STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
VERNON CHARLES RICHARDSON, RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1995-11-02
No. 85456
GRIMES, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, KOGAN, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
662 So. 2d 338 Florida Supreme Court (1995)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

When a defendant is sentenced for both a new felony and a violation of probation based on that felony, the trial court can impose the most severe sentencing scheme permissible for both offenses.


Facts & Procedural History

The Second District Court of Appeal certified a question regarding sentencing guidelines when a defendant is sentenced for a new felony and a probatio…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review the Second District’s decision in Richardson v. State, 653 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), wherein the district court passed upon the following question certified to be of great public importance:

WHERE A DEFENDANT IS SENTENCED AT THE SAME SENTENCING HEARING FOR A NEW FELONY AND VIOLATION OF PROBATION GROUNDED UPON THE NEW FELONY, IS THE TRIAL COURT LIMITED TO A ONE-CELL INCREASE FROM THE ORIGINAL SCORESHEET UNDER THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES FOR THE VIOLATION OF PROBATION, PURSUANT TO GRADY V. STATE, 618 SO.2D 341 (FLA. 2D DCA 1993), OR CAN THE TRIAL COURT IMPOSE THE MOST SEVERE SENTENCING SCHEME PERMISSIBLE AS TO BOTH CRIMES AS OUTLINED IN STATE V. TITO, 616 SO.2D 39 (FLA.1993)?

We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. In State v. Lamar, 659 So. 2d 262 (Fla.1995), we answered the identical question. In so doing, we held that when a defendant is being sentenced for both a violation of probation and a new substantive offense, the trial court is not limited to a one-cell bump on the original scoresheet for the violation of probation and a new substantive offense, but is permitted to use the scoresheet which recommends the most severe sanction. Lamar, 659 So. 2d at 263, 265.

Therefore, we quash the district court’s decision to the extent it is inconsistent with Lamar, and direct that further proceedings be in accord herewith.

It is so ordered.

GRIMES, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, KOGAN, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw