State v. Jaggers
| Decision Date | 05 May 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 70918,70918 |
| Citation | 526 So.2d 682,13 Fla. L. Weekly 308 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 308 STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Daniel F. JAGGERS, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Gregory G. Costas and Helen P. Nelson, Asst. Attys. Gen., Tallahassee, for petitioner.
Michael E. Allen, Public Defender and P. Douglas Brinkmeyer, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for respondent.
We have for review Jaggers v. State, 509 So.2d 1165 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), in which the district court rejected the trial court's reasons for departing from the sentencing guidelines, and certified the following as a question of great public importance:
Whether, pursuant to its recent ruling in Williams III v. State, 504 So.2d 392 (Fla.1987), a commitment to a mental institution for other than a criminal conviction and the subsequent conditional release or supervision status that existed at the time of the crime, are valid reasons for departing from the guidelines?
Id. at 1169. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We answer the question in the negative and approve the district court's decision.
Jaggers was convicted of committing a lewd and lascivious assault upon a child. The mother testified at sentencing that Jaggers had been invited into the victim's house and was watching television with several children. While the mother turned away, Jaggers lifted the victim's nightgown and licked her. The child told Jaggers to "stop that" and returned to watching television. For his actions, Jaggers was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The trial court gave the following reasons for departing from the guidelines range of community control or twelve to thirty months' incarceration:
1. In December, 1976, Mr. Jaggers was charged with Child Molestation by the Grand Jurors of the State of Missouri. On November 10, 1977, the Circuit Court of St. Louis found Mr. Jaggers to be a "criminal sexual psychopath" and committed him to a Mental Health State Hospital for treatment and detention. Less than three years later, Mr. Jaggers was conditionally released from the Mental Hospital and placed on probationary status for three years. Thereafter, he came to Florida and committed the instant offense on October 31, 1981, while still on probationary status from the State of Missouri. Past attempts to rehabilitate and treat Mr. Jaggers in mental hospitals and/or the community for his sexual deviancy have failed. Since this was not scored on the scoresheet, this Court considers this information relevant in determining the appropriate sentence for Mr. Jaggers.
2. Mr. Jaggers has admitted and his psychologists confirm that he can not control his problem with young girls without some type of external controls. Community based supervision has failed to deter Mr. Jaggers from committing illegal sexual acts and his medical records indicate if he is placed in society, he will revert back to criminal behavior. The public, especially young children, has a right to be protected from a criminal who cannot or will not be rehabilitated.
3. While the scoresheet allows for physical injuries, the Court considers the mental trauma done to the six year old victim to be a valid reason for departure. The court observed the victim's emotional state during her testimony at trial and has heard the testimony of the victim's mother as to how this incident has affected the child's life.
4. A Guideline Sentence of community control or twelve to thirty months incarceration is insufficient to provide the appropriate retribution, deterrence or rehabilitation of Mr. Jaggers.
Jaggers, 509 So.2d at 1166 n. 1.
The trial court based its first reason for departure on the unsuccessful attempts to treat and control Jaggers through civil commitment to a mental hospital and subsequent community supervision, which had not been factored into the guidelines recommended sentence. The district court found that Jaggers' history of unsuccessful civil treatment was an invalid reason for departure, but questioned whether its ruling was in harmony with Williams v. State, 504 So.2d 392 (Fla.1987), in which we recognized that
[n]either the continuing and persistent pattern of criminal activity nor the timing of each offense in relation to prior offenses and release from incarceration or supervision are aspects of a defendant's prior criminal history which are factored in to arrive at a presumptive guidelines sentence. Therefore, there is no prohibition against basing a departure sentence on such factors.
Id. at 393. The district court in the instant case questioned whether the terms "incarceration" and "supervision" encompass Jaggers' civil mental commitment and subsequent community supervision. We conclude that they do not.
The language in Williams clearly refers to incarceration and supervision following criminal conviction or juvenile disposition. Jaggers was charged with a criminal offense but was never convicted....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Marshall v. State
...may not be upheld where it is based on a charge of which the defendant has been acquitted. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701(d)(11); State v. Jaggers, 526 So.2d 682, 684 (Fla.1988); Chenard v. State, 510 So.2d 363, 364 (Fla. 3d DCA The departure reason is also invalid as applied to Calloway. As stated ea......
-
Ribas v. State
...by the trial court are invalid. See Wemett v. State, 567 So.2d 882 (Fla.1990); Wilson v. State, 567 So.2d 425 (Fla.1990); State v. Jaggers, 526 So.2d 682 (Fla.1988); Lerma v. State, 497 So.2d 736 (Fla.1986), receded from on other grounds, State v. Rousseau, 509 So.2d 281 (Fla.1987); State v......
-
Harris v. State, 89-589
...it is an inherent component of the offense and also because it is a common and expected result of this type of offense. See State v. Jaggers, 526 So.2d 682 (Fla.1988); Barrentine v. State, 521 So.2d 1093 (Fla.1988); and Carter v. State, 516 So.2d 1142 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). See also State v. ......
-
Thompson v. State, 90-1259
...under section 3.701 d 6, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, see Jaggers v. State, 509 So.2d 1165 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), aff'd, 526 So.2d 682 (Fla.1988); Mize v. State, 495 So.2d 845 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). Moreover, only such prior convictions as are determined valid and appropriate by the tria......