York v. State
Decision Date | 02 December 2020 |
Docket Number | Case No. 2D19-4057 |
Citation | 313 So.3d 707 |
Parties | Jennifer Mary Donley YORK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Pamela H. Izakowitz, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Johnny T. Salgado, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
Jennifer Mary Donley York appeals her judgment and sentence for misdemeanor battery. She challenges the sufficiency of the evidence at trial as well as the propriety of the trial court's sentencing procedure. We affirm the conviction without comment, writing only to discuss a clear sentencing error that has since been rendered moot.
The record shows that as soon as the jury left the courtroom after giving its verdict, the court announced Ms. York's sentence and declined to entertain any argument on the sentencing despite defense counsel's repeated requests:
(Emphasis supplied.)
The court's failure to hold a sentencing hearing and consider evidence or argument on Ms. York's sentence was error. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.720 provides that "[a]s soon as practicable after the determination of guilt and after the examination of any presentence reports, the sentencing court shall order a sentencing hearing." Subsection (b) of that rule provides further that, at the sentencing hearing, "[t]he court shall entertain submissions and evidence by the parties that are relevant to the sentence." Under this rule, the defendant is "entitled to make a statement and present argument to the court." See Davenport v. State, 787 So. 2d 32, 32 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).
"Failure to comply with Rule 3.720(b) is reversible error." Compere v. State, 262 So. 3d 819, 822 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019) (citing State v. Munson, 604 So. 2d 1270, 1271 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992) ). Indeed, "[a] trial court's refusal to hear evidence and argument regarding a sentence constitutes a denial of due process and is fundamental error." Smith v. State, 268 So. 3d 831, 834 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019) (citing Davenport, 787 So. 2d at 32 ).
Here, the trial court sentenced Ms. York immediately after the jury left the courtroom, without holding the sentencing hearing required by rule 3.720. Further, the court refused to do so even after the defense expressly requested to be heard on sentencing and asked the court to reconsider its refusal. This denied Ms. York due process and constitutes reversible error.
Ordinarily, we would reverse the sentence and remand for a new sentencing hearing pursuant to rule 3.720. See Davenport, 787 So. 2d at 32. But the parties have notified this court that, during the pendency of this appeal, Ms. York completed serving her sentence. Where a sentence has been completed, any errors in that sentence are typically rendered moot. See ...
To continue reading
Request your trial- Crowder v. State
-
Wiggins v. State
...Heather McNab, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee. Before MILLER, LOBREE and BOKOR, JJ. PER CURIAM. 1 Affirmed. See York v. State, 313 So.3d 707, 709 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020) ("Where a sentence has been completed, any errors in that sentence are typically rendered moot."). ...