State v. Lemon, 95-01253

Decision Date01 December 1995
Docket NumberNo. 95-01253,95-01253
Citation664 So.2d 1072
Parties20 Fla. L. Weekly D2639 STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Robert L. LEMON, Jr., Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Joseph Hwan-Yul Lee, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellant.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, Bartow, and Megan Olson, Assistant Public Defender, Clearwater, for Appellee.

CAMPBELL, Acting Chief Judge.

Appellant, State of Florida, challenges the trial court's order sentencing appellee, Robert L. Lemon, Jr., below the recommended guidelines sentence on the basis that he receive treatment for his drug addiction while incarcerated. We agree that there was no evidence that Lemon was amenable to rehabilitation and reverse his sentence.

Lemon was charged in two separate cases, each case containing charges of two counts of possession of cocaine and two counts of the sale of cocaine. He initially pled not guilty to all charges. Subsequently he changed his plea to nolo in exchange for a sentence of one year in the county jail, based upon the state's original recommendation that he be sentenced to eighteen months incarceration in state prison or one year in the county jail or two years community control on the first of the two cases. At the change of plea hearing, however, the state informed the court that the offer initially made to Lemon did not include the offenses charged in the second case and that once those additional charges were scored, a mandatory prison term would result. The trial court, however, accepted Lemon's nolo plea and sentenced him on both cases to one year in county jail with drug treatment on each charge, all charges to run concurrent with each other.

Alcohol or substance abuse that does not substantially impair a defendant's mind at the time of the commission of the offense for which he is convicted cannot justify a downward departure unless a showing is made that the defendant is amenable to rehabilitation in an alcohol or drug treatment program in which he is placed as part of his sentence. Herrin v. State, 568 So.2d 920 (Fla.1990); State v. Gordon, 645 So.2d 140 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), rev. denied, 652 So.2d 816 (Fla.1995). The record does not indicate that Lemon was under the influence at the time the offenses were committed, and the trial judge made no such finding. There was also no testimony indicating Lemon was amenable to rehabilitation. Herrin; Gordon; State...

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6 cases
  • Day v. Sarasota Doctors Hosp.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida
    • 28 Enero 2021
    ... ... (Doc. # 194-3 at 9). Day initiated this action in state court on December 1, 2017. (Doc. # 1). Following the filing of an amended complaint, which included ... ...
  • State v. Nelson, 4D99-0323.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 9 Febrero 2000
    ...is amenable to rehabilitation in an alcohol or drug treatment program in which he is placed as part of his sentence. State v. Lemon, 664 So.2d 1072 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); State v. Gordon, 645 So.2d 140 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), rev. denied, 652 So.2d 816 (Fla.1995). The third district in Gordon [W]h......
  • State v. Benjamin, s. 95-03143
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 24 Mayo 1996
    ...there was no evidence presented to support these two findings. See State v. Cohen, 667 So.2d 438 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); State v. Lemon, 664 So.2d 1072 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Therefore, we reverse Benjamin's sentence and remand for resentencing within the In case number 94-00603, Benjamin admitted......
  • State v. Cohen
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 24 Enero 1996
    ...Herrin v. State, 568 So.2d 920 (Fla.1990). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing within the guidelines. State v. Lemon, 664 So.2d 1072 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Because, however, the sentence was the result of a plea agreement between appellee and the trial court, appellee should be......
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