DAVID EMANUEL POOLE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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David Emanuel Poole appealed his sentencing, challenging the trial court's assessment of victim injury points as moderate rather than slight for injuries sustained by police officers during his arrest. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the injuries qualified as slight injuries at most.
The trial court erred in assessing moderate injury points. The injuries were at most slight injuries, and the court reversed the sentencing assessment, applying principles of lenity to resolve doubts in favor of the appellant.
[1] Victim injury points assessed for moderate injury must be reversed when the evidence supports only slight injury.
[2] When assessing victim injury points, any doubts as to the meaning of injury severity terms must be resolved in favor of the defendant.
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“Section 921.0014, Florida Statutes (1997) provides for different amounts of victim injury points to be assessed depending on whether the injury is severe, moderate or slight.”
Establishes the statutory framework for victim injury point assessment that governs the case.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePoole resisted arrest following an incident in a bar. During the resistance, one officer received cuts and bruises; two officers were hit by flying gl…
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KLEIN, J.
The sole issue raised by this appeal is whether the trial court erred in assessing victim injury points for moderate injury rather than for slight injury. We reverse.
Section 921.0014, Florida Statutes (1997) provides for different amounts of victim injury points to be assessed depending on whether the injury is severe, moderate or slight. In this case the injuries occurred when appellant resisted arrest after an incident in a bar. One officer received cuts and bruises. Two officers were hit by flying glass when appellant kicked out a window in a vehicle, but there were no injuries other than tiny knicks. One officer fell while struggling with appellant, hit his head and shoulder on the car and was “stunned,” but testified he was not damaged. None of the officers sought medical attention.
The trial court assessed moderate injury points because of one officer who was hit by flying glass and the officer who struck his head. Slight injury points were assessed for the injuries to the other officer. Appellant relies on Kingsley v. State, 682 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996) in which severe victim injury points were assessed where the defendant had kicked the victim in the legs and midsection. The fifth district reversed, concluding that this was only a slight injury because defendant was not ordered to pay restitution for medical treatment or lost income. He also cites Lynn v. State, 687 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) in which the fifth district held that kicking a deputy in the knee while resisting arrest did not warrant points for slight injury where there was no evidence that the officer suffered any discomfort or slight injury.
Although the scoring of victim injury is within the sound discretion of the trial court, Kelly v. State, 701 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), drawing the line between slight and moderate injuries is not an easy task. Considering that under principles of lenity we must resolve any doubts as to the meaning of these terms in favor of appellant, we conclude that the injuries were, at most, slight. Kingsley. We therefore reverse.
FARMER and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.
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Citator
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Bean v. State, 264 So. 3d 947 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019)…offense.”); see § 921.0024, Fla. Stat. (allowing for the addition of victim injury points to a defendant’s scoresheet under the CPC). A trial court’s assessment of victim injury points is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Poole v. State, 753 So. 2d 698, 698 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). If there is competent substantial evidence to support the findings, the court’s assessment of victim injury points will be upheld. See Hall v. State, 598 So. 2d 230, 231 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). In this case, the parti…
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KEY v. State, 837 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…70 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) (quoting Owens v. State, 289 So. 2d 472, 474 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)). The term is not statutorily defined. Under principles of lenity, we must resolve doubts about the meanings of the terms in the appellant’s favor. Poole v. State, 753 So. 2d 698, 698 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Thus, we conclude that a rejection of great bodily harm precludes a finding of severe victim injury. The trial court therefore abused its discretion in assessing forty points for severe victim injury, and we reverse Key’s…
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Landon (Glade) Tillman v. State, 819 So. 2d 913 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)…Affirmed. The scoring of victim injury is within the sound discretion of the trial court. See Kelly v. State, 701 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). While drawing the line between slight and moderate injuries is not an easy task, see Poole v. State, 753 So. 2d 698, 698-99 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s finding that the injury was moderate in this case. The injured detective had to be on light duty for three months, wear an ankle brace, and regularly attend physical th…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Kingsley v. State, 682 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)
- Lynn v. State, 687 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997)
- Kelly v. State, 701 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997)
- Lake Bryan Int'l Props., Inc. v. Nerbonne, N.V., 701 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997)