STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
TERRI LEIGH RANDALL, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1993-12-01
No. 93-00062
FRANK, C.J., and PARKER, J., concur.
627 So. 2d 571 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1993) Caution
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

The State appealed a trial court's downward departure sentence imposed on Randall for selling cocaine within 1000 feet of a school. The court held that trial judges have no discretion to depart downward from mandatory minimum sentences for drug sales under the applicable statute, and reversed for resentencing.


Holding

A trial judge has no discretion to depart downward from the minimum mandatory sentencing provisions of § 893.13(l)(e)l. when the statutory violation involves the sale of drugs. The court reversed and remanded for resentencing in accordance with the mandatory minimum requirements.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court abuses its discretion by imposing a downward departure sentence from a statutory minimum mandatory penalty for the sale of drugs.

[2] The sale of drugs within 1000 feet of a school is subject to a minimum mandatory sentence under section 893.13(1)(e)1., Florida Statutes (1991).

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Key Quotes

“A trial judge has no discretion to depart from the minimum mandatory sentencing provisions of section 893.13(l)(e)l. when the statutory violation involves sale of drugs.”

States the core holding that trial courts cannot impose downward departures for drug sales under the mandatory minimum statute

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Facts & Procedural History

Randall pled nolo contendere to selling rock cocaine within 1000 feet of a school. She made two sales of rock cocaine to an undercover agent inside he…

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Opinion of the Court
RYDER, Judge.

RYDER, Judge.

The state attacks the trial court’s decision to impose a downward departure sentence in this prosecution for sale of cocaine within 1000 feet of a school. Randall pled nolo contendere to several violations of section 893.13(l)(e)l., Florida Statutes (1991), and was sentenced to two years’ community control followed by three years’ probation. We agree with the state that the trial court abused its discretion in departing downward from the minimum sentence for sale of drugs mandated by this statute. We reverse and remand for resentencing.

Randall lived within 1000 feet of a school. The charges against her were based on two sales of rock cocaine to an undercover agent. The sales took place inside her home. A search of her residence pursuant to a search warrant netted thirty more pieces of rock cocaine. The trial court’s written reasons for a departure sentence were that Randall had not dealt with school children and that the crime did not deal with the school, school activities or school personnel.

At sentencing, Randall relied on State v. Regan, 564 So. 2d 1208 (Fla. 2d DCA1990) in support of her request for a downward departure sentence. Although this case affirmed the trial court’s decision to impose a downward departure sentence for the purchase of drugs within 1000 feet of a school, we note that it interpreted an earlier version of section 893.13 that did not contain a mandatory minimum penalty. In his concurrence in Regan, Judge Altenbernd noted that a downward departure may not have been permitted if this court had been construing the present version of the statute, which provided for a minimum sentence. Regan does not, therefore, control our analysis of the present statute. Our supreme court, in Scates v. State, 603 So. 2d 504 (Fla.1992), analyzed the extent of judicial discretion under the 1989 version of section 893.13, which contains the minimum mandatory penalty and is almost identical to the 1991 version of the statute at issue here. Scates was a drug abuser who had purchased cocaine for his personal use from an undercover sheriffs deputy within 1000 feet of a school.

The trial court placed Scates on two years’ probation and ordered him to complete drug rehabilitation pursuant to section 397.-12, Florida Statutes (1989). The Scates court indicated that trial judges have greater discretion in sentencing under section 893.-13(l)(e) than under other sections in chapter 893 that contain mandatory minimum sentencing provisions. See §§ 893.135 and 893.-20, Fla.Stat. (1991). The supreme court approved the trial court’s decision, holding that a drug offender convicted under section 893.-13(l)(e) could be referred to a rehabilitation program under section 397.12 rather than sentenced to a minimum three years in prison.

Scates does not authorize a downward departure sentence here. Randall sold drugs, unlike Scates who merely purchased them. Randall did not ask to be sent to a rehabilitation program under section 397.12, nor did the trial judge order it.

Moreover, we have recently ruled that section 397.12’s rehabilitation alternative does not apply to drug traffickers. Hill v. State, 624 So. 2d 826 (Fla.2d DCA 1993). Even if Scates could be read to authorize a downward departure sentence without drug rehabilitation, it does not permit a seller to avoid the minimum mandatory penalty prescribed in section 893.13(l)(e)l. The supreme court particularly noted that Scates “was not a dealer_” 603 So. 2d at 506. We have also stated that the personal acquisition and consumption of illegal drugs differs sharply from the peddling of drugs for profit. Hill. A trial judge has no discretion to depart from the minimum mandatory sentencing provisions of section 893.13(l)(e)l. when the statutory violation involves sale of drugs.1

We reverse and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.

FRANK, C.J., and PARKER, J., concur. . We note that the legislature has amended section 893.13, effective January 1, 1994. Ch. 93-406, § 23, Laws of Fla. The amendment deletes the minimum mandatory sentence for purchasers, but leaves the penalty intact for sellers. while this revised statute is not applicable to this case, it is evidence of the legislative intent that the minimum sentencing provision is mandatory when violation of the statute is based on sale of drugs.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Battle, 661 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
    …s required to sentence based on section 893.13(l)(e), Florida Statutes (1993) (see note following statute; section 22, ch. 93-406, Laws of Florida).1 Because Mr. Battle was selling cocaine, rather than purchasing it, the holding in State v. Randall, 627 So. 2d 571 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993), would appear to require the imposition of a minimum sentence. In a lengthy motion for rehearing, Mr. Battle has attempted to distinguish Randall based on a 1993 amendment to chapter 397, Florida Statutes. Because this argument wa…
  • State v. Crews, 884 So. 2d 1139 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
    …e treatment program rather than impose the 3-year sentence required by section SOS.lSCljCejCl).1 This court has refused to apply Scates to a case in which the defendant was convicted of sale of cocaine within 1000 feet of a school. State v. Randall, 627 So. 2d 571, 572 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993) (stating, “[a] trial judge has no discretion to depart from the minimum mandatory sentencing provisions of section 893.13(1)(e)(1) when the statutory violation involves sale of drugs”). Further, section 397.12 was repealed an…
  • State v. Rodriguez, 707 So. 2d 942 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
    …nder section 893.13(l)(c)l, Florida Statutes (1995), which provides that a person convicted of violating it “must be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 3 calendar years.” See State v. Swider, 654 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); State v. Randall, 627 So. 2d 571 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Hill v. State, 624 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). On remand, appellee must be given an opportunity to withdraw her plea, if she desires to do so. See State v. Nichols, 536 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). STONE, C.J., and KLEIN…

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