LEE ROBERTSON HAYLES, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict between district courts regarding the proper sentencing guidelines category for solicitation of first-degree murder. The Court held that solicitation of murder falls under category 1 of the sentencing guidelines, not category 9, because the solicitation statute itself is not excluded from category 1 and the penalties available are less severe than those for completed murder.
Solicitation of murder falls under category 1 of the sentencing guidelines whenever the object is to commit murder or manslaughter of any kind. Although category 1 excludes first-degree murder itself, it is not exclusionary as to inchoate offenses, and the guidelines serve a function here because the penalties available for solicitation are less severe than for completed murder.
[1] A solicitation to commit murder or manslaughter falls under category 1 of Florida's sentencing guidelines when the object offense is murder or manslaughter of any kind, u…
[2] Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(c) dictates that inchoate offenses are included within the category of the offense attempted, solicited, or conspired to.
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“Inchoate offenses are included within the category of the offense attempted, solicited, or conspired to.”
Establishes the foundational principle that inchoate offenses like solicitation are categorized based on their target offense.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLee Robertson Hayles was convicted of solicitation of first-degree murder under Florida Statutes section 777.04(2). The trial court sentenced him to s…
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KOGAN, Justice.
We have for review Hayles v. State, 596 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), which certified conflict with Tarawneh v. State, 588 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. Lee Robertson Hayles was convicted and sentenced for solicitation of first-degree murder in violation of section 777.04(2), Florida Statutes (1989). The trial court used a category 1 scoresheet under Florida’s sentencing guidelines, resulting in a sentence of seventeen years’ imprisonment followed by thirteen years’ probation. The district court affirmed, but noted that Ta-rawneh had held that a category 9 score-sheet should be used in such situations.
The guidelines provide that a category 1 scoresheet must be used in all cases of murder or manslaughter except first degree murder and alcohol-related manslaughter charges. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701(c). A category 9 scoresheet is used for any felony not placed in any other category. Id. Inchoate offenses are included within the category of the offense attempted, solicited, or conspired to. Id. (committee note).
The offense actually committed here was a violation of Florida’s inchoate offense statute, because Hayles solicited a first-degree murder. We thus do not consider it dispositive that the guidelines expressly exclude first-degree murder from category 1. There is an obvious purpose underlying the exclusion. Under Florida law, the only possible penalties for first-degree murder are death and life imprisonment. Applying the guidelines to this context would serve no purpose.
The same is not true in the present case. Here, Hayles committed a solicitation in violation of section 777.04(2), Florida Statutes. Strictly speaking, he committed no offense under section 782.04(l)(a). His penalty could be less than life imprisonment, and the guidelines thus serve a function here. Because section 777.04(2) is not excluded from category 1, a solicitation falls under category 1 whenever the object is to commit a murder or manslaughter of any kind. The solicitation was intended to effectuate a murder here, and so Hayles falls under category 1 of the guidelines.
The result reached below is approved. We disapprove Tarawneh to the extent it is inconsistent with our views here.
It is so ordered.
BARKETT, C.J., and OVERTON, McDonald, SHAW, GRIMES and HARDING, JJ., concur.
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Jones v. State, 610 So. 2d 105 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…ed to testify against her husband. . Those classifications are repeated on the Category 4 scoresheet itself. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.988(d). . For the treatment of inchoate offenses see committee note (c) to Rule 3.701, Fla.R.Crim.P.; Hayles v. State, 608 So. 2d 13 (Fla.1992); Roth v. State, 601 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 3d DCA1992). .That is so because the opinion's discussion of the scoresheet issues in the case refers to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.988(d). Rule 3.988(d) is the citation for the Category 4 s…
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Heidbreder v. State, 613 So. 2d 1322 (Fla. 1993)…PER CURIAM. We have for review Heidbreder v. State, 603 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), based on certified conflict with Tarawneh v. State, 588 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), disapproved, Hayles v. State, 608 So. 2d 13 (Fla.1992). We have jurisdiction. Art. Y, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. On the authority of Hayles, the decision below is approved. We will not address the issue lying beyond the scope of conflict jurisdiction. It is so ordered. BARKETT, C.J., and OVER…
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Elliot Reno Whatley v. State, 640 So. 2d 1201 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…from this court for resentencing on his convictions for attempted [*1202] murder, aggravated battery and burglary with a battery or while armed. We affirm the trial court’s use of a category one sentencing guidelines scoresheet. See Hayles v. State, 608 So. 2d 13 (Fla.1992). However, the judgment designates the burglary offense as a life felony. The state concedes that this offense should be designated a first degree felony punishable by life. Therefore, we reverse and remand for correction of the scrivener’…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Saud Tarawneh v. State, 588 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Hayles v. State, 596 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)