Clifton v. State, 89-02149

• Decision Date: 22 March 1991
• Docket Number: No. 89-02149,89-02149
• Citation: 16 Fla. L. Weekly 780,576 So.2d 895
• Parties: 16 Fla. L. Weekly 780 Edward William CLIFTON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 895

576 So.2d 895

16 Fla. L. Weekly 780

Edward William CLIFTON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 89-02149.

District Court of Appeal of Florida Second District.

March 22, 1991.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, Bartow, and Andrea Norgard, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Elaine L. Thompson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PARKER, Judge.

Edward Clifton entered pleas of no contest to four charges of armed robbery and one armed kidnapping charge with no negotiations with the state. Clifton was sentenced to life in prison. The court imposed costs and court-appointed attorney fees. He now appeals the order setting costs and fees and the sentence imposed in the absence of a sentencing guidelines scoresheet. We reverse.

FEES AND COSTS

The trial court's failure to give the appellant notice that fees and costs would be imposed and an opportunity for a hearing on that issue, even without a contemporaneous objection below, requires the costs and fees to be stricken. See Wood v. State, 544 So.2d 1004 (Fla.1989); McCray v. State, 573 So.2d 1056 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). This is without prejudice for the state to move for costs and fees following proper notice and an opportunity for the defendant to receive a hearing as to costs and fees.

ABSENCE OF SCORESHEET

No sentencing guidelines scoresheet appears in the record. The clerk has filed a certificate of nonappearance. Although the absence of a scoresheet does not invalidate the sentence in every instance, this case does not fall within the types of cases generally cited as the exceptions to the requirement of a scoresheet. See Rowe v. State, 496 So.2d 857 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) (sentence imposed was bargained-for sentence pursuant to a plea agreement which was not subject to the guidelines); Davis v. State, 461 So.2d 1361 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985) (where the record demonstrated the trial court was informed as to the presumptive guidelines sentence, the absence of a scoresheet was irrelevant or harmless). See also Burns v. State, 513 So.2d 165 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987).

The record of the appellant's sentencing hearing reveals that the trial court was not at all certain as to the correct presumptive sentence. To the contrary, the trial judge stated that he believed that the appellant's presumptive sentence fell within the range of twenty-two to twenty-seven years, but that he thought he had seen another scoresheet which indicated a guidelines sentence of life. The judge then concluded that the most severe scoresheet governed and sentenced the appellant to life. It is correct that separate scoresheets should be prepared when there are multiple offenses, scoring each...