Hightower v. State, 87-664
| Citation | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1293,529 So.2d 726 |
| Decision Date | 27 May 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-664,87-664 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1293 Willie HIGHTOWER, a/k/a Willie Thomas, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Laura Griffin, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Joseph R. Bryant, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
Appellant Hightower challenges the trial court's revocation of his probation for failure to comply with a condition of that probation. We reverse.
On April 21, 1983, Hightower pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to five years probation on July 9, 1984, with a special condition that he serve 364 days in the Lee County jail. Hightower completed the 364-day jail sentence by serving time in the Lee County and Polk County jails, and the Polk Correctional Institute. Hightower was then transferred to the state of Georgia to serve for a period extending from March 15 through December 4, 1985, on a parole violation in that state. The July 9, 1984, order placing Hightower on probation listed the conditions of his probation. Under condition nine, Hightower was required to report immediately to the Department of Corrections' office in Fort Myers upon his release from prison on the 364-day sentence. Condition one, also contained in that order, commanded Hightower to file monthly reports with the probation officer. On August 1, 1986, Hightower was charged by affidavit with failure to make monthly reports for the months of December 1985 through July 1986, resulting in a probation violation.
At Hightower's hearing on that violation charge, no evidence was presented that Hightower received a copy of the probation order or that the conditions of the probation had been explained to him at the time that he was placed on probation. Rather, the only evidence is to the contrary. Hightower's signature does not appear in the space furnished on the bottom of the probation order for the probationer to acknowledge that he received a certified copy of the order and was informed of the conditions imposed in the order.
Nor does the record provided to this court reflect that the sentencing judge who initially placed Hightower on probation instructed him at that time that he was required to report monthly to a probation officer following his release from jail as a condition of his probation. The following...
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