Speights v. State
| Decision Date | 10 October 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-1658,85-1658 |
| Citation | 495 So.2d 882,11 Fla. L. Weekly 2177 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 2177 Herman SPEIGHTS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, Bartow, and Deborah K. Brueckheimer, Asst. Public Defender, Clearwater, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and James H. Dysart, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
We affirm appellant's convictions, finding the two points raised by appellant alleging error in regard to his trial to be without merit. We reverse and remand, however, for correction of appellant's sentences inasmuch as we agree with appellant that the trial court erred in departing from the recommended guidelines sentence without stating sufficient clear and convincing reasons therefor.
Appellant was sentenced to ten years for aggravated assault and three life terms for three counts of sexual battery with great force. The trial judge ordered all sentences to run consecutively. The recommended guidelines sentence was life imprisonment. The state argued, inter alia, that the consecutive life sentences plus the ten-year sentence did not exceed the recommended sentence of life since the actual total sentence to be served could be no more than life. We stayed this appeal pending the determination of that issue by our supreme court. That issue has now been decided in the case of Rease v. State, 493 So.2d 454 (Fla.1986), where it was held, contrary to the position advanced by the state, that consecutive sentences in addition to a life sentence exceed a recommended guidelines sentence of life in prison.
We next look to see if the trial judge stated adequate reasons for departure. The only reasons for departure are found in a notation on the sentencing guidelines scoresheet. While we have not specifically addressed the adequacy of such notations before (Hall v. State, 478 So.2d 385 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)), we take the opportunity to do so now.
Our colleagues on the Third and Fifth District Courts of Appeal have held that written notations by the judge on the scoresheet do not suffice as a written order. Watson v. State, 492 So.2d 831 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Bauza v. State, 491 So.2d 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Bouthner v. State, 489 So.2d 784 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986). But cf. Corum v. State, 484 So.2d 102 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(11) does not require a separate, written order but only that any sentence outside the guidelines be accompanied by a written statement delineating the reasons for departure. We find that a requirement of a separate, written order would be contrary to the express provisions of the approved form set forth in Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.988 which provides a space at the bottom specifically labeled "reasons for departure." We, therefore, hold that if adequate reasons are listed by the sentencing judge in that space provided on the approved sentencing guidelines scoresheet, a separate written order delineating reasons for departure is unnecessary.
Under "reasons for departure" the trial judge noted ...
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State v. Lemon, 87-1334
...1st DCA 1987); Colvin v. State, 501 So.2d 118 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Thorne v. State, 496 So.2d 891 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Speights v. State, 495 So.2d 882 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 501 So.2d 1283 (Fla.1986).3 The record discloses that the sentence imposed was an important factor in the entry......
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Hernandez v. State, 84-1595
...So.2d 784 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Corum v. State, 484 So.2d 102 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701(d)11; but cf. Speights v. State, 495 So.2d 882, 883 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) ("if adequate reasons are listed by the sentencing judge in that space provided on the approved sentencing guidelines ......
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Dow v. State
...departures from the recommended guidelines sentence of life imprisonment. Rease v. State, 493 So.2d 454 (Fla.1986); Speights v. State, 495 So.2d 882 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 501 So.2d 1283 (Fla.1986). Because the trial court did not realize it was departing from the sentencing guidelin......
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Speights v. State
...years' prison for the aggravated assault; all counts were to run consecutively. This court reversed that sentence, see Speights v. State, 495 So.2d 882 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), and on January 13, 1987, the trial court resentenced Speights to three concurrent life sentences for the sexual batteri......