have-been-imposed standard we applied in Anderson should not apply to claims raised under rule 3.800(a):

Our reading of rule 3.800(a) is that it allows relief in a narrower class of cases than rule 3.850. There is no time limit for 3.800(a) motions and "[a]fter the time for filing 3.850 motions has passed, the State's interests in finality are more compelling." Anderson, 905 So.2d at 118. Application of a "would have been imposed" test many years after a sentencing hearing presents practical problems — judges die and retire and memories fade. Id. Where relief appears on the face of the record such practical difficulties do not exist.

Brooks, 930 So.2d at 836. The district court reasoned that despite clear scoresheet error, Brooks was not entitled to resentencing because the trial court could have imposed a thirty-year sentence for the carjacking, a first-degree felony, but sentenced him only to ten. The district court affirmed the trial court's denial of relief and certified conflict with Wilson. Id.⁴

In the conflict case, the defendant pled guilty and was sentenced to twenty-year prison terms on each of three sexual battery counts, and to fifteen years on each of four counts of lewd and lascivious acts. Wilson, 913 So.2d at 1278. The trial court imposed true split sentences: all the prison terms were concurrent, the terms were suspended after ten years, and the defendant was placed on probation. When Wilson subsequently violated probation, the trial court imposed the full terms, with credit for time served. In a motion filed under rule 3.800(a), Wilson alleged that at both sentencings his sexual battery offenses had been scored incorrectly as level nine instead of level seven offenses. Id. Noting that the trial court could have legally imposed those sentences, the district court nevertheless reversed for the trial court to decide the appropriate relief:

Whether the test is "could have" or "would have" for purposes of a motion under rule 3.800(a) has not been resolved by the supreme court. See State v. Anderson, 905 So.2d 111 (Fla.2005). This district currently applies the "would have" standard to determine if postconviction relief is available under rule 3.800(a).

Wilson, 913 So.2d at 1279.⁵

We now resolve the conflict.

III. RAISING SENTENCING ERROR

As we explained in Anderson, a defendant has several options for raising a sentencing error. Anderson, 905 So.2d at 118. First, when preserved for review, the error may be raised on direct appeal. Second, even if not originally preserved, "to provide defendants with a mechanism to correct sentencing errors in the trial court at the earliest opportunity" and "to give defendants a means to preserve these errors for appellate review," we amended Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b) to allow defendants to file a motion to correct a sentencing error even while an appeal is pending (but before filing an initial brief). See Amendments to Fla. Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.111(e) & 3.800 & Fla. Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.020(h), 9.140, & 9.600, 761 So.2d 1015, 1016 (Fla.1999) (Amendments); see also Maddox v. State, 760 So.2d 89, 94 (Fla.2000) ("We anticipate that the amendments to rule 3.800(b) . . . should eliminate the problem of unpreserved sentencing errors raised on direct appeal. . . .").⁶ This rule also authorizes the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing. Third, under rule 3.850, a defendant may raise a sentencing error within two years after the sentence becomes final. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850(b). Claims of scoresheet error brought under this rule are generally, though not exclusively, alleged as ineffective assistance of counsel claims. See Matton v. State, 872 So.2d 308, 312 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) ("The failure to object to scoresheet errors constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel if counsel failed to object to errors of which counsel knew or should have known.").

As with most trial court errors, however, not all errors committed at a criminal sentencing require reversal. The sentence may be affirmed if such errors are harmless. See DiGuilio, 491 So.2d at 1135 (holding that an error is harmless when an appellate court concludes "beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict"). When scoresheet error is presented using...