RONALD LEE MORRIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a departure sentence requires contemporaneous written reasons, and the trial court's failure to provide them necessitates resentencing.
The defendant was sentenced for burglary with a departure sentence, but the trial court failed to provide contemporaneous written reasons for the depa…
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PARKER, Judge.
Ronald Lee Morris appeals his judgment and sentences for first-degree murder and burglary with assault or battery. We affirm the judgment entered for both offenses and the sentence for first-degree murder. We reverse the sentence for the burglary offense and remand for resentencing.
Although not raised as an issue in this appeal, our review of the record reveals that in sentencing Morris for the burglary offense, the trial court departed from the guidelines without providing contemporaneous written reasons for the departure. The trial transcript reflects that the trial court sentenced Morris immediately following the jury’s verdict. The trial judge simply orally sentenced Morris to a departure sentence of ninety-nine years in prison for the burglary offense consecutive to the life sentence for the murder conviction. The trial judge did not discuss the guidelines scoresheet and did not provide oral or written reasons for the departure. The record does contain an order of written reasons for departure, but it was not filed until five days after the sentencing. The record also contains a sentencing guidelines scoresheet which reflects a notation indicating a valid ground for departure. However, it appears that the state did not file that scoresheet until the day after sentencing. In any event, the trial judge did not sign the scoresheet.
A sentence departing upward from the sentencing guidelines requires the trial court to enter a written order of departure at the time of sentencing. Ree v. State, 565 So. 2d 1329 (Fla.1990), modified by State v. Lyles, 576 So. 2d 706 (Fla.1991). Because the trial court did not meet this requirement, we reverse the sentence on the burglary charge and remand to the trial court for resentencing within the sentencing guidelines.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the trial court for resentencing.
DANAHY, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Hoffman v. State, 700 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)…sible error for a court to give a departure sentence without providing written reasons for the departure.”); Pope v. State, 561 So. 2d 554 (Fla.1990). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing within the guidelines. Jones; Morris v. State, 640 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Robertson, 611 So. 2d at 1234. Affirmed, in part, reversed, in part, and remanded for resentencing within the guidelines. . Since the crimes alleged in Counts XI and XII were committed in January 1991, Rule 3.701, Florida Rules…
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LaFOUNTAIN v. State, 700 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…g from the sentencing guidelines. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.701(d)(ll). Because the trial judge failed to do so, we reverse the sentences on counts two and three and remand to the trial court for re-sentencing within the guidelines. See Morris v. State, 640 So. 2d 213, 214 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). Convictions affirmed; sentence on count one affirmed; sentences on counts two and three reversed and remanded for resentenc-ing within the guidelines. FULMER and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- REE v. State, 565 So. 2d 1329 (Fla. 1990)
- State v. Lyles, 576 So. 2d 706 (Fla. 1991)