LEON EDWARDS, APPELLANT/CROSS APPELLEE,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE/CROSS APPELLANT
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The court affirmed the conviction for drug trafficking and cannabis possession but remanded for resentencing because the trial court imposed a sentence below the guidelines without stating reasons for the downward departure.
A trial court must state its reasons in writing when imposing a sentence that departs downward from the sentencing guidelines.
[1] A trial court imposing a sentence that departs downward from the sentencing guidelines must state its reasons for departure in writing.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceEdwards was charged with trafficking in cocaine (28-200 grams) and possession of cannabis (over 20 grams), pled no contest, and was sentenced to three…
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PER CURIAM.
The public defender filed this appeal and motion to withdraw as counsel pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). Appellant was charged by information with trafficking in cocaine in an amount of twenty-eight grams or more but less than two hundred grams and possession of cannabis in excess of twenty grams. He pled no contest to these charges and reserved his right to appeal the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We find no error in the trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to suppress and accordingly we affirm his conviction. We grant the public defender’s motion to withdraw as counsel in this appeal.
However, the state points out in a notice of cross appeal that the appellant’s score of one hundred fifty-four points on the sentencing guidelines scoresheet places him in a sentencing category of four-and-one-half to five-and-one-half years. The trial court sentenced appellant to serve only a mandatory minimum term of three years pursuant to section 893.135(1), Florida Statutes (1985). Since the trial court’s sentence constituted a downward departure from the guidelines sentence it had the duty to state its reasons for departure in writing. Therefore we remand this case to the trial court for sentencing in compliance with the guidelines. See State v. Jackson, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla.1985).
AFFIRMED, but REMANDED for re-sentencing.
HERSEY, C.J., and DELL and WALr DEN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- State v. Jackson, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 1985)