BILLY WAYNE TAYLOR, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed a departure sentence for armed robbery and aggravated assault, holding that the defendant's long criminal history and commission of violent crimes within two days of leaving prison constituted sufficient justification for departure from sentencing guidelines.
A trial court's departure from sentencing guidelines is justified when the defendant has a continuing and persistent history of criminal conduct and commits violent offenses shortly after leaving prison.
[1] Under Florida Statutes section 921.001(5), a trial court's departure from sentencing guidelines is upheld if a single circumstance or factor justifies the departure, rega…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBilly Wayne Taylor was sentenced for armed robbery and three counts of aggravated assault committed in 1988, within two days after he left prison by e…
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ZEHMER, Judge.
Billy Wayne Taylor appeals a departure sentence imposed for armed robbery and three counts of aggravated assault committed during 1988. Under section 921.001(5), Florida Statutes (1987), we must uphold the trial court’s departure from the sentencing guidelines if one “circumstance or factor” justifies the departure regardless of the presence of other circumstances or factors that do not justify the departure. The trial court’s stated reasons for departure included Taylor’s “long criminal record which began at age 15” with a conviction for second-degree murder and included a subsequent conviction for attempted escape, and Taylor’s escape from prison two days before he committed the crimes for which he was sentenced in this case. Taylor had not been convicted of this latter escape at the time of sentencing. It is apparent, however, that appellant has a continuing and persistent history of criminal conduct and, whether appellant left prison by escape or was legally released, he committed the violent offenses in this case within two days after he left prison. We hold this “factor or circumstance” to be sufficient to justify the departure in this case. See State v. Simpson, 554 So. 2d 506 (Fla.1989); Jones v. State, 558 So. 2d 702 (Fla.1989); Frederick v. State, 556 So. 2d 471 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990).
AFFIRMED.
SHIVERS, C.J., and JOANOS, J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Williams v. State, 566 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…a. 1st DCA 1989), rev. denied 562 So. 2d 346 (Fla.1990). In light of the validity of one of the stated reasons, the departure sentence may be upheld notwithstanding the presence of the invalid reason, § 921.001(5), Fla.Stat. (1987); Taylor v. State, 557 So. 2d 952 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), provided that the court was authorized to depart in excess of the one-cell increase now provided in the sentencing guidelines. Whether the trial court could impose a departure sentence pursuant to a probation violation in exces…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Vaughn R. Simpson, 554 So. 2d 506 (Fla. 1989)
- Frederick v. State, 556 So. 2d 471 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)