VIRGIL ROBINSON, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Robinson was convicted of resisting arrest with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, and simple battery. The trial court imposed a 15-year sentence departing from the 12-30 month guideline range but failed to provide contemporaneous written reasons for the departure as required by Florida law, resulting in vacation and remand for resentencing.
A trial court must either sentence within the established guidelines or, if departing, support the departure sentence with contemporaneous written findings and reasons. Failure to provide written reasons at the time of sentencing constitutes reversible error, even if written reasons are provided later.
[1] A trial court must provide contemporaneous written reasons for departing from sentencing guidelines.
[2] Oral pronouncements of reasons for sentencing departure are insufficient without accompanying written findings.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the trial court erred by not contemporaneously reducing to writing the reasons for departure”
Establishes the core holding that written reasons must be provided at the time of sentencing, not afterward
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA jury convicted Robinson of two counts of resisting arrest with violence, one count of battery on a law enforcement officer, and one count of simple …
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PER CURIAM.
A jury convicted appellant of two counts of resisting arrest with violence, one count of battery on a law enforcement officer, and one count of simple battery. The trial court ordered a fifteen-year sentence rather than the recommended guideline sentence of twelve to thirty months, but provided no accompanying written statement of the reasons for departure as required by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 3.701(d)(11). Instead, it orally gave two reasons for the ordered departure sentence. Initially, on appeal, appellant claimed that because the court failed to issue written reasons for the departure and because the reasons given orally were improper, he was entitled to have a guidelines sentence ordered. This court vacated the sentence but observed that the lower court could depart from the guidelines by written order. Robinson v. State, 541 So. 2d 1261 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).
Upon remand, the trial court resentenced appellant to the same sentence originally ordered. Once again, no written reasons were contemporaneously given to support departure, although some seven months later written reasons for departure were recorded. Based upon our inspection of the record together with the state’s confession of error, we conclude that the trial court erred by not contemporaneously reducing to writing the reasons for departure. State v. Jackson, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla.1985); State v. Oden, 478 So. 2d 51 (Fla.1985).
Accordingly, appellant’s sentence is vacated and remanded to the trial court to resentence the defendant within the established guidelines or if the guidelines are departed to support such sentence with contemporaneous written findings and reasons.
Reversed and remanded.
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Citator
Cited By
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Robinson v. State, 571 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 1990)…EHRLICH, Justice. We have for review Robinson v. State, 557 So. 2d 109 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), which expressly and directly conflicts with the decision of this Court in Pope v. State, 561 So. 2d 554 (Fla.1990). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. A jury convicted Robinson of two counts of resisting arrest…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Jackson, 478 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 1985)
- THE Florida BAR v. Winter, 478 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 1985)
- Robinson v. State, 541 So. 2d 1261 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
- State v. Isaacs Jerome Bradley, 541 So. 2d 1261 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)