JOHNNY DEWAYNE DRAWDY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Johnny Dewayne Drawdy appealed his conviction and sentence for grand theft of a motor vehicle, challenging the trial court's scoring of a prior Louisiana conviction for receiving stolen property as a second degree felony rather than a third degree felony under Florida's sentencing guidelines. The appellate court reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that ambiguous prior convictions must be scored as third degree felonies.
The court reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that because the nature and value of the property in the Louisiana conviction cannot be determined from the record, and ambiguous felonies must be scored as third degree felonies under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(5)(a)(3), any uncertainty must be resolved in favor of the appellant.
[1] Ambiguous prior felony convictions shall be scored as third degree felonies under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(5)(a)(3).
[2] Any uncertainty in scoring prior felony convictions should be resolved in favor of the appellant.
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“We agree with appellant that one cannot determine from the record the nature or value of the property appellant was convicted of receiving as stolen property in Louisiana in 1982.”
Establishes that the ambiguity in the prior conviction's classification cannot be resolved against the appellant.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDrawdy pleaded nolo contendere to grand theft of a motor vehicle pursuant to a plea agreement with the state. A guidelines scoresheet was prepared sho…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Florida Sentencing Guidelines cases and more on FLexlaw
JOANOS, Judge.
Johnny Dewayne Drawdy has appealed from a conviction and sentence. His argument on appeal is that the trial court erred by scoring appellant’s Louisiana conviction for receiving stolen property as a second degree felony rather than a third degree felony.
Appellant was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and entered a plea agreement with the state whereby he agreed to plead nolo contendere to the auto theft charge in return for a joint recommendation for a guideline sentence. A guidelines scoresheet was prepared with a presumptive sentence of community control or 12 to 30 months imprisonment based on 44 points scored.
At the sentencing hearing, appellant contested the numerical score calculated for the prior Louisiana conviction for receiving stolen properly.
The state argued that appellant’s prior conviction should be scored as a second degree felony as it was analogous to the Florida offense of dealing in stolen property, pursuant to 3.701(d)(5)(a)(2), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. Defense counsel argued that the Louisiana conviction was ambiguous when compared to existing Florida Statutes and that it should be scored as a third degree felony. Scoring the Louisiana conviction as a second degree felony resulted in an increase of ten points on the score-sheet, which resulted in an increase in appellant’s sentence from any non-state prison sanction to community control or 12 to 30 months incarceration.
We reverse appellant’s sentence and remand for resentencing.
We agree with appellant that one cannot determine from the record the nature or value of the property appellant was convicted of receiving as stolen property in Louisiana in 1982. It is only apparent that he was fined $100 and served one year probation. Also, 3.701(d)(5)(a)(3) Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides that ambiguous felonies shall be scored as third degree felonies. Any uncertainty should be resolved in favor of the appellant. See Weakland v. State, 520 So. 2d 311 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Roberts v. State, 507 So. 2d 761 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).
Further, we agree with appellant that the original crime of receiving stolen property, now merged with the theft statute, was designated a third degree felony. See § 812.031(2) Florida Statutes (1977).
The state has on appeal conceded that the prior felony conviction was incorrectly scored.
Therefore, we reverse and remand for resentencing so that the 1982 conviction for receiving stolen property can be scored as a third degree felony, which will lower appellant’s sentence to any non-state prison sentence.
MILLS and SHIVERS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Tradewinds Mfg. Co. & Fuqua Indus., Inc. v. COX, 541 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)…s job search was found sufficient by the dc under the circumstances fails to take into account that without the wage loss forms it is impossible to determine the amount of wage loss benefits that were due to claimant. A. C. Electric Co. v. Kwitchen, 525 So. 2d 993, 994 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Old Cove Condo v. Curry, supra. Since the dc issued his order on May 12 and the benefit request forms were not received in his office until May 18, it seems to us that the propriety of the TPD award must be assessed as if n…
-
Beck Hospitality & Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Duke Gardner, 696 So. 2d 961 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)…file TPD forms for the 20 hours he was medically restricted and to amend those forms which were filed to include his earnings throughout this period. See Southern Linen Supply v. Azinger, 528 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); AC. Elec. Co. v. Kwitchen, 525 So. 2d 993 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Old Cove Condo v. Curry, 511 So. 2d 666 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Morris v. Metal Indus., 491 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Bay Steel Erections v. Chung, 458 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). We reverse the award of interest on the T…
-
Faust v. Se. Contracting & Feisco, 604 So. 2d 41 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…ost earnings were not causally related to the industrial injuries. On remand, the claimant should be permitted to submit the necessary forms, see Tradewinds Manufacturing Co. v. Cox, 541 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); A.C. Electric Co. v. Kwitchen, 525 So. 2d 993 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988), and the JCC may hold further proceedings consistent with this opinion. AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part and REMANDED. SHIVERS and MINER, JJ., concur. ALLEN, J., concurs in part and dissents in part.…
Authorities Cited
- Doyal Powell Roberts v. State, 507 So. 2d 761 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
- Weakland v. State, 520 So. 2d 311 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)