WILLIE SCURRY, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Willie Scurry appeals his 30-year sentence for second-degree murder, which departed from the 12-17 year guideline range. The court affirmed the departure, finding that while some of the trial judge's reasons were impermissible, the valid reasons constituted clear and convincing evidence sufficient to justify the departure and any error was harmless.
The court affirmed the sentence, holding that while three of the trial judge's thirteen reasons (reasons four, six, and thirteen) were impermissible departures from sentencing guidelines, the remaining valid reasons provided clear and convincing evidence to justify the departure from guidelines, making the error harmless.
[1] A trial court may depart from sentencing guidelines when the offense was committed with particular cruelty, such as in the presence of family members and close friends.
[2] A trial court may depart from sentencing guidelines when the defendant fired a fatal shot from a public street while the victim was in the doorway of their home, demonstr…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“By convicting Scurry of the lesser included offense of second degree murder, the jury obviously did not feel the crime was committed with the necessary premeditation or calculation to sustain a conviction for first degree murder. Therefore, the trial judge included a factor relating to the instant offense for which a conviction was not obtained, which violates Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(ll).”
Establishes that the trial court impermissibly relied on elements (premeditation and calculation) that the jury rejected by convicting of the lesser offense.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceScurry was charged with first-degree murder of his brother with a firearm. Following a jury trial, he was convicted of the lesser included offense of …
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PER CURIAM.
Scurry appeals from a sentence imposed outside of the sentencing guidelines. We affirm.
Scurry was charged by indictment with the first degree murder with a firearm of his brother, John Wayne Scurry. Following a jury trial, Scurry was found guilty of the lesser included offense of second degree murder with a firearm. At the sentencing hearing, the trial judge departed from the recommended guidelines sentence of 12-17 years, and sentenced Scurry to 30 years imprisonment. The court’s reasons for departure were the following:
1. The offense was carried out with particular cruelty in that the offense was committed in the presence of family members and close friends.
2. The defendant fired the fatal shot from a public street while the victim was in the doorway of his own home evincing a flagrant disregard for the safety of others.
3. The offense was planned by the defendant as evidenced by the fact that after he argued with the victim he walked approximately three tenths of a mile to get his rifle and returned the same distance to the scene and said to an undertaker along the route “wait here I’m gonna bring you one in a few minutes” or words to that effect. The defendant then sat down on a bench across .from the victim’s home for several minutes before he shot the victim.
4. The offense for which the defendant was sentenced was committed in a calculated manner without pretense of moral or legal justification or provocation.
5. The victim suffered great personal pain and injury as a result of the shooting, dying more than thirty hours after he was initially shot, during which time heroic medical and surgical procedures were performed in an effort to sustain his life.
6. The defendant showed no remorse for having committed the offense for which he was sentenced as evidenced by his courtroom demeanor and non-caring attitude throughout the proceedings.
7. The defendant committed the offense by using a rifle firearm.
8. The defendant, prior to committing the murder had been drinking. The defendant had begun drinking at approximately 8:00 a.m. on the Friday morning of the murder. The defendant has an established pattern of drinking as he did the morning of the murder. 9. The defendant has twice before been given periods of probation after convictions. Apparently the defendant learned nothing from these past periods of probation, in that he has not been able to conform his behavior to societal norms and standards.
10. A lesser sentence is not commensurate with the seriousness of the defendant’s crime.
11. The sentence imposed in this case is necessary to deter others. The portion of Montieello in which the victim was killed is an area with small grocery stores that sell alcoholic beverages. Some of the people who hang around this portion of Montieello frequently drink to excess and cause trouble and problems. Frequently firearms and other deadly weapons are involved in the commission of crimes in this area. The crime was committed in front of one of these groceries where the defendant had been drinking prior to his murdering the victim in front of a number of these people.
12. The Parole and Probation Officer who prepared the presentence investigation recommended the defendant be sentenced outside the sentencing guidelines and receive not less than a 25 year commitment to the Department of Corrections.
13.In the court’s opinion the evidence as presented could have easily sustained a conviction of murder in the first degree.
We find the reasons numbered one and two are valid reasons to depart from the guidelines. See Garcia v. State, 454 So. 2d 714, 717 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Johnson v. State, 462 So. 2d 49 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Reason number three was properly considered in accordance with rule 3.701(b)(3), as "circumstances surrounding the offense.” Johnson v. State, 462 So. 2d at 50.
Reason number four is an impermissible reason for a departure from the guidelines sentence. By convicting Scurry of the lesser included offense of second degree murder, the jury obviously did not feel the crime was committed with the necessary premeditation or calculation to sustain a conviction for first degree murder. Therefore, the trial judge included a factor relating to the instant offense for which a conviction was not obtained, which violates Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(ll). The trial judge, in doing so, “improperly usurped the jury’s function when, in fact, the jury rejected the allegations that appellant committed the crime” with the necessary premeditation. Von Carter v. State, 468 So. 2d 276, 278 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). Cf. Burch v. State, 462 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Brooks v. State, 456 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Under the same rationale, reason number thirteen is an impermissible reason for departure.
Reasons five and seven through twelve, are valid bases upon which the trial judge can depart from a recommended guidelines sentence. In doing so, the trial judge simply took into account the “severity of the convicted offense and the circumstances surrounding the offense,” as contemplated by Rule 3.701(b)(3), in deciding to sentence outside of the guidelines. See Swain v. State, 455 So. 2d 533 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Mincey v. State, 460 So. 2d 396 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Deer v. State, 462 So. 2d 96 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985) (reason number nine). Reason number six is an improper reason for departing from the recommended guidelines sentence. Defendant’s lack of remorse is not a clear and convincing reason to depart from the guidelines. See Sarvis v. State, 465 So. 2d 573 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Cf. Hubler v. State, 458 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Hunt v. State, 468 So. 2d 1100, 1101 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).
Therefore, finding that the majority of the trial judge’s reasons for departure from the guidelines are valid, clear and convincing, we conclude that his reliance on three impermissible reasons constitutes only harmless error, requiring affirmance. Burch v. State, 462 So. 2d at 549; Carney v. State, 458 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984).
As in Carney v. State, we certify the following question as one of great public importance:
WHEN AN APPELLATE COURT FINDS THAT A SENTENCING COURT RELIED UPON A REASON OR REASONS THAT ARE IMPERMISSIBLE UNDER FLA.R.CR.P. 3.701 IN MAKING ITS DECISION TO DEPART FROM THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES, SHOULD THE APPELLATE COURT EXAMINE THE OTHER REASONS GIVEN BY THE SENTENCING COURT TO DETERMINE IF THOSE REASONS JUSTIFY DEPARTURE FROM THE GUIDELINES OR SHOULD THE CASE BE REMANDED FOR A RESENTENCING.
AFFIRMED.
ERVIN, C.J., and WENTWORTH and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.
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Cited By (15 total)
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Scurry v. State, 489 So. 2d 25 (Fla. 1986)…PER CURIAM. We have for review Scurry v. State, 472 So. 2d 779 (1st DCA 1985), in which the district court certified the following as a question of great public importance: WHEN AN APPELLATE COURT FINDS THAT A SENTENCING COURT RELIED UPON A REASON OR REASONS THAT ARE IMPERMISSIBLE UNDER FLA.R.CR.P. 3.701 IN MA…
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Davis v. State, 517 So. 2d 670 (Fla. 1987)…ong lasting traumatic effect on the child of the victim, to be a valid reason for departure, the district court relied on its prior decisions in Casteel v. State, 481 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA), quashed, 498 So. 2d 1249 (Fla.1986) and Scurry v. State, 472 So. 2d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), quashed, 489 So. 2d 25 (Fla.1986). Although emotional trauma suffered by the son as a result of witnessing the shooting of his father may be an appropriate reason for departure, Casteel, 498 So. 2d 1249, the facts demonstrating…
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Davis v. State, 489 So. 2d 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…aggered to the phone in another room to call for help. We recently affirmed a thirty-year sentence imposed for Second Degree Murder where the offense was “carried out with particular cruelty ... in the presence of family members” in Scurry v. State, 472 So. 2d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). The cold-bloodedness of Davis’ offense is a valid reason for departure. It is valid consideration of “circumstances surrounding the crime itself” specifically allowed by 3.701(d)(ll), F.R.Crim.P. See, Garcia and Wilson v. State,…
Previewing 3 of 15 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (12 total)
- Onelia Garcia and Matthew Lee Wilson v. State, 454 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Swain v. State, 455 So. 2d 533 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Burch v. State, 462 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Carney v. State, 458 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Hubler v. State, 458 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- von Carter v. State, 468 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Mincey v. State, 460 So. 2d 396 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Hunt v. State, 468 So. 2d 1100 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Johnson v. State, 462 So. 2d 49 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Brooks v. State, 456 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)