JAMES RANDALL BEECHAM, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Beecham appeals the revocation of his community control sentence based on alleged failure to complete an addiction treatment program. The court reversed, holding that the trial court improperly relied on hearsay evidence without the program counselor's testimony or documentary evidence.
A court may not revoke community control based solely on hearsay evidence. The officer's testimony regarding information from the program counselor without the counselor's testimony or admission of the counselor's reports is insufficient to support revocation. Additionally, the officer's observations and defendant's statement that he was terminated are insufficient to establish willful and substantial refusal to participate. The trial court should have permitted defense witnesses to testify.
[1] A court may not revoke community control based solely on hearsay evidence.
[2] Evidence of a defendant's failure to successfully complete a rehabilitation program must demonstrate the defendant's responsibility for such failure to support revocation…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A court may not revoke community control based solely on hearsay evidence.”
Establishes the foundational rule requiring non-hearsay evidence for revocation
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendant was subject to community control and was alleged to have failed to complete an addiction treatment program. The community control officer te…
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PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals the revocation of his community control sentence.
We reverse. The affidavit of violation of community control asserted that defendant failed to complete an addiction treatment program. The community control officer’s testimony concerning defendant’s program participation consisted of information obtained from the program counselor and from the program counselor’s reports. The reports were not admitted into evidence and the program counselor did not testify. A court may not revoke community control based solely on hearsay evidence. Corona v. State, 642 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); Thompson v. State, 626 So. 2d 1023 (Fla. 3d DCA' 1993); Frazier v. State, 587 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991).
The record fails to disclose any non-hearsay evidence presented to support revocation. In addition, the officer’s testimony as to her observations of defendant at the program and defendant’s statement to her that the program terminated him are insufficient to support revocation. Gibbs v. State, 609 So. 2d 76, 79 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (“inability to control ... antisocial behavior ... in a drug program does not rise to the level of conduct evidencing a willful and substantial refusal to participate in the program required to revoke probation”); Curry v. State, 379 So. 2d 140, 141 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980) (“When a defendant’s probation is sought to be revoked because of his failure to successfully complete a designated rehabilitation program, some evidence must be submitted to show that the defendant was in some manner responsible for such failure.”).
As the state properly concedes, the trial court should have permitted defense witnesses to testify at the sentencing hearing. Hernandez v. State, 572 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990); Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.720(b).
Accordingly, we reverse the revocation and vacate the sentence.
Revocation reversed; sentence vacated; and cause remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Johnson v. State, 873 So. 2d 558 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)…ce or submissions relevant to sentencing before imposing sentence, pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.720(b). Whitlow v. State, 732 So. 2d 441 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Ventura v. State, 741 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Beecham v. State, 652 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). The state concedes error. We reject Johnson’s contention that he must be resentenced before a different judge. There has been no allegation or showing of bias by the trial judge. REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.…
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Wilford Johnson v. State, 695 So. 2d 749 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)…y testimony of a probation officer who relied on monthly reports prepared by a community service specialist. A court may not revoke probation based solely on hearsay and the trial court’s conclusion in this regard must be reversed. Beecham v. State, 652 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). The trial court also, however, found that probation had been violated by appellant’s failure to pay monthly costs of supervision and certain court costs which were imposed. Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence…
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Darriohn Myvar Pryor v. State, 151 So. 3d 61 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)…nce. We remand for the trial court to strike the violation of condition 43 from the order of revocation because the State offered only hearsay evidence, through the testimony of the probation officer, to support that violation. See Beecham v. State, 652 So. 2d 1275, 1275 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). However, we affirm the revocation of Pryor’s probation because it is clear that the trial court would have revoked his probation based on the other two violations. See Bernier v. State, 951 So. 2d 21, 22 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007).…
Authorities Cited
- Frazier v. State, 587 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
- Hernandez v. State, 572 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)
- Corona v. State, 642 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Gibbs v. State, 609 So. 2d 76 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- Curry v. State, 379 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Thompson v. State, 626 So. 2d 1023 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)