ERNEST NELSON COLEMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a house arrest provision, couched as a condition of probation, cannot transform an order of probation into an unlawful de facto sentence of community control exceeding statutory limits.
[1] A term of community control cannot exceed two years.
[2] A trial court's broad discretion in determining probation terms and conditions does not permit the imposition of de facto community control exceeding statutory limits.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendant was placed on community control followed by probation for cocaine offenses. After violating community control, he was sentenced to 15 years …
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DANIEL, Chief Judge.
Defendant, Ernest Nelson Coleman, appeals the sentence imposed after he was adjudicated guilty of violating a condition of his community control. The trial court sentenced defendant to 15 years incarcera tion under the condition that he serve 2 years incarceration followed by 13 years probation. The defendant argues that, although couched as a condition of probation, the house arrest provision transforms the order of probation into an unlawful defac-to sentence of community control. We agree.
In September of 1988, defendant entered a plea of no contest to one count of unlawful sale and delivery of cocaine and two counts of unlawful possession of cocaine. The trial court placed defendant on community control for a period of two years followed by a period of 13 years probation. Defendant was thereafter adjudicated guilty of violating his community control and sentenced to a term of 15 years imprisonment. The trial court directed that defendant serve the first 24 months thereof with the Department of Corrections and the balance of 13 years on probation. The trial court imposed sixteen conditions on defendant’s probation, one of which was:
15. You shall remain at your approved residence except thirty (30) minutes before [and] thirty (30) minutes after ... the time you are at work or at school. Any other absences from your approved residence must have prior approval in writing from your officer. Section 948.01(5), Florida Statutes (1988) provides that a term of community control cannot exceed two years. While we recognize that the legislature has given the trial courts broad discretion in determining the terms and conditions of probation,1 such authorization does not permit the imposition of thirteen years de facto community control. Accordingly, condition 15 of defendant’s probation is vacated and this matter remanded to the trial court for reconsideration. Bentley v. State, 411 So. 2d 1361 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982).
Judgment AFFIRMED; sentence VACATED; cause REMANDED.
COWART and GOSHORN, JJ., concur. . § 948.03, Fla.Stat. (1983).
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Citator
Cited By
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Yourn v. State, 579 So. 2d 309 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)…t DCA 1984). Although trial courts have broad discretion in fashioning the terms and conditions of probation, we agree with the Fifth District that this type of house arrest can only be imposed as a condition of community control. Coleman v. State, 564 So. 2d 1238 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). See §§ 948.001, 948.-03(2)(b), Fla.Stat. (1987). As such, it cannot exceed two years. § 948.01(5), Florida Statutes (1987). Accordingly, the oral condition of probation imposing twenty-four years of house arrest was illegal. On…
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Bebout v. State, 904 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…two years. A court may not evade the two-year limit by sentencing a defendant to a term of probation in excess of two years, with a special condition of house arrest. See Villabol v. State, 595 So. 2d 1057, 1058 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Coleman v. State, 564 So. 2d 1238 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). Against the sentence imposed in response to his motion to correct sentence, appellant is entitled to credit for the one year, ten months and five days that he spent on community control. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and…
Authorities Cited
- Bentley v. State, 411 So. 2d 1361 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)