Crawford v. State

Decision Date20 September 1990
Docket NumberNo. 75822,75822
Citation567 So.2d 428
Parties15 Fla. L. Weekly S472 John Donahue CRAWFORD, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Barbara M. Linthicum, Public Defender, and Paula S. Saunders, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and William A. Hatch, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.

GRIMES, Justice.

We review Crawford v. State, 558 So.2d 1100, 1100 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), to resolve the following question, which the district court of appeal certified as being of great public importance:

Does Section 948.01(5), Florida Statutes (Supp.1988) limit the duration of community control to a single two-year period when the defendant is sentenced at the same sentencing hearing for multiple offenses charged in a single information?

We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(4), Florida Constitution.

Crawford was convicted of possession of cocaine in 1988 and placed on probation. In 1989 he was charged with burglary of a conveyance and petit theft as well as with violating his probation. He pleaded guilty to all charges. The trial court sentenced him to two years of community control for possession of cocaine and two more years of community control for burglary, with the terms to run consecutively. The district court of appeal affirmed the sentences.

Crawford does not contend that his sentences exceeded the range of the sentencing guidelines. However, he argues that section 948.01(5), Florida Statutes (Supp.1988), limits the duration of community control to two years, irrespective of the fact that the two charges of which he was convicted were unrelated. The statute reads, in pertinent part:

(5) The sanctions imposed by order of the court shall be commensurate with the seriousness of the offense. When community control or a program of public service is ordered by the court, the duration of community control supervision or public service may not be longer than the sentence that could have been imposed if the offender had been committed for the offense or a period not to exceed 2 years, whichever is less.

We disagree with Crawford's interpretation. The statute means exactly what it says: For any one offense, community control may be imposed for a maximum of two years. See Davis v. State, 461 So.2d 1003 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). In this case there were two discrete, separate crimes. The statute does not speak to multiple charges and it does not prohibit consecutive sentences. Other courts have reached the same conclusion. Sanchez v. State, 538 So.2d 923 (Fla. 5th DCA 198...

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7 cases
  • State v. Williams
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • January 25, 1996
    ...years, whichever is less.Consequently, for any one offense, community control may be imposed for a maximum of two years. Crawford v. State, 567 So.2d 428, 429 (Fla.1990); Davis v. State, 461 So.2d 1003, 1004 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), disapproved of on other grounds, State v. Mestas, 507 So.2d 58......
  • Ogden v. State, 92-19
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • September 11, 1992
    ...5th DCA 1991); Twining v. State, 380 So.2d 496 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); Swift v. State, 362 So.2d 723 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978). In Crawford v. State, 567 So.2d 428, 429 (Fla.1990) the Florida Supreme Court stated that section 948.01(5) [now 948.01(4) ] means that "for any one offense, community contro......
  • Weaver v. State, 91-142
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • October 17, 1991
    ...is two years, and consecutive two-year sentences of community control have been permitted for multiple offenses. See Crawford v. State, 567 So.2d 428 (Fla.1990); Sanchez v. State, 538 So.2d 923 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989); Mick v. State, 506 So.2d 1121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Davis v. State, 461 So.2d......
  • Kocher v. State, 93-2595
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 15, 1995
    ...by 6 years probation. It is permissible to impose consecutive terms of 2 years community control for separate offenses. Crawford v. State, 567 So.2d 428, 429 (Fla.1990). The claimed error is that the new disposition order did not give credit for time already served on community control. Def......
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