ROBERT LEE MCCOY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Robert Lee McCoy appealed his convictions for grand theft and burglary entered pursuant to nolo contendere pleas, challenging both the denial of his suppression motions and his sentences. The court affirmed the convictions but reversed the sentences, finding the trial court improperly added points for 'legal constraint' based on an unfulfilled community service obligation from a prior case.
An unfulfilled community service obligation does not constitute 'legal constraint' under the sentencing guidelines. Community service is merely a debt owed to the state and places no limits on the defendant's freedom, and community service is not mentioned in the rule defining legal status at the time of offense.
[1] A defendant's obligation to perform community service does not constitute legal constraint for sentencing guideline purposes.
[2] Community service ordered in lieu of paying costs creates a debt owed by the defendant to the state, but does not limit the defendant's freedom.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“An order requiring an indigent defendant to perform community service in lieu of paying costs merely makes such defendant a debtor of the state, in the same manner as would an order directing a solvent defendant to pay costs by tendering cash to the court clerk.”
Establishes that community service creates only a debt obligation, not a legal constraint on freedom
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMcCoy pleaded nolo contendere to grand theft and burglary of a dwelling. At the time of these offenses, McCoy had not fulfilled a community service ob…
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PEARSON, TILLMAN (Ret.), Associate Judge.
Robert Lee McCoy appeals judgments and sentences entered upon a finding that he was guilty of grand theft and burglary of a dwelling. The judgments in the separate causes were entered pursuant to negotiated pleas of nolo contendere which included reservations of the defendant’s right to appeal the trial court’s orders denying his motions to suppress.
Appellant’s argument directed to the denials of his motions to suppress is without merit, and the judgments are affirmed. See Kelley v. State, 486 So. 2d 578 (Fla.1986).
Appellant’s second argument, directed to his sentences, is well taken. It arises from the following facts. At the time the appellant committed the instant offenses he had not fulfilled a community service obligation imposed in a prior case. At the urging of the prosecutor, the trial judge determined that a community service obligation could be equated with a sentence to community control provided as punishment under § 921.187, Fla.Stat. Since a defendant under community control is under “legal constraint” as that term is used in the sentencing guidelines forms set out at Rule 3.988, Fla.R.Crim.P. (see Rule 3.701(d)(6), Fla.R. Crim.P.) the defendant had added to his point total 10 points with a resulting increase in the presumptive sentence under the sentencing guidelines. The assessment of these additional points for “legal constraint” caused defendant’s presumptive sentence to be increased from the 2½ — 3Va year range to the 3½ — 4½ year range.
An order requiring an indigent defendant to perform community service in lieu of paying costs merely makes such defendant a debtor of the state, in the same manner as would an order directing a solvent defendant to pay costs by tendering cash to the court clerk. Such order creates a debt owed by the defendant, but places no limits on his freedom. Surely a person otherwise entirely free who was in the process of paying off a costs judgment would not be considered to be under legal constraint. Furthermore, community service is not mentioned in Rule 3.701(d)(6), Fla.R. Crim.P. defining legal status at the time of offense.
Accordingly, the judgments are affirmed but the sentences imposed are reversed. The cause is remanded for resentencing of the defendant.
Judgments AFFIRMED, and the sentences REVERSED.
SHIVERS and ZEHMER, JJ., concur.