Carter v. State, 86-1204
| Decision Date | 24 December 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-1204,86-1204 |
| Citation | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 90,516 So.2d 1142 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 90 Oscar Kay CARTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Hugh H. Lee, Asst. Public Defender, Citrus County, Inverness, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Pamela D. Cichon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.
This is the second appearance of this case before this court. 1 On remand, the trial court entered identical sentences on the four counts of attempted sexual battery and the one count of lewd and lascivious acts, giving as reasons for departure, 1) that the three young victims have been psychologically traumatized by the offenses and 2) that the mothers of the young children have been traumatized by the offenses. In so departing, the trial court relied on our decision in Lerma v. State, 476 So.2d 275 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985) and on the cases of Casteel v. State, 481 So.2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) and Brooks v. State, 487 So.2d 68 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986).
The supreme court reversed our Lerma decision on a holding that psychological trauma to the victim in a sexual battery case cannot justify departure because that trauma is inherent in the crime and has thus been factored into the guidelines. Lerma v. State, 497 So.2d 736 (Fla.1986). Casteel was also reversed, Casteel v. State, 498 So.2d 1249 (Fla.1986), but in doing so the supreme court clarified Lerma to the extent that emotional hardship or trauma to a victim which arises from extraordinary circumstances not inherent in the crime charged may justify a departure sentence. There, the extraordinary circumstance was the fact that the sexual battery took place in the presence of the victim's young son who was traumatized by witnessing the attack, as was the victim because she knew her son was present. This particular circumstance was not inherent in the crime. The continued validity of Brooks, the third case relied on by the trial court, wherein departure was upheld because of psychological trauma to the victims caused by their presence in their home during the burglary, is questionable based on State v. Rousseau, 509 So.2d 281 (Fla.1987) where the court held that the psychological trauma a victim of a burglary suffers when the sanctity of his or her home is violated is inherent in the crime of burglary and does not justify departure.
Based on these principles, the emotional hardship suffered by the mothers of these...
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People v. Hudson
...guidelines, absent extraordinary circumstances or discernible physical manifestation resulting from the trauma (see Carter v. State, 516 So.2d 1142, 1143 (Fla.App.1987), citing State v. Rousseau, 509 So.2d 281 (Fla.1987)), Brooks still stands for the proposition that lay testimony may suffi......
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Harris v. State, 89-589
...type of offense. See State v. Jaggers, 526 So.2d 682 (Fla.1988); Barrentine v. State, 521 So.2d 1093 (Fla.1988); and Carter v. State, 516 So.2d 1142 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). See also State v. Rousseau, 509 So.2d 281 (Fla.1987); Lerma v. State, 497 So.2d 736 The remaining reasons given for depar......
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Reimel v. State, 87-334
...design. Because no valid reasons were stated for departure, we remand for resentencing under the guidelines. 3 See Carter v. State, 516 So.2d 1142 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). The final judgment of conviction is accordingly affirmed, but the sentence under review is reversed and the cause is remand......