ROGELIO RODRIGUEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Rogelio Rodriguez appealed his sentence for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. The Florida appellate court reversed and remanded for resentencing, finding the trial court erred in scoring points for the victim's death, improperly assessed court costs without statutory authority, and imposed an unconstitutional probation condition.
The court reversed and remanded for resentencing. The trial court erred in scoring points for death when there was no evidence the victim's death was caused by the defendant's conduct. The lump sum court costs assessment was improper due to lack of statutory authority. The probation condition requiring work directed by the victim's family was impermissible, though the trial court could modify it to require grave site maintenance with probation officer verification.
[1] A trial court errs in scoring points for the death of a victim in a leaving the scene of an accident case when there is no evidence that the death was caused by or was a…
[2] A trial court must cite statutory authority when assessing lump sum court costs.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“we held that it was error to score points for death where there was no evidence that the victims's death was caused by or was a direct result of the defendant's leaving the scene of the accident”
Establishes the legal standard that death points cannot be scored absent evidence the death resulted from the defendant's conduct
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRodriguez was sentenced pursuant to a plea agreement for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of a person. The trial court scored p…
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ALTENBERND, Judge.
Rogelio Rodriguez appeals the sentence imposed, pursuant to his plea agreement, for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of a person. Mr. Rodriguez’s public defender filed a brief, pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), asserting that he could find no meritorious issues to appeal. We reverse Mr. Rodriguez’s sentence and remand for resentencing.
First, the trial court erred in scoring points for the death of the victim in this case. In Geary v. State, 675 So. 2d 625, 626 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), review denied, No. 88,220, 680 So. 2d 422 (Fla. Aug. 30,1996), which was not decided at the time of Rodriguez’s sentencing or when the public defender filed his Anders brief, we held that it was error to score points for death where there was no evidence that the victims’s death was caused by or was a direct result of the defendant’s leaving the scene of the accident. Because the deletion of these points results in fewer total sentence points, we reverse Mr. Rodriguez’s sentence and remand for resentencing with a corrected scoresheet.
We further strike the assessment of $269.75 in lump sum court costs because the trial court failed to cite any statutory authority. Spence v. State, 667 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Reyes v. State, 655 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). On remand the state may seek to reimpose these costs, in accordance with Mr. Rodriguez’s plea agreement, after providing proper statutory authority. We affirm the imposition of the $2.00 discretionary cost imposed pursuant to section 943.25(13), Florida Statutes (1993). See Spence, 667 So. 2d at 431.
Finally, as a condition of his five-year probationary term, the trial court required Mr. Rodriguez to visit the victim’s grave site once a month and make “whatever type of improvements or work” as directed “by the widow or family for the maintenance of the grave site.” We delete the requirement that the victim’s family direct Mr. Rodriguez’s work on the grave site. At resentencing, the trial court may modify this condition to require Mr. Rodriguez to clean the victim’s grave site monthly during the term of his probation and report to his probation officer that he has done so. Reversed and remanded for resentencing with directions.
FRANK, A.C.J., and HALL, VINCENT T., Senior Judge, concur.
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Sims v. State, 998 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 2008)…LEWIS, J. We have for review Sims v. State, 869 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), which expressly and directly conflicts with the decisions in Geary v. State, 675 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), Rodriguez v. State, 684 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), and May v. State, 747 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution. We quash the decision under review for the reasons set forth in our analysis below. I…1 / 3
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Sims v. State, 869 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…our attention two cases from the Second District Court of Appeal that he believes stand for the proposition that victim injury points should not be assessed for the crime of which he was convicted. An examination of these cases, Rodriguez v. State, 684 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), and Geary v. State, 675 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 680 So. 2d 422 (Fla.1996), however, reflects that our sister court concluded that in those cases there was no causal connection between the crimes and the victim in…1 / 2
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Tolbert v. State, 698 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…costs were not orally announced. However, the defendant agreed to pay court costs as part of his written plea agreement and, therefore, waived any objection to the imposition of discretionary costs without oral announcement. See Rodriguez v. State, 684 So. 2d 864, 865 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Spence v. State, 667 So. 2d 430, 431 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Although not addressed by the parties, our review of the record reveals that the defendant was ordered to pay $110 for “pros-eeution/investigative” costs pursuant to…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- Abel Oliveros Reyes v. State, 655 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
- Geary v. State, 675 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
- Spence v. State, 667 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)