MATTHEW A. PIERCE
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The appellate court addressed a defendant's appeal of his judgment and sentence for drug offenses. The court agreed with the State that there was an error in the written sentence compared to the oral pronouncement and corrected a fee assessment.
The court held that the oral pronouncement of the sentence prevails over the written sentence when there is a discrepancy. The court also noted an issue with the citation of a fee but found no merit in other issues raised.
[1] When a discrepancy exists between a trial court's oral pronouncement of sentence and its written sentence, the oral pronouncement prevails and controls the actual sentenc…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“An oral pronouncement will most certainly prevail when the State concedes that the written sentence is in error.”
Establishes the principle that the oral pronouncement of a sentence is controlling over a written one when there is a discrepancy.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMatthew A. Pierce was sentenced for trafficking in methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance. The written sentence differed from the tr…
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PER CURIAM. Matthew A. Pierce appeals his judgment and sentence for trafficking in methamphetamine and possession of a controlled
substance. Mr. Pierce was sentenced on both counts to thirteen years' imprisonment with a three-year mandatory minimum.
The trial court's oral pronouncement at sentencing reflects that Mr. Pierce's sentence should have been thirteen years' imprisonment on the trafficking charge and five years' imprisonment on the possession charge, to run concurrent with the thirteen-year sentence on the trafficking charge. The State concedes error on this point, and we agree. See Enchautegui v. State, 749 So. 2d 550, 550 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) ("An oral pronouncement will most certainly prevail when the State concedes that the written sentence is in error."); see also State v. Akins, 69 So. 3d 261, 269 (Fla. 2011) ("[W]hen there is a discrepancy between the written sentence and 'the oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement prevails.' " (quoting Justice v. State, 674 So. 2d 123, 125 (Fla. 1996))).
Accordingly, we reverse Mr. Pierce's sentence and remand for a corrected sentence in accordance with the trial court's oral pronouncement at sentencing. Mr. Pierce also identifies that the trial court assessed a $65 "Court Facility & Legal Aid, etc. Fund" fee pursuant to local ordinance 2004-036 and failed to cite the appropriate Florida
statute. As we have previously instructed trial courts in this district, cost orders should reference both the applicable local ordinance and Florida statute, and we note the same here. See Reyes v. State, 655 So. 2d 111, 121–22 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), superseded by statute, § 938.15, Fla. Stat. (1997), on other grounds as recognized in Waller v. State, 911 So. 2d 226, 227 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). We find no merit in any of the other issues raised by Mr. Pierce in this appeal. Affirmed in part; reversed in part; remanded for corrected sentence. NORTHCUTT, BLACK, and LUCAS, JJ., Concur. Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Abel Oliveros Reyes v. State, 655 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
- Justice v. State, 674 So. 2d 123 (Fla. 1996)
- Waller v. State, 911 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
- Ernestor Enchautegui v. State, 749 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)