MICHAEL HIGHTOWER
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Convictions and sentences are affirmed, but the case is remanded to correct clerical errors in the judgment regarding an improper investigative cost assessment and the incorrect notation of guilty plea instead of jury conviction.
[1] An investigative cost assessment may not be imposed unless requested by the State.
[2] A judgment must accurately reflect whether a defendant was convicted by jury verdict or guilty plea.
Previewing 2 of 2 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“we affirm, without further discussion, the convictions and sentences imposed by the trial court upon Appellant after a jury trial. However, we remand with directions to the trial court to correct two clerical errors in its second amended judgment and sentence.”
The court's statement of disposition in an Anders appeal
Hightower was convicted by jury trial in Putnam County Circuit Court and sentenced. The trial court's second amended judgment and sentence contained t…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
Case No. 5D2024-2269 LT Case No. 2021-CF-001304 _____________________________
MICHAEL HIGHTOWER, JR.
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee. _____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Putnam County. Alicia R. Washington, Judge.
Michael C. Nappi, Chief Assistant Regional Counsel, of Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, 5th District, Casselberry, for Appellant.
Michael Hightower, Jr., Lake City, pro se.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Stephen R. Putnam, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
October 10, 2025
PER CURIAM.
2 In this Anders1 appeal, we affirm, without further discussion, the convictions and sentences imposed by the trial court upon Appellant after a jury trial. However, we remand with directions to the trial court to correct two clerical errors in its second amended judgment and sentence.
First, we direct the court to strike from the judgment the $100 assessment for investigative costs as these were not requested by the State. See Richards v. State, 288 So. 3d 574, 576–77 (Fla. 2020).
Second, the judgment inadvertently shows that Appellant pleaded guilty to the crimes for which he stands convicted instead of showing that he was tried and found, by the jury, to be guilty of the crimes.
AFFIRMED; REMANDED with directions.
JAY, C.J., and LAMBERT and SOUD, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- Richards v. State, 288 So. 3d 574 (Fla. 2020)