Lee v. State, 94-03781

Decision Date22 December 1995
Docket NumberNo. 94-03781,94-03781
Citation666 So.2d 209
Parties21 Fla. L. Weekly D100 Larry C. LEE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Kevin Briggs, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Dale E. Tarpley, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

ALTENBERND, Judge.

Larry C. Lee appeals the sentence imposed on his fourth violation of probation or community control. We conclude that because he did not receive the detriment of an earlier true split sentence, and did not appeal a second true split sentence, the trial court was permitted to impose the remainder of the second true split sentence.

Mr. Lee pleaded nolo contendere to burglary, false imprisonment, and sexual battery with slight force. The charges arose from a serious domestic dispute. In June 1992, he received 5 years' probation for the burglary and time served for the other two offenses. This disposition was a stipulated downward departure.

In October 1992, he violated probation. As a result, in January 1993, he was sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment; however, the entire sentence was suspended, and Mr. Lee was placed on community control. We note that this court has authorized such a sentence as a true split sentence. Silva v. State, 602 So.2d 694 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). The Fifth District has held that such a sentence is an illegal, conditional suspended sentence. Warrington v. State, 660 So.2d 385 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). But see Helton v. State, 611 So.2d 1323 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (finding that such a sentence is a true split sentence).

In March 1993, Mr. Lee violated community control. At his sentencing hearing in August 1993, the trial court did not impose the 17-year sentence that it had previously suspended. Instead, the trial court imposed 22 years of imprisonment and again suspended the entire sentence, placing Mr. Lee on 21 months' community control, followed by 5 years' probation. Mr. Lee did not appeal this sentence. The 22-year term of imprisonment was within the recommended range on the guidelines scoresheet because of the previous violations of probation.

Finally, in March 1994, Mr. Lee again violated his community control. The trial court sentenced him to 22 years' imprisonment. In this appeal, Mr. Lee argues that he can be imprisoned for only 17 years because of the sentence imposed in January 1993.

The flaw in Mr. Lee's argument is his failure to appeal the August 1993 sentence when it was initially imposed. If he had done so, we would have reversed the sentence and remanded for...

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10 cases
  • State v. McEachern, 96-467
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • January 31, 1997
    ...1993); Silva v. State, 602 So.2d 694 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). See also Jefferson v. State, 677 So.2d 29 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Lee v. State, 666 So.2d 209 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). The Florida Supreme Court has recently issued two opinions concerning the definition of the term "illegal sentence." See Da......
  • Dupree v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 13, 1998
    ...arose in Lee v. State, where the defendant originally received five years' probation and violated the terms of that probation. 666 So.2d 209 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Upon violation of probation, in January 1993, the trial court sentenced him to 17 years in prison; however, the trial court suspen......
  • Jackson v. State, 2D14–991.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • August 20, 2014
    ...737 So.2d 1089 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (table decision); Jackson v. State, 728 So.2d 219 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) (table decision); Lee v. State, 666 So.2d 209 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); Harris v. State, 789 So.2d 1114 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001); Dupree v. State, 708 So.2d 968 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); McMillan v. State......
  • Mobley v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • May 6, 2015
    ...794 So.2d 576 (Fla.2001) ; Bolender v. State, 658 So.2d 82 (Fla.1995) ; Hughes v. State, 22 So.3d 132 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) ; Lee v. State, 666 So.2d 209 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) ; Mobley v. State, 447 So.2d 328 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) ; Harris v. State, 789 So.2d 1114 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) ; Dupree v. Sta......
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