JOSEPH JETER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1992-09-02
No. 91-2815
ALLEN and WOLF, JJ., concur.
604 So. 2d 1250 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1992) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Joseph Jeter appealed his sentences imposed after pleading nolo contendere to violations of community control, arguing that scoresheet errors resulted in sentences exceeding the proper sentencing guidelines range. The court found that the trial court improperly scored offenses and legal constraint points, resulting in an inflated sentencing range, and therefore vacated and remanded for resentencing.


Holding

The court held that all five third-degree felonies should have been scored together as primary offenses regardless of separate charging, that legal constraint points cannot be scored unless the defendant was under legal constraint when committing the original offenses, and that the improperly scored points must result in resentencing because the correction reduces the sentencing range by one cell.


Headnotes

[1] When multiple offenses of the same statutory degree are convicted, they should be scored together as the primary offense at conviction, regardless of the dates of the off…

[2] Legal constraint points may not be scored for a violation of community control or probation unless the defendant was on legal constraint when the original offenses were c…

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Key Quotes

“the primary offense at conviction is that offense "which, when scored on the guidelines scoresheet, recommends the most severe sanction."”

Establishes the definition of primary offense under sentencing guidelines

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Facts & Procedural History

Jeter pleaded nolo contendere to four counts of battery on law enforcement officers and one count of resisting arrest with violence—all third-degree f…

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Opinion of the Court
JOANOS, Chief Judge.

JOANOS, Chief Judge.

Appellant seeks review of his sentences imposed after he pled nolo contendere to violations of community control, on grounds that scoresheet errors resulted in a sentence which exceeded the proper sentencing guidelines range. The state concedes error with respect to the scoring of primary and additional offenses. We reverse and remand for resentencing.

The sentencing guidelines scoresheet filed June 18, 1991, contained a total of 277 points for a recommended sentencing range of nine to twelve years, a permitted sentencing range of seven to seventeen years, and a one-cell increased sentencing range of seventeen to twenty-two years for violation of probation or community control. Pursuant to his nolo contendere plea, appellant was adjudicated guilty of four separate counts of battery on law enforcement officers, and one count of resisting arrest with violence — all third-degree felony offenses.

The sentencing guidelines provide that the primary offense at conviction is that offense “which, when scored on the guidelines scoresheet, recommends the most severe sanction.” See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701d.3. The Committee Note to rule 3.701d.3 states: “When the defendant is convicted of violations of more than one unique statute, the offenses are to be sorted by statutory degree.” In other words, all counts of the offenses involving the highest statutory degree, and which carry the most severe sanction, should be scored together as “primary offense,” regardless of the dates of the offenses or that the offenses were charged in separate informa-tions. Doner v. State, 515 So. 2d 1368, 1369 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Further, when sentencing is imposed upon the original offenses following violation of community control or probation, legal constraint points may not be scored unless the defendant was on legal constraint when he committed the original offenses. Points cannot be added merely because the defendant was on community control or probation when he committed the violation. Burkhalter v. State, 578 So. 2d 345, 346 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).

In the instant case, the four counts of battery on a law enforcement officer were scored as primary offense at conviction, while the count of resisting arrest with violence was scored as an additional offense at conviction. The state agrees that the five third-degree felonies should have been scored under the category of “primary offense at conviction.” In addition, the scoresheet reflects that thirty-six points were scored for legal constraint, for the violation of community control from the original offenses. Since appellant was not on legal constraint at the time of the commission of the primary or additional offenses at conviction, legal constraint points were scored improperly. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701 d.6; Burkhalter, 578 So. 2d at 346.1

As a final note, when the deletion of improperly scored points on a guidelines scoresheet results in a reduction of one or more sentencing ranges, the sentence should be vacated and the cause remanded for resentencing. Sellers v. State, 578 So. 2d 339, 341 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). A correction of the scoresheet errors in this case would result in a total score of 241 points, for a recommended sentencing range of seven to nine years, which is a one-cell decrease in sentencing range from that reflected on the improperly scored scoresheet. Since the correction results in a reduction of one sentencing range, it is necessary to remand for resentencing.

Accordingly, the sentences are vacated, and the cause is remanded for resentencing based upon a corrected scoresheet.

ALLEN and WOLF, JJ., concur. . The state agrees that legal constraint points were scored improperly for the community control violation in connection with the instant offenses. However, the state urges the assessment of legal constraint points was proper, because appellant was on legal constraint' when he committed the offenses for which he was placed on community control. The record before this court does not support the state’s contention. Upon remand, the state may seek a determination of this matter by the trial court.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Gibbs v. State, 667 So. 2d 371 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
    …. All counts of an offense involving the severest penalty, which must be scored as the “primary offense at conviction,” should be scored together as multiple counts of the same offense, regardless of when the offenses were committed. Jeter v. State, 604 So. 2d 1250 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Riggs v. State, 540 So. 2d 897 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings. ERVIN, BOOTH and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.…
  • Peters v. State, 830 So. 2d 191 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
    …on v. State, 480 So. 2d 713 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). In Doner, the court held that when a defendant is being sentenced for multiple counts of the same offense, all of the offenses should be scored as primary offenses. Id. at 1369. Accord Jeter v. State, 604 So. 2d 1250 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d) provides: (3) “Primary offense” is defined as the offense at conviction that, when scored on the guidelines scoresheet, recommends the most severe sanction. In the case of multiple o…
  • Willis v. State, 785 So. 2d 698 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
    …not change this result because it scored the wrong offense as the primary offense. The correct primary offense is Appellant’s conviction under Count II, and not Count I as argued by Appellee. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.701(d)(3); see also Jeter v. State, 604 So. 2d 1250, 1251 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Echols v. State, 660 So. 2d 782, 785 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). REVERSED and REMANDED for re-sentencing under the 1994 sentencing guidelines, using Count II as the primary offense. All other issues are affirmed. DAVIS and PA…

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