ANTONIO ZALDIVAR
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A scoresheet error in sentencing is harmless under rule 3.850 when the record conclusively shows the trial court would have imposed the same sentence using a corrected scoresheet, and the manifest injustice exception does not apply to untimely successive post-conviction motions absent rare and exceptional circumstances.
[1] A scoresheet error in sentencing is harmless under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 if the record conclusively demonstrates that the trial court would have impose…
[2] The manifest injustice exception to procedural bars in rule 3.850 post-conviction motions applies only in rare and exceptional circumstances and does not provide a genera…
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“any error is harmless if the record conclusively shows that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence using a corrected scoresheet.”
Court's statement of the applicable harmless error standard for scoresheet errors under rule 3.850, citing Brooks v. State, 969 So. 2d 238, 241 (Fla. 2007).
Zaldivar was sentenced to 204.75 months based on a scoresheet error. Upon learning of the error, the trial court resentenced him to 165.45 months—the …
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Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed December 31, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________
No. 3D24-0379 Lower Tribunal No. F14-12403 ________________
Antonio Zaldivar, Appellant,
vs.
State of Florida, Appellee.
An Appeal under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Andrea R. Wolfson, Judge.
Law Offices of Michelle Walsh, P.A., and Michelle Walsh, for appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Magaly Rodriguez, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Before FERNANDEZ, LINDSEY, and LOBREE, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
2
Antonio Zaldivar appeals the trial court’s order denying in part his motion for post-conviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We affirm. When a defendant raises a scoresheet error pursuant to rule 3.850, “any error is harmless if the record conclusively shows that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence using a corrected scoresheet.” Brooks v. State, 969 So. 2d 238, 241 (Fla. 2007) (emphasis in original); see also State v. Anderson, 905 So. 2d 111, 118 (Fla. 2005) (“Because it is essential for the trial court to have the benefit of a properly calculated scoresheet when deciding upon a sentence, we agree that the would-havebeen-imposed standard should apply to motions filed under rule 3.850 to correct scoresheet error.”). Here, the trial court was clear that it intended to sentence Zaldivar to the bottom of the guidelines. Upon learning of the scoresheet error, the trial court resentenced Zaldivar from 204.75 months to 165.45 months—the bottom of the guidelines. Notably, the 165.45 months re-sentence is exactly what Zaldivar requested in his rule 3.850 motion. Further, we reject Zaldivar’s claim that the trial court’s denial of his request to vacate his plea is manifest injustice. As our sister court has stated:
Cuffy v. State, 190 So. 3d 86, 87 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (emphasis added). Accordingly, we hold that the trial court has committed no error and affirm. Affirmed.
[1] In Adams v. State, we found manifest injustice applied to grant an otherwise untimely 3.850 motion. See 957 So. 2d 1183, 1186–87 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). However, Adams was a rare and exceptional situation where the defendant was serving a life sentence for violating probation by returning merely one half hour later than required, despite his lack of temporal awareness being a documented mental deficit. See id. at 1187. That is not the case here. Zaldivar is not serving a life sentence nor claiming his failure to report back on time after furlough was a result of a mental deficit. Instead, Zaldivar was sentenced for failing to surrender and complete his prison sentence following furlough. Ultimately, he was gone for several months. Cf. id. Further, his motion, is directed at the State’s actions before he entered his guilty plea.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Brooks v. State, 969 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 2007)
- State v. Anderson, 905 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2005)
- Adams v. State, 957 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)
- Johnson Cuffy v. State, 190 So. 3d 86 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)