CALVIN HOWARD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1996-06-25
No. 95-3589
ALLEN and WEBSTER, JJ., concur., LAWRENCE, J., dissents with written opinion.
676 So. 2d 1018 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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

The dissenting judge would affirm the trial court's revocation of probation.


Facts & Procedural History

Howard was ordered to live at a Probation and Restitution Center as a condition of probation. He traveled to Thomasville, Georgia, to obtain personal …

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.

Appellant seeks review of prison sentences entered following revocation of his probation. He was alleged to have violated his probation by moving from his established residence and failing to enter the Probation and Restitution Center. Based principally on the testimony of his probation officer that she was aware of and had approved appellant’s actions, and that she did not believe that any violation had occurred, we agree with appellant that the state failed to establish by the greater weight of the evidence that appellant had willfully violated either of the conditions in question. See, e.g., Love v. State, 606 So. 2d 755 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (noncompliance based on confusion or miseommunication not willful); Stevens v. State, 599 So. 2d 254 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (noncompliance based on ineptness or negligence not willful); Jacobsen v. State, 536 So. 2d 373 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988) (failure to comply not willful as long as effort to do so is reasonable). Accordingly, we vacate appellant’s sentences, reverse the finding that appellant had violated his probation and remand with directions that the trial court reinstate appellant’s probation.

REVERSED and REMANDED, with directions.

ALLEN and WEBSTER, JJ., concur. LAWRENCE, J., dissents with written opinion.

Dissent
LAWRENCE, Judge,

LAWRENCE, Judge,

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent from the majority position that Howard did not willfully violate his probation. Howard was ordered to live at the Probation and Restitution Center (PRC) in Tallahassee as a special condition of his probation. He reported there on the day of his sentencing, February 6, 1995, but before the court documents authorizing his residence arrived at the PRC. He was told to report back on February 8, 1995, which he did, but without adequate clothing and other personal effects, requesting permission to travel to Thomasville, Georgia, to obtain these items. He was referred to his probation officer, but instructed by the PRC officer to return not later than February 10, 1995. His probation officer granted Howard permission to travel to Thomasville for the limited purpose of obtaining the necessary personal items. After arriving in Thomas-ville, Howard called his probation officer and said he could not get the money to return to Tallahassee; she told him to let her know when he could return. Howard did not con tact his probation officer again for a period of two and one-half weeks.

I agree that it would have been improper to revoke Howard’s probation if he had returned from Thomasville to Tallahassee within a reasonable time after obtaining permission to travel to Thomasville for the purpose of obtaining clothing. However, when Howard failed to return during the subsequent period of two and one-half weeks, without any cause, and without contacting any person having supervision over him, the trial judge was justified in finding him to be in willful violation of his probation.

Howard was no stranger to the importance of obeying conditions of supervision. He was on or had been on community control and probation for several felony and misdemean-or offenses, and had previously violated his orders of community control in the instant cases. I am unable to conclude that the trial judge committed error in determining by the greater weight of the evidence that Howard willfully violated his probation. I would affirm the sentence imposed by the trial judge following revocation of probation.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Smith v. State, 711 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
    …rrest and charge of probation violation, does not constitute a willful offense in the instant case. See Love v. State, 606 So. 2d 755 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (noncompliance based on confusion or miscommunieation is not willful); see also Howard v. State, 676 So. 2d 1018 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).1 Finally, [*103] appellant’s failure to respond to a single telephone call placed at a time when appellant was away from his residence for a reason which was beyond his control and to a single letter which the state did not esta…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw