State v. Obojes
| Decision Date | 27 August 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 79261,79261 |
| Citation | 604 So.2d 474 |
| Parties | 17 Fla. L. Weekly S568 STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Andreas OBOJES, etc., Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., James W. Rogers, Bureau Chief-Crim. Appeals, and Carolyn J. Mosley, Asst. Attys. Gen., Tallahassee, for petitioner.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender and Paula S. Saunders, Asst. Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, for respondent.
We have for review Obojes v. State, 590 So.2d 461 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), which certified the following question of great public importance:
Whether, in light of that language contained in Hernandez v. State, 575 So.2d 640, 642 (Fla.1991), concerning premeditation or advance planning, that reason remains a valid reason justifying the imposition of a departure sentence in sexual battery cases?
Obojes, 590 So.2d at 465. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(4), Fla.Const.
Andreas Obojes was convicted of several offenses associated with the sexual battery of a woman whom he stalked over a two-week period in May 1989. There is no question that Obojes' criminal conduct exhibited considerable advance planning and premeditation. The trial court then imposed departure sentences. Among the reasons given were the advance planning and premeditation Obojes had exhibited in committing the sexual batteries.
On appeal, the district court reversed based on a single paragraph in Hernandez, 575 So.2d at 642. There, we rejected "professionalism" as a valid reason for departure, and then made the following comment:
We believe there is little distinction between planning and premeditation and the professional manner in which a crime is committed. As we have stated, the facts relied upon in this case and in many of the district court cases cited above reveal planning on the part of each defendant, not skillfulness. This type of planning is common to most crimes and thus cannot constitute a valid reason for departure.
Id. Based on this comment, the district court rejected advance planning and premeditation as a valid reason for departure when sentencing on a sexual battery conviction. Obojes, 590 So.2d at 464-65.
We believe this conclusion overlooks other relevant portions of our Hernandez opinion as well as other case law dealing specifically with sexual battery. Foremost, Hernandez was not dealing with sexual battery, but with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine--crimes vastly different from sexual battery. Hernandez, 575 So.2d at 642. Second, it is settled that advance planning and premeditation are permissible reasons for a departure in the context of sexual battery. E.g., Casteel v. State, 498 So.2d 1249 (Fla.1986); Lerma v. State, 497 So.2d 736, 739 (Fla.1986), receded from on other grounds, Rousseau v. State, 509 So.2d 281 (Fla.1987). As we stated in Casteel,
"Premeditation or calculation is not an inherent component of the crime of sexual battery" and may support a departure sentence....
Casteel, 498 So.2d at 1252-53 (quoting Lerma, 497 So.2d at 739)). It was not our intention in Hernandez to recede from this holding.
We do agree, however, that the intent underlying our holdings in Casteel and Lerma requires clarification. Accordingly, we hold that premeditation or calculation is a...
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Jory v. State
...planned and executed as to warrant an extraordinary sentence. Hallman, 560 So.2d at 227. The Florida Supreme Court held in State v. Obojes, 604 So.2d 474 (Fla.1992), that premeditation and calculation are sufficient reasons to support a departure sentence in a sexual battery case if it is o......
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Audano v. State
...or calculation is a sufficient reason for departure in a sexual battery case only if it is of a heightened variety." State v. Obojes, 604 So.2d 474, 475 (Fla. 1992). Heightened premeditation consists of a careful plan formulated with cold forethought. Obojes at 475. There is no support in t......
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Obojes v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't of Corr.
...see Resp. Ex. I. On August 27, 1992, the Florida Supreme Court quashed in part the appellate court's decision. See State v. Obojes, 604 So.2d 474 (Fla. 1992) (per curiam); Resp. Ex. J. The mandate issued on September 18, 1992.3 Obojes did not seek review in the United States Supreme Court. ......
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Cave v. State
...supported such finding. This court in Obojes v. State, 590 So.2d 461, 464 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), quashed in part on other grounds, 604 So.2d 474 (Fla.1992), held that no statute or rule requires the reciting of facts underlying reasons for departure. In Obojes, we ruled that Wilcoxson and Dav......