DONALD WESLEY VAUSE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2001-12-07
No. 1D00-4668
Allen, C.J., Miner, J., Davis, J.
803 So. 2d 799 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2001) Negative Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Synopsis

Appellant is estopped from challenging his original suspended sentence as violative of Heggs after accepting its benefits and subsequently violating community control.


Holding

A defendant who accepts the benefits of a downward departure suspended sentence is estopped from challenging the validity of that sentence when the unsuspended term is imposed upon violation of supervision.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant who accepts the benefits of a downward departure suspended sentence is estopped from challenging its validity when the unsuspended term is imposed upon violat…

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant received a split sentence of five years suspended, conditioned on successful completion of two years of community control and three years of…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to correct sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a), in which the appellant seeks resentencing under Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000). The appellant’s original sentence was a true split sentence, wherein the entire prison term of five years was suspended provided the appellant successfully complete two years of community control and three years of probation. The trial court entered valid reasons for the downward departure.

The appellant took full advantage of what clearly constituted a downward departure sentence under either the 1995 or the 1994 guidelines. Even if the suspended prison term of the original sentence was in excess of the term provided for under the 1994 guidelines, “[one] who takes advantage of an invalid sentence until he violates community control is es-topped to assert the invalidity of his original sentence.” See Dupree v. State, 708 So. 2d 968, 971 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), quoting Stroble v. State, 689 So. 2d 1089, 1090 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 697 So. 2d 512 (Fla.1997). Thus, having accepted the benefits of the suspended sentence, the appellant is now estopped to challenge the imposition of the unsuspended term as violative of Heggs upon violation of supervision.

AFFIRMED.

ALLEN, C.J., MINER and DAVIS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Ortiz, 79 So. 3d 177 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)
    …the sentence must be vacated. Where a defendant has already served his sentence and he has reaped the benefit of an illegal sentence, he is es-topped from challenging the sentence, especially in the context of a negotiated plea. See Vause v. State, 803 So. 2d 799, 800 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (affirming the denial of the defendant’s motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to rule 3.800(a), finding that because the defendant accepted the benefits of the suspended sentence, he was estopped from challenging t…
  • Stice v. State, 829 So. 2d 1005 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
    …l of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 3.800(a) motion. In accordance with Pantle v. State, 784 So. 2d 1139 [*1006] (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), Stice is entitled to be resentenced under the 1994 guidelines. We certify conflict with Vause v. State, 803 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). Reversed and remanded for resentenc-ing. GREEN, DAVIS and COVINGTON, JJ., concur.…
  • State v. White, 842 So. 2d 257 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
    …4 (Fla.1997); State v. Solomon, 667 So. 2d 937 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Therefore, as a matter of law, such a sentence is treated as a downward departure sentence. See State v. Henriquez, 717 So. 2d 1087, 1097 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); see also Vause v. State, 803 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). Valid reasons must exist for the downward departure. See Powell, 703 So. 2d at 446. Pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.703(d)(30)(A), the court must orally announce the reasons for departure and accompany the ora…

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