ORLANDO VALDEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the trial court erred in sentencing without first determining the presumptive sentence, but affirmed the conviction due to sufficient evidence.
Orlando Valdez was convicted of trafficking in cocaine after a bench trial. The trial court imposed a maximum sentence for appeal purposes before a pr…
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PER CURIAM.
Orlando Valdez challenges the denial of his motion for acquittal during a non-jury trial on a charge of trafficking in cocaine. We find there was sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction and affirm the judgment. We remand, however, due to error in the sentencing.
At the conclusion of the appellant’s bench trial, the court inquired about the maximum sentence and then, “for purposes of appeal,” sentenced the appellant to the maximum thirty years imprisonment with a three-year mandatory minimum. The court informed those present that if the conviction was affirmed on appeal, he would then order a presentence investigation and hold a hearing to determine what the proper sentence should be.
We disapprove this procedure, finding it to be an appalling waste of judicial resources which cannot be sanctioned. The court erred in sentencing the appellant without first determining the presumptive sentence. Mack v. State, 482 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). We therefore remand for the preparation of a guidelines score-sheet and resentencing.
Affirmed in part; remanded for resentencing.
SCHEB, A.C.J., and DANAHY and THREAD GILL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Nunez v. State, 482 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
- Mack v. State, 482 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)