LESLIE BLAINE PIGUE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, 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.
Leslie Blaine Pigue appeals his guideline sentence, challenging the sentencing court's calculation of his prior criminal record scoresheet. The court erred by scoring four bond estreatures as prior convictions, adding 16 points that elevated his sentence to 22 years. The appellate court reverses and remands for resentencing because bond estreatures do not constitute convictions under Florida's sentencing rules.
Bond estreatures do not constitute prior convictions under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(5)(a) and cannot be scored in the prior record category of a sentencing guideline scoresheet. The scoring of the four bond forfeitures as prior convictions was error, requiring resentencing.
[1] A bond estreature, without a showing of conviction, cannot be scored as a prior misdemeanor for sentencing purposes.
[2] For sentencing score sheets, entries in criminal histories showing no disposition, disposition unknown, arrest only, or other nonconviction disposition shall not be score…
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“"Prior record" refers to any past criminal conduct on the part of the offender, resulting in conviction, prior to the commission of the primary offense ... Entries in criminal histories which show no disposition, disposition unknown, arrest only, or other nonconviction disposition shall not be scored.”
Establishes the legal standard that prior records must show actual conviction; nonconviction dispositions including bond estreatures cannot be scored.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePigue's criminal history showed that he had been charged in Putnam County with driving without a driver's license and three counts of uttering worthle…
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 Bond Forfeiture cases and more on FLexlaw
PETERSON, Judge.
Leslie Blaine Pigue appeals a guideline sentence alleging miscalculation of the underlying scoresheet. Under the prior record category, the sentencing court assessed four bond estreatures as four misdemeanors, resulting in the addition of 16 points. The 16 points advanced Pigue into the next higher cell, allowing the court to sentence him to 22 years in the department of corrections. We reverse and remand for resentencing.
Rule 3.701(d)(5)(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides:
“Prior record” refers to any past criminal conduct on the part of the offender, resulting in conviction, prior to the commission of the primary offense ...:
(1) Entries in criminal histories which show no disposition, disposition unknown, arrest only, or other nonconviction disposition shall not be scored....
“Conviction” is defined in subsection (d)(2) of the rule as “a determination of guilt resulting from plea or trial, regardless of whether adjudication was withheld or whether imposition of sentence was suspended.” Pigue’s criminal history revealed, inter alia, that on various dates he had been charged in Putnam County with driving without a driver’s license and three counts of uttering worthless checks and that bonds were estreated for each of the offenses. The history does not reveal disposition of the charges or whether pleas or trials occurred in the cases.
Section 843.15, Florida Statutes (1987), prescribes penalties for failure of a defendant on bail to appear as required. The defendant shall incur a forfeiture of the security and shall also be guilty of a felony or misdemeanor, depending upon the underlying crime for which the security was given or pledged. Nothing in Pigue’s record indicates that he was ever charged with failure to appear. The most that one could conclude from Pigue’s history that was before the court at sentencing is that the Putnam County court simply forfeited the security on the traffic and three bad check charges. The history is also insufficient to indicate whether Pigue was a fugitive who fled to avoid prosecution or who failed to appear for a criminal proceeding so as to warrant the scoring of an additional six points under Item IV of the score-sheet, entitled “Legal status at the time of offense.” The history simply shows “bond estreated” and the date. C.f., Kinman v. State, 550 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (error to assess points for legal constraint where state failed to demonstrate that there are warrants issued for defendant’s arrest); Humphrey v. State, 543 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (error to assess points for legal constraint where record did not show that, at time of arrest, a warrant for failure to appear was outstanding).
Since a bond estreature is not defined as a prior conviction under Rule 3.701, it was error to assess points for Pigue’s bond forfeitures. The reduction of points for the previously scored forfeitures places Pi-gue into a lower sentencing range and requires his resentencing.
REVERSED and REMANDED for re-sentencing.
GOSHORN and GRIFFIN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Emilienne Pierre v. State, 606 So. 2d 502 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)…appear at traffic hearings. This court held that while outstanding warrants could provide the basis for legal status points, the state’s evidence did not establish legal constraint at the time the primary offense was committed.4 In Pigue v. State, 567 So. 2d 530 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), appellant questioned the assessment of legal status points and prior record points based on bond estreatures. The state at sentencing presented evidence that Pigue had been previously charged in Putnam County with one count of d…
Authorities Cited
- Humphrey v. State, 543 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)
- Waller v. State, 550 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)