STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
RHONDA RHODES, 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.
A trial court lacks jurisdiction to reduce a legal sentence more than sixty days after the original sentencing hearing.
The appellee was sentenced to one year in county jail. She later wrote to the court requesting early release, which the court granted more than sixty …
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 Rule Of Criminal Procedure 3.800(A) Construction cases and more on FLexlaw
THREADGILL, Judge.
The state appeals an order of the trial court mitigating the sentence of the appel-lee, Rhonda Rhodes, which was issued more than sixty days after the date of the original sentence. We treat the appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari, grant the writ, and quash the order of mitigation.
On November 23, 1988, the appellee was sentenced under the guidelines for violation of probation and other offenses to one year in the county jail. On March 19, 1989, the appellee wrote to the sentencing court, requesting early release. The court treated the appellee’s letter as a “motion for mitigation and reduction of sentence,” and ordered her release. The order was filed on April 5,1989, and on April 28, 1989 the state filed timely notice of appeal.
Citing Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800 (1988), the state contends that the trial court acted beyond its jurisdiction in modifying the sentence more than sixty days after the sentencing hearing. We agree. Where the original sentence imposed by the trial court is legal, the court lacks jurisdiction to reduce the sentence after the expiration of sixty days. White v. State, 404 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981).
Because the proper vehicle to request review on such grounds is a common-law writ of certiorari, Hudson v. Hofmann, 471 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), we treat this appeal as a petition for certiorari. See Fla.R.App.P. 9.040(c); Bridges v. Williamson, 449 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). We grant the writ, quash the order of mitigation, and remand with instructions that the trial court reinstate the original sentence.
Reversed and remanded.
SCHEB, A.C.J., and SCHOONOVER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (12 total)
-
State v. Swett, 772 So. 2d 48 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)…ely, where a trial court is without jurisdiction due to the untimely consideration of a motion for mitigation and erroneously grants mitigation, an appellate court will quash the order by way of certiorari. See, e.g., State v. Baca; State v. Rhodes, 554 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). .The procedural posture of the case is taken from Judge Benton's dissent. . Swett asserts in his brief that Heggs applies to this case since he was sentenced under the 1995 guidelines and that his present sentence of 21 years o…
-
Arnold v. State, 621 So. 2d 503 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)…cretionary. See Daniels v. State, 568 So. 2d 63 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Davenport v. State, 414 So. 2d 640 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Under some circumstances, however, the court may treat the appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari. See State v. Rhodes, 554 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). In Marsh v. State, 497 So. 2d 954 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), the court treated the appellant’s appeal from an order denying his motion to modify sentence as a petition for writ of certiorari. Because the trial court had erroneously bel…
-
Diaz v. State, 931 So. 2d 1002 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)…may be treated as a petition for writ of certiorari to permit the trial court to properly consider a motion to mitigate where the trial court has mistakenly found the motion to be untimely. See Arnold, 621 So. 2d at 503. See, e.g., State v. Rhodes, 554 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Marsh v. State, 497 So. 2d 954 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Smith v. State, 471 So. 2d 1347 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). In the instant case, although the appellant was sentenced on October 2, 2003, he filed a belated appeal of his judgment and…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hudson v. Hofmann, 471 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
- Columbus Bridges and Alma P. Bridges v. Carlton Williamson, 449 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)
- White v. State, 404 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981)