RICHARD CARL GOUDREAU
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Richard Carl Goudreau appeals his five-year prison sentence imposed following revocation of his probation and adjudication of guilt for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The trial court violated Goudreau's right of allocution by affirmatively denying him the opportunity to address the court before sentencing. The appellate court affirmed the probation revocation and guilt adjudication but reversed and remanded for a new sentencing hearing.
The trial court erred by denying Goudreau his right of allocution. The probation revocation and guilt adjudication are affirmed, but the sentence is reversed and the case is remanded for a new sentencing hearing where Goudreau will be permitted to address the court.
[1] A defendant has a constitutional right of allocution under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.720(b) to address the trial court regarding sentencing, and a trial court…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“I've already made my decision on the sentencing. There's really nothing I wish to hear from this point forward.”
Trial court's response when defense counsel stated defendant wished to address the court regarding sentencing.
Goudreau violated his probation and was adjudicated guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. At the violation-of-probation hearing, the tria…
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Appeal from the Circuit Court for Charlotte County; Donald H. Mason, Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Kevin Briggs, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Brooke Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lisa Martin, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, Judge.
Richard Carl Goudreau challenges the five-year prison sentence imposed upon the revocation of his probation and adjudication of guilt of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. At the violation-of-probation hearing, the trial court, upon finding that Goudreau had willfully and substantially violated probation, immediately revoked his probation and imposed sentence. Defense counsel then conferred with Goudreau and stated that Goudreau wanted to address the court regarding sentencing, but the court responded: "I've already made my decision on the sentencing. There's really nothing I wish to hear from this point forward."
On appeal, Goudreau argues, and the State concedes, that the trial court erred in sentencing him without affording him—and, in fact, affirmatively denying him— his right of allocution. We agree. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.720(b); State v. Scott, 439 So. 2d 219, 221 (Fla. 1983); Hodierne v. State, 141 So. 3d 1254, 1255 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014);
Hill v. State, 246 So. 3d 392, 396-97 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018). Accordingly, we affirm the revocation of Goudreau's probation and the judgment adjudicating guilt, but we reverse the resulting sentence and remand for a new sentencing hearing.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; remanded.
CASANUEVA and BADALAMENTI, JJ., Concur.
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Authorities Cited
- State v. Scott, 439 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1983)
- Hill v. State, 246 So. 3d 392 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)
- Hodierne v. State, 141 So. 3d 1254 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)
- McKenzie Leroy Lunsford v. State, 141 So. 3d 1254 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)