STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
WESLEY TWELVES, APPELLEE
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The appellate court sustained the trial court's downward departure from sentencing guidelines, finding no abuse of discretion.
[1] A trial court may depart downward from sentencing guidelines when there are clear and convincing reasons to do so.
[2] An appellate court's role in reviewing a downward departure from sentencing guidelines is to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe State appealed the trial court's decision to suspend most of a ten-year sentence, arguing the reasons for departure were insufficient. The trial c…
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FRANK, Judge.
The State’s appeal, initiated in accordance with Section 924.07(9), Florida Statutes (1983), focuses upon the propriety of the lower court’s determination to mitigate or depart “downward” from the sentencing guidelines prescribed in Rule 3.701 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. The State does not contend, of course, that departure from the guidelines was in excess of the lower court’s authority granted it by Rule 3.701. Mitigating a guideline sentence is expressly contemplated in Rule 3.701(d)(ll) in the circumstance where “there are clear and convincing reasons” to warrant rejection of the presumptive sentence. The State attacks the lower court’s reduction of the appellee’s sentence; it suspended all but eighteen months of a ten-year term. We sustain the sentence imposed by the lower court.
It “is not the function of this court to re-evaluate the exercise of the trial judge’s discretion in this area.” Addison v. State, 452 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). Here, no less than is true when a trial court enhances a guideline sentence, our function is to canvass the record to determine whether the lower court abused its discretion in departing from the guidelines.
In the present matter, the trial court suspended the ten-year sentence for reasons that are “clear and convincing.” The appellee’s military record discloses a substantial amount of combat, the receipt of a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Although the appellee developed a post-military record of criminality resulting in convictions and imprisonment, there was competent expert evidence before the trial court that the appellee suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which may be remedied by the PAR Drug and the Bay Pines Vietnam Veterans Outreach programs. Moreover, friends, relatives and employers testified that they intend to as sist the appellee in his effort to achieve rehabilitation. Based upon the foregoing, we are convinced the trial court acted within its discretionary power. Accordingly, the judgment and suspended sentences are affirmed.
GRIMES, A.C.J., and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (22 total)
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State v. Wright, 473 So. 2d 268 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)…utside the guidelines, even if less than the recommended range, must be accompanied by clear and convincing reasons for departure. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(11); Tanner v. State, 468 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); State v. Twelves, 463 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). In the case before us, none of [*271] the reasons provided are clear and convincing because they merely reflect an overriding reason which we disapprove — the trial court was not convinced Wright was guilty. If the State failed…
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State v. Forbes, 536 So. 2d 356 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…cted at the stockade. State v. Sachs, 526 So. 2d 48 (Fla.1988); State v. Morales, 522 So. 2d 464, 465 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); State v. Glasper, 506 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); State v. Rodriguez, 496 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); State v. Twelves, 463 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Second, we agree that the small amount of cocaine involved in this case was an insufficient reason for departing from the sentencing guidelines. Atwaters v. State, 519 So. 2d 611 (Fla.1988); State v. McCluster, 525 So. 2d 434 (…
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Smith v. State, 532 So. 2d 50 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)…ample evidence in the record to support the trial court’s finding that Smith’s emotional or intellectual state, while not permitting a finding of incompetence or insanity, disclosed psychological problems justifying mitigation. Cf. State v. Twelves, 463 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). We do not, of course, in any way view Smith’s assault upon the integrity of the judicial system as excusable. If conduct such as that engaged in by Smith were permitted to go unpunished, the inevitable result would be the very “a…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Glynn Addison, Jr. v. State, 452 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)