RONNIE LOWMAN, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT

Fla. 2d DCA | 1998-10-14
No. 97-02209
THREADGILL, A.C.J., and DAKAN, STEPHEN L., Associate Judge, concur.
720 So. 2d 1105 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1998) Positive Treatment
Cited by 16 cases

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Holding

A completed act of fellatio, involving ejaculation, must be scored as penetration for sentencing guideline points, not merely sexual contact.


Headnotes

[1] A completed act of fellatio must be scored as penetration, not sexual contact, for the purpose of calculating victim injury points under the sentencing guidelines.

[2] A trial judge may weigh evidence presented at trial or consider additional evidence at a sentencing hearing to determine victim injury points.

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Facts & Procedural History

Defendant was convicted of sexual offenses. The trial court scored one offense involving oral sex as sexual contact, not penetration, for sentencing p…

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Opinion of the Court
ALTENBERND, Judge.

ALTENBERND, Judge.

Ronnie Lowman appeals his convictions, and the State cross-appeals his sentence. We affirm his convictions without discussion. We reverse his sentence because the trial court failed to include sufficient points for victim injury. Under the applicable guidelines, a completed act of fellatio must be scored as penetration and not as sexual contact.

Mr. Lowman was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child over the age of twelve1 and one count of handling and fondling a child under the age of sixteen.2 One count of sexual activity involved penile union with or penetration of the victim’s mouth, and the other involved digital penetration of the vagina. The trial court sentenced Mr. Lowman pursuant to the sentencing guidelines in effect prior to October 1,1995.3

The sentencing guidelines worksheet in section 921.0014, Florida Statutes (1993), provides for victim injury points under certain circumstances. It specifies 18 points for sexual contact or moderate injury and 40 points for sexual penetration or severe injury. This is consistent with section 921.0011(7), Florida Statutes (1993), which defines “victim injury” and states:

If the conviction is for an offense involving sexual contact which includes sexual penetration, the sexual penetration must be scored as a severe injury regardless of whether there is evidence of any physical injury. The trial court scored the digital offense as penetration, but scored the oral sex offense as contact. At the sentencing hearing, Mi’. Lowman’s counsel argued that there had been no evidence of penetration and that the act of fellatio did not involve penetration. The record, however, contains evidence of a completed act of oral sex involving ejaculation into the victim’s mouth.

After the trial court’s ruling, both this court and the Fifth District held that fellatio could be scored as penetration. See Woods v. State, 711 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Dickinson v. State, 693 So. 2d 55 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) (Antoon, J., dissenting). Judge Antoon’s dissent in Dickinson argued that fellatio can be an act of “union” and not penetration. In this case, we need not decide whether Judge Antoon’s argument is correct under other factual circumstances because the evidence of a completed act of fellatio in this case is sufficient to require points for penetration.

We note that a jury must make a factual determination on its verdict before a trial judge can impose a minimum mandatory sentence or apply an enhancement. See State v. Hargrove, 694 So. 2d 729 (Fla.1997); State v. Overfelt, 457 So. 2d 1385 (Fla.1984); Douglas v. State, 523 So. 2d 704 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). The jury in this case was not asked to determine whether the sexual battery involved penetration rather than union. We conclude that such a special verdict is not required to allow the trial court to impose points for penetration.

There are factual issues involved m the preparation of a sentencing scoresheet that must be determined by the trial judge. Thus, for example, issues concerning prior record are resolved by the judge and not by the jury. The nature and extent of victim injury are often irrelevant to the jury’s decision to convict on a particular offense. We conclude that victim injury points are properly assessed based on a factual determination by the trial judge. Our holding in Luhrsen v. State, 702 So. 2d 596 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997), does not require otherwise. In Luhrsen, the defendant was charged with sexual battery, but convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct. We ruled that victim injury points for penetration could not be imposed because the jury’s verdict rejected the State’s contention that penetration had occurred. Before penetration points may be imposed by the trial judge, the conviction must logically permit such points. The trial judge cannot assess points on a scoresheet that conflict with the jury’s factual findings concerning the offense. The trial judge, however, may weigh the evidence presented during the trial or consider additional evidence at the sentencing hearing in determining victim injury points.

Accordingly, we reverse the defendant’s sentence and remand for resentencing with a scoresheet including 22 additional points.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

THREADGILL, A.C.J., and DAKAN, STEPHEN L., Associate Judge, concur. . See § 794.01 l(8)(b), Fla. Stat.(1995).

. See § 800.04(1), Fla. Stat.(1995).

.The guidelines changed effective October 1, 1995. See ch. 95-921, Laws of Fla.


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Cited By

  • Bradford v. State, 722 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
    …pe of enhancement or mandatory minimum term at issue in State v. Hargrove, 694 So. 2d 729 (Fla.1997) and State v. Overfelt, 457 So. 2d 1385 (Fla.1984). We find persuasive the reasoning of our sister court in Lowman v. State, 23 Fla. L. Weekly D2329, 720 So. 2d 1105 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998), which concerned the analogous situation of the assessment of victim injury points in the calculation of the guidelines sentence. As that court stated, There are factual issues involved in the preparation of a sentencing scoreshe…
  • McCLOUD v. State, 741 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)
    …e “penetration” determination by a preponderance of the evidence, or whether penetration must be charged and proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The consensus answer of the panel assigned to this case, after consideration of Lowman v. State, 720 So. 2d 1105 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 727 So. 2d 907 (Fla.1998), and Bradford v. State, 722 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), was that no jury finding is required. [*514] The correctness of that view seems to be validated by the United States Supreme Court’s…
    1 / 3
  • Altman v. State, 756 So. 2d 148 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
    …rly assessed based on a factual determination made by the trial judge after considering evidence presented during the trial or at the sentencing hearing. McCloud v. State, 741 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)(adopting the reasoning in Lowman v. State, 720 So. 2d 1105 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)). In the present case, the trial court made no factual findings, because it did not reach this issue, and there may be evidence which will assist the trial court in making this determination which is not before us. We have only th…

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