STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHAEL WEAVER, APPELLEE
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.
Florida's appellate court reversed a downward departure sentence for forgery and fraudulent use of a credit card because the trial court failed to provide contemporaneous written reasons for the departure as required by procedural rule.
A downward departure from sentencing guidelines must be accompanied by a contemporaneous written statement of reasons, and failure to provide such reasons requires reversal and remand for imposition of a guideline sentence.
[1] A trial court's downward departure from sentencing guidelines without contemporaneous written reasons violates procedural requirements and requires reversal and remand fo…
Previewing 1 of 1 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“Failure to provide written reasons for departure requires reversal.”
Court explaining the mandatory consequence of omitting written reasons for sentencing departure.
The defendant violated his probation and appeared for sentencing on forgery and fraudulent use of a credit card charges. The sentencing guidelines rec…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Contemporaneous Written Reasons cases and more on FLexlaw
ANTOON, Judge.
The state appeals the defendant’s sentence which was imposed for the offenses of forgery,1 and fraudulent use of a credit card.2 Specifically, the state contends that the defendant’s sentence is an improper downward departure from the guidelines because no contemporaneous written reasons were provided by the trial court to support the departure. We agree and, therefore, reverse.
As a result of having violated his probation, the defendant appeared before the trial court for sentencing. The scoresheet reflected a recommended sentencing range of five-and-one-half to seven years incarceration, and a permitted sentencing range of four-and-one-half to twelve years incarceration. The trial court departed from these guidelines, sentencing the defendant to ninety-nine days in the Orange County jail followed by three years’ probation. In so doing, the trial court failed to provide a written statement setting forth the reasons for the downward departure as required by rule 3.701(d)(ll), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. Failure to provide written reasons for departure requires reversal. Gordon v. State, 649 So. 2d 326, 327 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). Therefore, the defendant’s sentence must be vacated, and this matter remanded for imposition of a guideline sentence. See Pope v. State, 561 So. 2d 554 (Fla.1990).
Judgment AFFIRMED, Sentence VACATED; cause REMANDED.
DAUKSCH and HARRIS, JJ., concur. . § 831.01, Fla.Stat. (1991).
. § 817.61, Fla.Stat. (1991).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
State v. Jordan, 678 So. 2d 526 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)…Upon violation of probation by Jordan, the trial court entered a downward departure sentence without setting forth any written reasons for such departure. This is improper, and is so acknowledged by the appellee’s [*527] brief. See State v. Weaver, 662 So. 2d 1019 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995); State v. Williams, 652 So. 2d 517 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995); Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.701(d)(ll). Moreover, the oral reasons expressed by the trial court for the downward departure are insufficient. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR SENTENCING WIT…
Authorities Cited
- Pope v. State, 561 So. 2d 554 (Fla. 1990)
- Peterson v. State, 649 So. 2d 326 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)