RONNIE L. BROWN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Appellant challenges his sentencing for resisting arrest with violence, arguing that 200 hours of community service imposed in lieu of $225 in court costs should have been credited at minimum wage rates as required by statute. The court agrees and reverses, finding that the trial court imposed an illegal sentence apparent from the record.
The court held that sentencing errors producing illegal sentences that are apparent from the record may be raised on appeal without contemporaneous objection. Here, the sentencing error was apparent from the record, and the trial court illegally failed to credit the community service hours at minimum wage rates as required by statute.
[1] Sentencing errors that produce an illegal sentence and are apparent from the record may be raised on appeal without a contemporaneous objection.
[2] Each hour of community service shall be credited against court costs at a rate equivalent to minimum wage.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“[e]ach hour of community service shall be credited against the additional cost imposed by the court at a rate equivalent to the minimum wage.”
Statutory requirement from § 27.3455(1) that the trial court violated in this case
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant pled guilty to resisting arrest with violence and was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment plus 200 hours of community service in lieu of $22…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant appeals that portion of his sentence imposing 200 hours of community service in lieu of paying court costs in the amount of $225.00, alleging that the hours of community service should have been credited against the court costs at a rate equivalent to minimum wage. We . agree and reverse.
Appellant pled guilty to the charge of resisting arrest with violence, and the trial court sentenced him to prison for thirty months. The trial court also ordered appellant to perform 200 hours of community service in lieu of paying the following costs: $20.00 pursuant to section 960.20, Florida Statutes (1985); $3.00 and $2.00 pursuant to sections 943.25(4) and (8), Florida Statutes (1986), respectively; and $200.00 pursuant to section 27.3455, Florida Statutes (1985).
Section 27.3455(1), Florida Statutes (1985), provides that “[e]ach hour of community service shall be credited against the additional cost imposed by the court at a rate equivalent to the minimum wage.”
Appellee concedes the error but contends that the issue is not cognizable on direct appeal in light of appellant’s failure to contemporaneously object to the mistake at the sentencing hearing.
We disagree. Sentencing errors, not involving a factual dispute, which produce an illegal sentence and are apparent from the record may be raised on appeal without a contemporaneous objection. State v. Rhoden, 448 So. 2d 1013 (Fla.1984) (trial court’s failure to make affirmative findings before imposing adult sanctions on juvenile was apparent from the record); Walker v. State, 462 So. 2d 452 (Fla.1985) (trial court’s failure to make findings of fact before sentencing defendant as a habitual offender was apparent from the record); State v. Snow, 462 So. 2d 455 (Fla.1985) (trial court’s alleged failure to state with individual particularity reasons for retention of jurisdiction over one-third of defendant’s sentence was determinable from the record); State v. Whitfield, 487 So. 2d 1045 (Fla.1986) (points improperly added to scoresheet for victim injury was apparent from the record because the defendant had been convicted of aggravated assault, a crime not involving victim injury); Knight v. State, 501 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (trial court’s error in departing from the sentencing guidelines without giving clear and convincing reasons was apparent from the record).
See also, Dailey v. State, 488 So. 2d 532 (Fla.1986) (points improperly added to the guidelines scoresheet because defendant was not under legal constraint when origi nal offense occurred and because there was no supporting evidence for the scoring of victim injury involved factual matters not determinable from the record on appeal).
In the present case, the sentencing error, which produced an illegal sentence, is apparent from a review of the record. We therefore reverse and remand for resentencing. Upon remand, appellant will be resentenced under amended section 27.3455, Florida Statutes (1986 Supp.) which deletes the community service alternative for indigent defendants and provides that any defendant found guilty of a felony is to be assessed $200 in court costs. See Jones v. State, 507 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). The other costs likewise shall be assessed without imposition of any community service.
REVERSED.
BOOTH, C.J., and ERVIN and SMITH, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Calhoun v. State, 522 So. 2d 509 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…, Florida Statutes (1987), which deletes both the option of imposing community service in lieu of costs for indigent defendants and the penalty provision for failure to pay fines. Riddell v. State, 509 So. 2d 956 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Brown v. State, 508 So. 2d 776 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Jones v. State, 507 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing within the recommended sentencing guidelines and for rehearing on the issue of costs. REVERSED and REMANDED. ZEHMER and T…
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Moore v. State, 530 So. 2d 61 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…costs may be challenged even though no objection was raised in the trial court. Harriet v. State, 520 So. 2d 271 (Fla.1988); Famam v. State, 516 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Bellinger v. State, 514 So. 2d 1142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Brown v. State, 508 So. 2d 776 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). There is nothing in this record to indicate appellant received adequate notice regarding any of the costs imposed. Therefore, we find the assessment of costs and attorney’s fees must be reversed and remanded for proceedings con…
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Darrin Bellinger v. State, 514 So. 2d 1142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…enkins, 444 So. 2d at 950. Though appellant failed to object to these costs at trial, sentencing errors that produce an illegal sentence and are apparent from the record can be addressed on appeal without a contemporaneous objection. Brown v. State, 508 So. 2d 776 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). And though appellant fails to raise the issue of these particular costs in his brief on appeal, appellant does in his notice of appeal generally request that this court review the judgment wherein these costs are imposed. The se…
Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Learnhart Rhoden, 448 So. 2d 1013 (Fla. 1984)
- State v. Whitfield, 487 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1986)
- Bennie Lee Walker v. State, 462 So. 2d 452 (Fla. 1985)
- THE Florida BAR v. Rightmyer, 488 So. 2d 532 (Fla. 1986)
- State v. Snow, 462 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 1985)
- Knight v. State, 501 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
- Jones v. State, 507 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)