Lyons v. State, 4D00-2431.
| Decision Date | 07 August 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 4D00-2431.,4D00-2431. |
| Citation | 823 So.2d 250 |
| Parties | Kenneth LYONS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Iva K. Oza, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Frank J. Ingrassia, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.
Appellant, Kenneth Lyons, appeals his conviction and sentence on the charge of possession of cocaine. We affirm his conviction on all issues raised; however, we reverse his sentence and remand to the trial court for resentencing pursuant to this opinion.
At sentencing, appellant's scoresheet reflected fourteen points for a prior aggravated battery conviction. Appellant disputes the addition of the fourteen points to his sentencing guidelines score as the result of a prior conviction which he contests was not his. Appellant did not dispute the prior conviction at sentencing and raised it for the first time in a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b) motion to correct sentencing error, which was denied. At the hearing on appellant's motion, the state argued that if the appellant contests the prior conviction at sentencing, then the state has the burden of proving the prior conviction. Otherwise, according to the state, if appellant raises the issue for the first time on a 3.800(b) motion, according to the state, the appellant has the burden of proof.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the court denied the motion, finding that appellant had the burden of coming forward with proof that the conviction was not his and failed to do so. Appellant argues that the court erroneously required him to prove that the conviction did not exist rather than requiring the state to prove that it did. We agree.
Appellant's scoresheet total, including the fourteen points for the prior charge, was 52.2. This score computed to a lowest possible prison sentence of 18.15 months and a maximum of three years. The trial court sentenced appellant to three years in prison. Without the additional fourteen points, appellant maintains that the lowest permissible sentence would be any nonstate sanction as opposed to 18.15 months in prison.
Rule 3.800(b) allows defendants to file a motion to correct "any sentencing error, including an illegal sentence." The court may either dispose of the motion without a hearing, or hold an evidentiary hearing. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.800(b)(1)(B). In this case, the matter could have been resolved had the state ordered the appropriate...
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Richard Holt Moncus Ii v. State , 4D09–3140.
...shifting the burden of proof from the State to him to disprove the validity of the prior convictions. Moncus relies on Lyons v. State, 823 So.2d 250 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002), in which the defendant challenged the addition of fourteen points to his scoresheet for a prior conviction he claimed was......
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Murphy v. State
...an evidentiary hearing on Mr. Murphy's claim and for the court to then resentence Mr. Murphy if necessary. See Lyons v. State, 823 So. 2d 250, 251 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002).It also appears that the trial court erroneously combined a $ 151 fine authorized under section 938.01, Florida Statutes (20......
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Woods v. State
...burden of proving, by other corroborating evidence, that those records refer to the defendant before the Court."); Lyons v. State , 823 So. 2d 250, 251 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (holding that the State has the burden of producing competent evidence of a disputed conviction). Here, though not requ......
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