Collins v. State, 88-1172
| Decision Date | 20 December 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-1172,88-1172 |
| Citation | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 19,535 So.2d 661 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 19 John Richard COLLINS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender and N. Joseph Durant, Jr., Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Richard L. Polin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and HUBBART, J., and ZEHMER, E. EARLE, Associate Judge.
This is an appeal by the defendant John Richard Collins from two judgments of conviction for trafficking in cocaine and possession of cannabis and a total sentence of twenty-one (21) years imprisonment. The sole point on appeal is that the trial court erred in exceeding the sentencing guidelines range of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years imprisonment. We agree and reverse for resentencing.
The written reasons given by the trial court for departing from the aforesaid sentencing guidelines were:
The first reason, stated above, is not a clear and convincing reason for departing from the sentencing guidelines because it was not proven below beyond a reasonable doubt. We agree with the defendant that the record in this case does not demonstrate that the defendant's flight into the house in question exposed the police officers to any greater danger than normally encountered when arresting a fleeing felon. The defendant was unarmed; the police officers pursued and immediately caught the defendant in the house without any violent incident; other persons living in the area and in the house were never in any extraordinary physical danger.
The second reason, stated above, is not a clear and convincing reason for departing from the sentencing guidelines because the stated reason is an inherent component of the crime of trafficking in cocaine. Indeed, the state concedes that this was an invalid reason for the subject departure. See State v. Cote, 487 So.2d...
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Campbell v. State
...reason for departure, "because the stated reason is an inherent component of the crime of trafficking in cocaine." Collins v. State, 535 So.2d 661, 663 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). In fact, in Collins, the state agreed that the professional manner in which the crime was committed was an invalid reas......
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