THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
OVIDIO QUINTANAL, ETC., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2001-04-04
No. 3D00-2207
Before LEVY, GREEN, and RAMIREZ, JJ.
791 So. 2d 23 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 18 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.

Synopsis

The State appeals a trial court's downward departure from sentencing guidelines for armed burglary and grand theft offenses. The appellate court reverses, holding that the defendant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence either that the need for restitution outweighs the need for imprisonment or that he cooperated with the state to resolve any offense.


Holding

The trial court lacked adequate factual support for a downward departure. The defendant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the need for restitution outweighed the need for imprisonment, as there was no evidence of the victims' actual need for restitution, only their preference. The defendant also failed to show cooperation resulting in resolution of any crime, since providing information about an uninvestigated home invasion does not constitute resolving a crime.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may depart downward from sentencing guidelines if the need for restitution to the victim outweighs the need for a prison sentence.

[2] A trial court's decision to depart from sentencing guidelines requires a valid legal ground supported by competent substantial evidence in the record.

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“A trial court's decision whether to depart from the guidelines is a two-part process. First, the court must determine whether it can depart, i.e., whether there is a valid legal ground and adequate factual support for that ground in the case pending before it (step 1).”

Establishes the legal standard for sentencing departures requiring both a valid ground and adequate factual support

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Ovidio Quintanal pleaded guilty to one count of armed burglary, one count of grand theft in the third degree, and four counts of grand theft in the th…

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
RAMIREZ, J.

RAMIREZ, J.

The State of Florida appeals a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines. Because the record does not support a finding that the need for payment of restitution to the victims outweighs the need for a prison sentence, nor that appel-lee Ovidio Quintanal cooperated with the State to resolve the current offenses or any other offense, we reverse.

Quintanal filed a motion for a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines in conjunction with entering a guilty plea for one count of armed burglary, one count of grand theft in the third degree, and four counts of grand theft in the third degree of a firearm. The State, on the other hand, filed a notice to seek an enhanced penalty.

Section 921.0016(4)(e), Florida Statutes (1996), allows the sentencing judge to depart downward from the sentencing guidelines when “the need for payment of restitution to the victim outweighs the need for a prison sentence.” As the supreme court stated in Banks v. State, 732 So. 2d 1065, 1067 (Fla.1999):

A trial court’s decision whether to depart from the guidelines is a two-part process. First, the court must determine whether it can depart, i.e., whether there is a valid legal ground and adequate factual support for that ground in the case pending before it (step 1). Legal grounds are set forth in case law and statute, and facts supporting the ground must be proved at trial by “a preponderance of the evidence.” This aspect of the court’s decision to depart is a mixed question of law and fact and will be sustained on review if the court applied the right rule of law and if competent substantial evidence supports its ruling. Competent substantial evidence is tantamount to legally sufficient evidence, and the appellate court will assess the record evidence for its sufficiency only, not its weight. (Footnotes omitted).

Quintanal’s cases involved four burglary victims who had lost approximately $200,000. Although Quintanal presented some evidence that the victims preferred restitution over incarceration, there was absolutely no evidence as to their need for restitution.

[I]n weighing the need for restitution versus the need for imprisonment a court must take into consideration all the relevant factors, including on the one hand both the nature of the victim’s loss and the efficacy of restitution, and on the other hand the consequences of imprisonment. While the victim’s wishes concerning restitution are relevant, they are not dispositive — it is the judge, not the victim, who must weigh society’s competing needs.

Banks, 732 So. 2d at 1068-69. See also State v. Schillaci, 767 So. 2d 598, 600 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Although the State agreed that one of the victims had expressed a preference for restitution over incarceration, there was absolutely no testimony regarding the preferences of the other victims, and no testimony from anyone as to the need for restitution.

At the sentencing hearing, Quinta-nal presented testimony from a former assistant state attorney who testified that Quintanal had given extensive details concerning a home invasion robbery which resulted in a homicide, including the identities of all the participants. Quintanal was not involved in the home invasion, but had learned of the details from one of the participants. Although law enforcement judged the information to be truthful, a warrant was never issued because no corroborating evidence could be obtained.

Section 921.0016(4)(i), Florida Statutes (1996), permits a downward departure where “[t]he defendant cooperated with the state to resolve the current offense or any other offense.” The evidence presented by Quintanal does not support a finding that any crime has been “resolved.” A resolution implies that a decision or determination has been made, such as the filing of charges or the closing of a case, none of which occurred as a result of Quintanal’s information.

As neither ground advanced by Quinta-nal to justify a downward departure was proved by a preponderance of the evidence, the trial court lacked adequate factual support for such a departure. Consequently, the trial court’s sentence is reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Dreama Adea Bell, 854 So. 2d 686 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
    …er, this statement is insufficient to support a downward departure for two reasons. First, the state notes there was no evidence adduced to support a finding that any crime had been resolved as a result of Bell’s cooperation. See State v. Quintanal, 791 So. 2d 23, 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001). It is not known whether Bell actually testified against the co-defendant or whether the co-defendant was convicted. The burden was on Bell to prove this and she failed to meet that burden. Second, the state argues persuasive…
  • State v. Walters, 12 So. 3d 298 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
    …ent of restitution to the victim outweighs the need for a prison sentence.” § 921.0026(2)(e), Fla. Stat. (2007). A downward departure based upon this ground requires evidence of the victim’s need, as opposed to a mere preference, State v. Quintanal, 791 So. 2d 23, 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), and the trial court must consider the defendant’s ability to pay, as well as the impact of the plan on the victim. Demoss v. State, 843 So. 2d 309, 312 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003). Because no competent substantial evidence supports t…
  • State v. Adkison, 56 So. 3d 880 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)
    …stantial evidence of the victim’s actual need for restitution. See id. (holding downward departure was inappropriate where the record was void of any evidence indicating the victim had a “pressing need” for restitution); see also State v. Quintanal, 791 So. 2d 23, 24-25 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (reversing downward departure sentence where victims lost approximately $200,000.00 and preferred restitution over incarceration, but no evidence was presented as to victims’ need for restitution); and see State v. Schillac…

Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw