FREDDIE E. BASS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Freddie Bass appealed the denial of his postconviction relief motion regarding an illegal sentence. The court found that Bass was improperly resentenced to a more onerous sentence than originally orally pronounced, violating his double jeopardy rights, and reversed for correction.
The trial court lacked authority to resentence Bass to a more onerous sentence than orally imposed on June 25, 2000. The court should have only corrected the written sentence to comport with the original oral pronouncement, and the resentencing violated Bass's constitutional double jeopardy protection.
[1] A written sentence must comport with the oral pronouncement of sentence.
[2] A trial court is not authorized to resentence a defendant to a more onerous sentence than that orally imposed due to double jeopardy concerns.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“If Bass was orally sentenced to twelve years in prison without any probation on June 25, 2000, but his written sentence reflected a sentence of twelve years in prison followed by four years' probation, he was entitled to have his written sentence corrected to comport with the oral pronouncement.”
Establishes the principle that written sentences must be corrected to match oral pronouncements
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBass pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and obstructing an officer without violence. On June 25, 2000…
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COVINGTON, Judge.
Freddie E. Bass appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We reverse and remand for correction of sentence.
According to Bass, he entered into a plea agreement with the State whereby he pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and obstructing an officer without violence. On June 25, 2000, the trial court sentenced Bass to twelve years in prison as a habitual felony offender on the robbery count and five years in prison on the possession of cocaine count. On the remaining two counts, the trial court sentenced Bass to time served.
In the instant motion, Bass alleged that on May 8, 2001, he filed a motion to correct illegal sentence because his written sentence on the robbery count reflected a four-year probationary portion to follow the twelve years in prison, and the probationary portion was not orally pronounced at the June 25, 2000, sentencing hearing. In response to the May 8, 2001, motion, the trial court conducted a hearing on September 24, 2001, and resentenced Bass to twelve years in prison followed by two years’ probation. In the instant motion, Bass claimed that his counsel for the September 24, 2001, hearing was ineffective for allowing him to be sentenced to twelve years in prison followed by two years’ probation. Bass argued that the purpose of the September 24, 2001, hearing was to simply correct his written sentence to reflect the June 25, 2000, oral pronouncement of sentence.
Although he framed his claim as one of ineffective assistance of counsel, Bass more properly alleged a claim of illegal sentence. See Brinson v. State, 851 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). If Bass was orally sentenced to twelve years in prison without any probation on June 25, 2000, but his written sentence reflected a sentence of twelve years in prison followed by four years’ probation, he was entitled to have his written sentence corrected to comport with the oral pronouncement. See Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 2003); Hunter v. State, 846 So. 2d 1227 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). The trial court was not authorized, however, to bring Bass back to court to resentence him to a more onerous sentence than that orally imposed on June 25, 2000, because such a resentencing violated Bass’s constitutional right against double jeopardy. See Ashley, 850 So. 2d at 1267. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the trial court to-resen-tence Bass to twelve years in prison on the robbery count as orally imposed by the trial court on June 25, 2000.
Reversed and remanded.
STRINGER and KELLY, JJ., Concur.
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Thomas v. State, 921 So. 2d 657 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)…sentence after a defendant has begun serving it. See Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265, 1267 (Fla.2003); Pearson, 789 So. 2d at 319-20; King v. State, 913 So. 2d 758 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005); Pate v. State, 908 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005); Bass v. State, 869 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). While there are exceptions to this rule, such as the trial court’s right to increase a sentence when the original sentence was induced by a fraudulent act, see Goene v. State, 577 So. 2d 1306, 1308 (Fla.1991), the exceptions woul…
Authorities Cited
- Columbus Rickey Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 2003)
- Brinson v. State, 851 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- Armstrong v. State, 846 So. 2d 1227 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- Hunter v. State, 846 So. 2d 1227 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)