JAMES C. HOAG, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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James Hoag challenged his 1994 sentencing guidelines scoresheet, alleging it contained errors that resulted in an illegal sentence. The court found that his additional offense of attempted second-degree murder was incorrectly scored as level 9 instead of level 8, resulting in a sentence that exceeded the maximum permissible under the correct scoresheet.
The court held that the scoresheet error was not harmless because the trial court could not have imposed the 28.1-year sentence using a correct scoresheet reflecting a maximum guidelines sentence of twenty-eight years, and therefore Hoag is entitled to resentencing using a corrected scoresheet.
[1] Errors in offense-level scoring on a guidelines scoresheet are cognizable in a motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a).
[2] A scoresheet error is harmless if the trial court could have imposed the same sentence using a correct scoresheet.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“if the trial court could have imposed the same sentence using a correct scoresheet, any error was harmless.”
Establishes the harmless error standard for scoresheet errors in sentencing
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHoag was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, receiving concurrent sentences of 28.1 years and fifteen years. His sco…
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In a motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a), James C. Hoag alleged that numerous errors appearing on his 1994 guidelines scoresheet resulted in an illegal sentence. We reverse the postconviction court’s or*908der summarily denying Mr. Hoag’s motion to the extent that it denied relief on his claim that the severity level of an additional offense was incorrectly scored. The order is affirmed in all other respects without comment.
Mr. Hoag was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 28.1 years and fifteen years, respectively. On his 1994 guidelines scoresheet for the primary offense of second-degree murder, the offense of attempted second-degree murder was listed as an additional offense and scored as a level 9 offense for 10.8 points. However, under the applicable statutes and rules and as apparent on the face of the scoresheet, the offense of attempted second-degree murder should have been scored as a level 8 offense for 9.6 points. See §§ 777.04(1), 782.04(2), 921.0012(3)©, Fla. Stat. (1995); Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.702(c) & (d)(6), 3.990; see also Hoag v. State, 801 So.2d 207 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). As a result, 1.2 points were erroneously added to Mr. Hoag’s score-sheet total.
As originally scored, Mr. Hoag’s total sentencing points equaled 298, resulting in a recommended state prison sentence of 270 months, with a permissible sentencing range between 202.5 and 337.5 months. For the primary offense of second-degree murder, Mr. Hoag was sentenced to the maximum 337.5 months or 28.1 years. Had the additional offense of attempted second-degree murder been scored correctly, Mr. Hoag’s total sentencing points would have been 296.8, with a maximum permissible sentence of 336 months or twenty-eight years. Thus Mr. Hoag’s sentence for second-degree murder exceeded the maximum permissible sentence by 0.1 years.
Errors in offense-level scoring are cognizable in a rule 3.800(a) motion. See Herrmann v. State, 768 So.2d 511 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). However, “if the trial court could have imposed the same sentence using a correct scoresheet, any error was harmless.” Brooks v. State, 969 So.2d 238, 243 (Fla.2007). When a defendant is sentenced to the maximum guidelines sentence, a scoresheet error that improperly adds sentencing points to the total requires resentencing using a corrected scoresheet. See Mitchell v. State, 880 So.2d 1261, 1262 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (“[T]he scoresheet error resulted in the imposition of a sentence that could not have been imposed — absent a departure-under a correct scoresheet.... Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the trial court to resentence Mitchell under a corrected scoresheet.”); see also Pantle v. State, 784 So.2d 1139 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).
In this case, the scoresheet error was not harmless because the trial court could not have imposed a 28.1-year sentence using a correct scoresheet reflecting a maximum guidelines sentence of twenty-eight years.1 Accordingly, Mr. Hoag is entitled to be resentenced using a corrected scoresheet scoring the additional offense of attempted second-degree murder as a level 8 offense.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
ALTENBERND and CASANUEVA, JJ., Concur.
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Perez v. State, 20 So. 3d 440 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)…cted scoresheet unless the trial court imposed an upward departure sentence with the accompanying written reasons. [*443] Under such circumstances, if established, the alleged scoresheet error requires correction and resentencing. See Hoag v. State, 12 So. 3d 907, 908 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (reversing denial of 3.800(a) motion and noting that “[w]hen a defendant is sentenced to the maximum guidelines sentence, a scoresheet error that improperly adds sentencing points to the total requires resentencing using a co…
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Gautreaux v. State, 95 So. 3d 1012 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)…efendant is entitled to relief based on a scoresheet error that is raised in a rule 3.800(a) motion is whether the same sentence could have been imposed using a corrected scoresheet. Brooks v. State, 969 So. 2d 238, 243 (Fla.2007). In Hoag v. State, 12 So. 3d 907 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009), this court reviewed the denial of Hoag’s rule 3.800(a) motion wherein he claimed error in his 1994 sentencing guidelines scoresheet. This court, citing Brooks, reversed and remanded for resentencing under a corrected scoresheet b…
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Speights v. State, 102 So. 3d 671 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)…injury given that such injury is not an essential element of any of the offenses of conviction, the 120 points must be deleted from the “Penetration or slight injury” line of Speights’ scoresheet and Speights must be resentenced.5 See Hoag v. State, 12 So. 3d 907, 908 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (“When a defendant is sentenced to the maximum guidelines sentence, a scoresheet error that improperly adds sentencing points to [*674] the total requires resentencing using a corrected scoresheet.”).6 We do note that in cer…
Authorities Cited
- Brooks v. State, 969 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 2007)
- Toney Mitchell v. State, 880 So. 2d 1261 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
- Pantle v. State, 784 So. 2d 1139 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
- Manning v. State, 801 So. 2d 207 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
- Hoag v. State, 801 So. 2d 207 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
- Herrmann v. State, 768 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)