DARRYL RODWELL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Rodwell appeals his upward departure sentence, contending the written reasons for exceeding sentencing guidelines were not filed contemporaneously as required. The court affirms, holding that oral reasons announced at sentencing and reduced to writing on the same day constitute contemporaneous reasons even if filed several business days later.
The written reasons for departure are contemporaneous with sentencing under these facts. When express oral findings and articulated reasons for departure are made from the bench and reduced to writing without substantive change on the same date, the written reasons are contemporaneous even if the ministerial act of filing occurs several business days later, provided no prejudice to the defendant results.
[1] Written reasons for a departure sentence are considered contemporaneous when they are reduced to writing without substantive change on the same date as the oral pronounce…
[2] The ministerial act of filing written reasons for a departure sentence with the clerk on the next business day following sentencing does not prejudice the defendant.
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“when express oral findings and articulated reasons for departure are made from the bench and then reduced to writing without substantive change on the same date, the written reasons for the departure sentence are contemporaneous”
The court's statement of the legal standard from State v. Lyles for when departure reasons satisfy the contemporaneity requirement.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRodwell was sentenced on November 14, 1990 (a Wednesday). The trial court orally stated reasons for an upward departure from sentencing guidelines. Th…
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W. SHARP, Judge.
Rodwell appeals his upward departure sentence on the ground that the written reasons for exceeding the guidelines were not rendered (filed) “contemporaneously” as required. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701 d 11. (Committee Note); Ree v. State, 565 So. 2d 1329 (Fla. 1990), modified, State v. Lyles, 576 So. 2d 706 (Fla.1991).
The trial court in this case sentenced Rodwell on November 14, 1990, orally giving the departure reasons. The reasons were put into written form and signed by the judge on the same date (November 14, 1990),1 but this paper was not filed with the court until five days later. Sentencing was on a Wednesday; the reasons were filed the following Monday. We affirm.
In State v. Lyles, 576 So. 2d 706 (Fla. 1991), the Florida Supreme Court held that when express oral findings and articulated reasons for departure are made from the bench and then reduced to writing without substantive change on the same date, the written reasons for the departure sentence are contemporaneous. The court further stated that the ministerial act of filing the written reasons with the clerk on the next business day would not prejudice the defendant in any respect. Moreover, the court indicated that it was important not to elevate form over substance.
The supreme court in Lyles did not hold that the filing of written reasons beyond the first business day following sentencing would be prejudicial. The court was simply responding to the facts of the case where the sentencing hearing took place on a Friday and the departure reasons were not filed until Monday, the next business day.
In this case Rodwell did not suffer any prejudice stemming from the fact that departure reasons were orally announced and contemporaneous written reasons prepared and signed on the same day, but the ministerial act of filing the written reasons did not occur until the third business day following sentencing. Given the current crush of criminal cases being handled by our state trial courts and their limited resources, we hold that under the facts of this case, the departure reasons were “contemporaneous” with the sentencing.
AFFIRMED.
HARRIS and PETERSON, JJ., concur. . Originally, the record disclosed the written reasons were dated September 14, 1990. The date was a scrivener’s error which the trial court corrected. We allowed the record to be supplemented to show the correct date: November 14, 1990. From a procedural viewpoint, it would have been more appropriate to have the state move this court to allow correction of the scrivener's error, since the record on appeal had been sent to the appellate court. In any event, we take the position that the record has now been corrected to show the written departure order was executed on the date Rodwell was sentenced.
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Kopko v. State, 638 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)…resentenc-ing pursuant to the guidelines. Fla. R.Crim.P. 3.701(d)(ll). Pope v. State, 561 So. 2d 554 (Fla.1990); Wright v. State, 617 So. 2d 837, 840-41 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); see Rivero v. State, 592 So. 2d 381 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992); Rodwell v. State, 588 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991), review denied, 599 So. 2d 657 (1992). Sentence VACATED; REMANDED. DIAMANTIS and THOMPSON, JJ., concur. . Kopko v. State, 577 So. 2d 956 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991), quashed, 596 So. 2d 669 (Fla.1992). . § 800.04, Fla.Stat. (Supp.198…
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Rodwell v. Singletary, 114 F. Supp. 2d 1308 (M.D. Fla. 2000)…4, 1990, Petitioner was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to a forty year term of imprisonment. Petitioner filed an appeal, and the Fifth District Court of Appeal issued a written opinion affirming his conviction and sentence. Rodwell v. State, 588 So.2d 19 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). The Florida Supreme Court declined to accept jurisdiction to review the matter. Rodwell v. State, 599 So.2d 657 (Fla.1992). In September of 1994, Petitioner filed a state habeas corpus petition in the appellate court, whi…
Authorities Cited
- REE v. State, 565 So. 2d 1329 (Fla. 1990)
- State v. Lyles, 576 So. 2d 706 (Fla. 1991)