FREDERICK CHARLES HALL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Hall appeals his conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and his sentence as a habitual offender. The court affirms the conviction but reverses the sentence because the trial court failed to provide written reasons for departing from sentencing guidelines.
The conviction is affirmed, but the sentence is reversed and remanded. Although sentencing as a habitual offender is a sufficient ground for guidelines departure and the requisite findings need not be in writing under the habitual offender statute, the trial court must still reduce its reasons for departure to writing. A transcript of oral statements does not satisfy this requirement.
[1] A conviction will be affirmed when the appellant's asserted grounds for reversal lack merit.
[2] A sentence will be reversed when a trial court fails to set forth in writing its reasons for departing from the sentencing guidelines sentence range.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a transcript of oral statements made by the judge at sentencing will not satisfy the sentencing guidelines requirement of written reasons”
Establishes that the trial court must provide written reasons separate from the oral record
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHall was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and sentenced as a habitual offender under Florida Statutes Section 775.084. The tr…
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NIMMONS, Judge.
Hall appeals his conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We find no merit in the appellant’s asserted grounds for reversal of his conviction and therefore affirm the conviction. However, we reverse the sentence for failure of the trial court to set forth in writing its reasons for departing from the sentencing guidelines sentence range.
Hall was sentenced as an habitual offender pursuant to Section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1983). The findings required by that statute were made in open court and a copy of that portion of the transcript was attached to the sentence. While sentence of a defendant as an habitual offender is a sufficient ground for guidelines departure, Shull v. State, 481 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Payne v. State, 480 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (on motion for rehearing); and Whitehead v. State, 467 So. 2d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), and although the requisite findings to support imposition of an habitual offender sentence need not be in writing under the habitual offender statute, the trial court must nevertheless reduce to writing its reasons for departure. See Shull v. State, supra, Cuthbert v. State, 459 So. 2d 1098, 1100, n. 3 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). The Supreme Court held in State v. Jackson, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla.1985), that a transcript of oral statements made by the judge at sentencing will not satisfy the sentencing guidelines requirement of written reasons.
Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment but REVERSE the sentence and REMAND for the imposition of a new sentence consistent with this opinion.
WENTWORTH, J., and WILLIS, BEN C., (Ret.) Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Hall v. State, 511 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…d him to twenty years in prison.1 This sentence, according to Hall’s motion, represented a substantial departure from the guidelines’ recommended sentence of any nonstate prison sanction. Hall appealed, and we affirmed the conviction. Hall v. State, 492 So. 2d 692 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). We also approved Hall’s habitual-offender status as a valid reason for departure, citing Shull v. State, 481 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Payne v. State, 480 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (on motion for rehearing), reversed…
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Smith v. State, 499 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…d reason for departure is likewise invalid. Oral statements made by the judge at sentencing will not satisfy the sentencing guidelines requirement of written reasons. Jackson v. State, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla.1985); Hill v. State, supra; Hall v. State, 492 So. 2d 692 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); and Shull v. State, 481 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). We reverse the sentence and remand for new sentencing, since we are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that notwithstanding the trial court’s reliance on two invalid…
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Hill v. State, 498 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…s well as this court has previously held that a transcript of oral statements made by the judge at sentencing will not satisfy the sentencing guidelines requirement of written reasons. See Jackson v. State, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla.1985); Hall v. State, 492 So. 2d 692 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), and Shull v. State, 481 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). [*545] Also, the trial court may no longer depart from the guidelines based on appellant’s habitual offender status. The Florida Supreme Court has recently held that habit…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Jackson, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 1985)
- Cuthbert v. State, 459 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Whitehead v. State, 467 So. 2d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Payne v. State, 480 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Shull v. State, 481 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- Kent Ins. Co. & Charles Atwood v. In re Est. OF Vealon Andrews Atwood, 481 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)