Seays v. State
| Decision Date | 18 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 4D99-3829.,4D99-3829. |
| Citation | 789 So.2d 1209 |
| Parties | Titus SEAYS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Sophia Letts, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Barbara A. Zappi, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.
On Motion for Rehearing
We withdraw our opinion which was filed on May 30, 2001 and substitute the following opinion.
We affirm appellant's conviction for burglary of a conveyance with a battery but reverse for resentencing because of information which may have improperly influenced his sentence.
The victim in this case had lived with the appellant until the night before the burglary and battery. On the day that the jury found appellant guilty, the trial court observed that appellant had been charged with attempted murder of the same victim while he was out on bond in this case. The state responded that the new charge was based on an occurrence which took place within two days of the burglary and battery.
Several weeks later, at appellant's sentencing hearing, appellant asked for the bottom of the guidelines, 48.9 months, as this was his first felony conviction. In arguing for the top of the guidelines, the state reminded the trial court of the pending attempted murder charge, and the court responded "I understand serious charges are pending now on Mr. Seays." The state maintained, however, that it was not seeking a departure, only the top of the guidelines. The trial court imposed a sentence of 81.5 months, the highest permissible guideline sentence, and added that the incarceration period would be followed by five years probation.
Appellant argues that the trial court erred in considering the pending attempted murder charge in sentencing him.1 He relies on cases such as Reese v. State, 639 So.2d 1067, 1068 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)(consideration of "unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct" at sentencing "violates fundamental due process."); State v. Potts, 526 So.2d 63 (Fla.1988)("The state through its criminal process may not penalize someone merely for the status of being under indictment or otherwise accused of a crime.").
In Epprecht v. State, 488 So.2d 129, 130 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), the trial court in sentencing considered charges for which the defendant had been acquitted, and the third district reversed explaining:
[I]t is fundamental that the due process clause prohibits a court from considering charges of which an accused has been acquitted in passing sentence. Townsend v. Burke, 334 U.S. 736, 740, 68 S.Ct. 1252, 1255, 92 L.Ed. 1690, 1693 (1948).
The Epprecht court further stated:
The State and the defendant propose that the test to be applied by a reviewing court in respect to the primary sentencing issue here involved is that the State has the burden to show from the record as a whole that the trial judge did not rely upon impermissible consideration in passing sentence upon the defendant where portions of the record reflect that the trial judge may have so relied. We adopt this as the proper test and, applying it here, reverse the defendant's sentence and remand for resentencing before a different judge.
See also Cook v. State, 647 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
.
The state relies on Jansson v. State, 399 So.2d 1061 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). In Jansson, the issue was whether the trial court had erred in...
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Peters v. State
...a sentencing court places undue weight upon crimes for which a defendant was arrested but not convicted. Id.;cf. Seays v. State, 789 So.2d 1209, 1210 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (distinguishing Jansson and reversing a guideline sentence where the trial judge considered subsequent arrests that had n......
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Charles v. State
...impermissible factors in sentencing a defendant, the court violates the defendant's due process rights. See, e.g., Seays v. State, 789 So.2d 1209, 1210 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Our standard of review is de novo. Cromartie v. State, 70 So.3d 559, 563 (Fla.2011).The Florida Supreme Court has rece......
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Norvil v. State, 4D11–1740.
...charge that resulted from an arrest which occurred after the crime for which he was being sentenced. He cites Seays v. State, 789 So.2d 1209, 1210 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), to support his argument that while prior arrests may be considered, subsequent arrests may not.In Seays, the defendant was ......
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Nusspickel v. State
...Epprecht v. State, 488 So.2d 129 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), and its progeny, Doty v. State, 884 So.2d 547 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), Seays v. State, 789 So.2d 1209 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), and Cook v. State, 647 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). In Epprecht, the Third District held "that the due process clause......