FREDDIE LYNN LEWIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Lewis was sentenced under sentencing guidelines that were amended after his crime was committed, resulting in a harsher presumptive range. The court held that rule changes with disadvantageous effects to defendants do not apply retroactively to crimes committed before the amendment's effective date.
Rule changes with disadvantageous effects on offenders do not apply to crimes committed before the rule change's effective date. The trial court should have applied the guidelines in effect when the crime was committed.
[1] A rule change that has a disadvantageous effect on an offender does not apply to crimes committed before the effective date of the rule change.
[2] Sentencing guidelines in effect at the time of the commission of a crime must be applied, not those in effect at the time of sentencing, if the latter are disadvantageous…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A rule change which has a disadvantageous effect on an offender does not apply to crimes committed before the effective date of the rule change.”
This establishes the core principle that unfavorable rule amendments do not apply retroactively to prior offenses.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLewis committed an aggravated assault on March 17, 1984, and was sentenced on September 27, 1984. Between the crime and sentencing, Florida Rule of Cr…
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GRIMES, Acting Chief Judge.
On September 27, 1984, appellant was sentenced to five years in prison under the sentencing guidelines for an aggravated assault committed on March 17, 1984.
During the interim between the commission of the offense and the date of sentencing, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.988(d) which scored “prior record” but ceased factoring prior convictions of “4+” was amended to reflect “prior convictions in excess of four.” The Florida Bar: Amendment to Rules of Criminal Procedure (3.701, 3.988 — Sentencing Guidelines), 451 So. 2d 824 (Fla.1984). Under the guidelines in effect at the time appellant committed the crime, the recommended range for sentencing was thirty months to three and one half years imprisonment. At the time of sentencing, the trial court applied the guidelines in effect after the amendment which prescribed a presumptive range of seven to nine years for the same offense. A rule change which has a disadvantageous effect on an offender does not apply to crimes committed before the effective date of the rule change. Miller v. State, 468 So. 2d 1018 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). Therefore, the court should have applied those guidelines which were in effect at the time appellant committed the crime. See Davis v. State, — So. 2d -(Fla. 2d DCA Aug. 16, 1985) [10 F.L.W. 1972].
Appellant’s other points on appeal have no merit.
Accordingly, we affirm appellant’s conviction, but we reverse his sentence and remand the cause to the trial court for resentencing in accordance with the sentencing guidelines rule in effect when the crime was committed. On remand, the trial judge may either sentence appellant within the presumptive range or depart therefrom for clear and convincing reasons which should be stated in writing.
LEHAN and FRANK, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Kerr v. State, 481 So. 2d 1233 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)…imprisonment. As defendant notes, Florida courts have previously held that the proper scoresheet is the version in effect at the time the crimes were committed. Jones v. State, No. BD-92 (Fla. 1st DCA Oct. 10, 1985) [10 F.L.W. 2330]; Lewis v. State, 475 So. 2d 1367 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985) [10 F.L.W. 2293]; Beggs v. State, 473 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). In this case, that scoresheet, if used, would have recommended twelve to seventeen years incarceration. Since the filing of this appeal, however, our supreme co…
Authorities Cited
- THE Fla. BAR: Amendment to Rules of Crim. Procedure (3.701, 451 So. 2d 824 (Fla. 1984)
- Miller v. State, 468 So. 2d 1018 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)