EDWARD L. MCNAIR, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Appellant McNair challenges three concurrent twelve-year sentences imposed under Florida sentencing guidelines for kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, each including a mandatory three-year minimum term. The court holds that mandatory minimum terms may be imposed in conjunction with guidelines sentences when the guidelines sentence exceeds the mandatory penalty.
Mandatory minimum terms may be imposed in conjunction with guidelines sentences. When a guidelines sentence exceeds the mandatory penalty, the guidelines sentence is imposed; however, the mandatory minimum term is not precluded from being imposed as part of that guidelines sentence, particularly when the mandatory penalty affects entitlement to gain time.
[1] A mandatory minimum sentence for an offense takes precedence over a guidelines sentence if the recommended guidelines sentence is less than the mandatory penalty.
[2] If a guidelines sentence exceeds a mandatory sentence, the guidelines sentence should be imposed.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“For those offenses having a mandatory penalty, a scoresheet should be completed and the guidelines sentence calculated. If the recommended sentence is less than the mandatory penalty, the mandatory sentence takes precedence. If the guidelines sentence exceeds the mandatory sentence, the guidelines sentence should be imposed.”
Establishes the framework for reconciling mandatory penalties with guidelines sentences under Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701(d)(9)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMcNair was convicted of kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Each offense involved use of a firearm. The t…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
Appellant seeks review of sentences for the offenses of kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Three concurrent twelve year sentences were imposed pursuant to the Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701 sentencing guidelines. Each offense involved a firearm, and each sentence included a three year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. We find that it was proper to impose the mandatory minimum terms in conjunction with the guidelines sentences, and we therefore affirm the orders appealed.
Section 775.087(2)(a), Florida Statutes, mandates a three year minimum term of imprisonment, without eligibility for parole or statutory gain time, for the offenses for which appellant was convicted. Appellant argues that this minimum term should not have been imposed in conjunction with his guidelines sentence. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701(d)(9) provides that:
For those offenses having a mandatory penalty, a scoresheet should be completed and the guidelines sentence calculated. If the recommended sentence is less than the mandatory penalty, the mandatory sentence takes precedence. If the guidelines sentence exceeds the mandatory sentence, the guidelines sentence should be imposed.
The sentencing guidelines rules and specific statutory penalty provisions should, to the greatest extent possible, be construed as having mutually consistent fields of operation. See e.g., State v. Brown, 530 So. 2d 51 (Fla.1988); Winters v. State, 522 So. 2d 816 (Fla.1988). Rule 3.701(d)(9) precludes the imposition of a guidelines sentence which is less than the mandatory penalty for an offense. In authorizing the imposition of a guidelines sentence which exceeds the mandatory penalty, the rule does not expressly preclude the imposition of the mandatory penalty as part of the guidelines sentence. Construing Rule 3.701(d)(9) to permit such sentencing reconciles the rule with section 775.087(2)(a), with both enactments having mutually consistent fields of operation.
Unlike State v. Hall, 538 So. 2d 468 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989), the present case involves a mandatory minimum term which affects entitlement to gain time. This penalty thus was not otherwise encompassed within the general guidelines sentence in the present case, as was the minimum penalty involved in Hall. Here the court properly effectuated both Rule 3.701(d)(9) and section 775.-087(2)(a) by imposing guidelines sentences with three year mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment.
The orders appealed are affirmed.
THOMPSON and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur.
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Darcy Delorme v. State, 562 So. 2d 398 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)…also commits an aggravated battery. Nothing in the statute or case law suggests that such reclassification is to be in lieu of, or precluding, the inclusion of the simultaneous conviction within the sentencing score-sheet. See e.g. McNair v. State, 540 So. 2d 896 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Accordingly, we affirm appellant’s convictions and sentences in all respects. Affirmed.…
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Janes v. State, 585 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)…rm, in that denial was appropriate on the merits of the issues raised. See § 893.135(5), Fla.Stat. (1987) (any person who conspires with another person to commit trafficking in cocaine is guilty of a felony of the first degree), and McNair v. State, 540 So. 2d 896, 897 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (the rules do not preclude imposition of a mandatory penalty as part of a guidelines sentence). As to the allegation regarding the charge of conspiracy to traffic, we note appellant’s argument that Count II of the informati…
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Terrie Ellen ENT v. State, 558 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)…s numerous other convictions and sentences are not contested on appeal and are affirmed. . Unlike Bernadini, where the provision was deemed neither "meaningful” nor "substantive," 540 So. 2d at 133, the minimum mandatory imposed in McNair v. State, 540 So. 2d 896 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) affected the defendant’s entitlement to gain time. § 775.087(2), Fla.Stat. (1987). In McNair the court affirmed in order to reconcile the "mutually consistent fields of operation" of the two statutes. 540 So. 2d at 897.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Brown, 530 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 1988)
- Winters v. State, 522 So. 2d 816 (Fla. 1988)
- State v. Hall, 538 So. 2d 468 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)