Robbins v. State, 85-689
| Decision Date | 06 February 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-689,85-689 |
| Citation | 482 So.2d 580,11 Fla. L. Weekly 352 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 352 Todd William ROBBINS, a/k/a James Allen Watson, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Daniel J. Schafer, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Belle B. Turner, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a guidelines sentence. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in relying upon disputed hearsay statements in the pre-sentence investigation report in determining the degree of prior felony convictions. We agree and vacate the sentence.
At the sentencing hearing a dispute arose over how to score two prior convictions of burglary which occurred in Virginia. The convictions were called "statutory burglaries" under Virginia law. The parties agreed that if the "statutory burglaries" were burglaries of a dwelling then they would be scored as second degree felonies and if the burglaries were burglaries of a structure they would be scored as third degree felonies. The difference in the degree results in a one cell difference in the recommended range on the scoresheet. The defense objected to the hearsay statement in the P.S.I. and specifically disputed that portion of the report which represented the burglaries to be of dwellings. The court found that the burglaries in Virginia were burglaries of dwellings, based on the pre-sentence report, and scored the prior convictions as second degree felonies.
The State concedes that the issue was preserved for appeal and that the State offered nothing to corroborate the statement in the P.S.I. that the burglaries had involved dwellings. When the defendant disputes the truth of specifically identified statements in a P.S.I., the trial court must require the State to corroborate those statements. See Eutsey v. State, 383 So.2d 219 (Fla.1980); Vandeneynden v. State, 478 So.2d 429 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985).
The Virginia statute which the State now suggests is controlling was not before the trial court. However, it is apparent that under the Virginia statute the Virginia convictions could correspond to either second degree or third degree felonies under Florida law, depending upon the facts surrounding the offenses. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(5)(a)(2) and (3) provide:
2) When scoring federal, foreign, military, or out-of-state...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Forehand v. State, BT-110
...DCA 1987); Armontrout v. State, 503 So.2d 984 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Noland v. State, 489 So.2d 873 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Robbins v. State, 482 So.2d 580 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Rodriguez v. State, 472 So.2d 1294 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985); Arquilla v. State, 464 So.2d 716 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). But see W......
-
Disinger v. State, 87-1674
...the out-of-state convictions, the State must corroborate the degree of convictions which were disputed by appellant. Robbins v. State, 482 So.2d 580 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Vandeneynden v. State, 478 So.2d 429 (Fla. 5th DCA The convictions are affirmed, as are the sentences on the sexual batte......
-
Rotz v. State, 87-460
...felony to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt. See Armontrout v. State, 503 So.2d 984 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Robbins v. State, 482 So.2d 580 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); and Vandeneynden v. State, 478 So.2d 429 (Fla. 5th DCA Assuming that the appropriate Indiana robbery statute is the same as......
-
Armontrout v. State, 86-893
...court must require that the state corroborate those statements. Morris v. State, 483 So.2d 525 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Robbins v. State, 482 So.2d 580 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Vandeneynden v. State, 478 So.2d 429 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). Armontrout contends that he never went to court on the assault c......