ROBERT CLEVELAND HARDEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1974-03-05
No. T-347
JOHNSON, J., concurs., SPECTOR, Acting C. J., dissenting.
290 So. 2d 551 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1974) Positive Treatment
Cited by 23 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Harden appeals his four-year sentencing for forgery, challenging whether the trial court violated Florida criminal procedure rules by imposing sentence without first obtaining a presentence investigation report and Parole Commission recommendations. The court holds that Rule 3.710 mandatorily requires such investigation and consideration before sentencing a first-time felony offender, regardless of whether defense counsel requested it.


Holding

The sentence is illegal and must be vacated. Rule 3.710 mandatorily requires that no sentence other than probation may be imposed on a first-time felony offender until after a presentence investigation has been made and the Parole Commission's recommendations have been received and considered by the sentencing judge. This requirement cannot be waived by defense counsel's failure to request it.


Headnotes

[1] A sentence imposed on a defendant found guilty of a first felony offense is illegal if the trial court fails to obtain and consider the recommendations of the Parole Comm…

[2] A trial court must conduct a presentence investigation and receive and consider the Parole Commission's recommendations before imposing a sentence on a defendant found gu…

Previewing 2 of 4 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

Key Quotes

“No sentence or sentences other than probation shall be imposed on any defendant found guilty of a first felony offense or found guilty of a felony while under the age of 18 years, until after such investigation has first been made and the recommendations of the commission received and considered by the sentencing judge.”

The mandatory language of Rule 3.710 establishing the requirement for presentence investigation and consideration of Parole Commission recommendations before sentencing first-time felony offenders.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Harden entered a nolo contendere plea to forgery. At sentencing, he testified about his prior record: six months incarceration for petit larceny in 19…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
BOYER, Judge.

BOYER, Judge.

We have for review a sentence imposed by the trial judge without first receiving and considering recommendations of the Parole Commission after a presentence investigation in accordance with Rule 3.710, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 33 F.S.A. After entering a plea of nolo contendere to the offense of forgery the defendant testified before the trial judge that he had served six months in 1967 for petit larceny, thirty days for shoplifting in 1967 and that he was fined $25.00 for possession of marijuana in 1970. The defendant further related to the court that he was on a methadone program .in relation to a drug problem since returning from Vietnam. The judge then asked the defendant if he had any legal cause to show why sentence should not then be imposed to which appellant replied: “No, sir.” A sentence of four years at hard labor was immediately imposed.

The sole point on this appeal is whether the sentence imposed was illegal because of the trial court’s failure, before sentencing, to receive and consider the recommendations of the Parole Commission following a presentence investigation.

There is no suggestion that the defendant had any prior felony record and he was over 18 years of age.

The State urges -that appellant’s counsel had an opportunity to request a presen-tence investigation and an opportunity to object to the sentencing without the court having first ordered a presentence investigation and that having failed to do so the defendant had now waived that right. While our sympathies are with that position, nevertheless, the rule is clear and unambiguous and appears to be to the contrary.

It is not our prerogative to pass upon the desirability of the rule nor the logic behind its adoption. We are not unaware of the burdens imposed by the rule upon the harried trial judge, over-worked Parole Commission, and an over-burdened taxpaying public which must bear the brunt of the ultimate expense of all; but those are not the issues before us.

The rule in question clearly and specifically and mandatorily provides that:

“No sentence or sentences other than probation shall be imposed on any defendant found guilty of a first felony offense or found guilty of a felony while under the age of 18 years, until after such investigation has first been made and the recommendations of the commission received and considered by the sentencing judge.” (Emphasis added.)

Clearer language could hardly have been found by the scriyener of that rule. It clearly and specifically prohibits the imposition of a sentence on any defendant found guilty of a first felony offense until: (a) after a presentence investigation has first been made and (b) the recommendations of the commission received and considered by the sentencing judge.

In the case sub judice there was no evidence before the trial judge that the defendant had been found guilty of any prior felony offense and it is admitted that there was no presentence investigation and therefore no recommendations of the commission received or considered by the sentencing judge.

Accordingly, the sentence imposed upon the appellant is vacated and set aside and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith and consistent with the requirements of Rule 3.710, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.

JOHNSON, J., concurs.

SPECTOR, Acting C. J., dissenting.

Dissent
SPECTOR, Acting Chief Judge

SPECTOR, Acting Chief Judge

(dissenting) :

I respectfully dissent from the decision of the majority herein. In my view, the trial court’s failure to request a presen-tence investigation prior to imposition of sentence, as required by Florida Criminal Procedure Rule 3.710, was harmless error when it appears from the record that appointed defense counsel was present at the sentencing and did not object to the imposition of sentence when the court made inquiry.

It seems contrary to the spirit and intent of the harmless error statute, as well as the well recognized rule that a party will not be heard on appeal to complain of rulings to which he did not object at trial.

There is no contention by appellant that a presentence investigation report would have revealed circumstances that would tend to affect the trial court’s determination of sentence. In absence of such a contention, I fail to see how appellant has been prejudiced by noncompliance with Rule 3.710.

Accordingly, I dissent on authority of State v. Jones, 204 So. 2d 515 (Fla.1967).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (12 total)

  • Lenson Hargrave v. State, 366 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1978)
    …ndations of the Commission received and considered by the sentencing judge. The rule clearly requires a judge to order a presentence investigation report in all cases where a defendant has not previously been convicted of a felony. Harden v. State, 290 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974); Mitchum v. State, 292 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974); Still v. State, 296 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974); Nordone v. State, 307 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1975); Lopes v. State, 309 So. 2d 591 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1975); Buckles v. State,…
  • Guzman v. State, 350 So. 3d 72 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022)
    …aive the right to a PSI simply because defense counsel “had an opportunity to request a presentence investigation and an opportunity to object to the sentencing without the court having first ordered a presentence investigation.” Harden v. State, 290 So. 2d 551, 551 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). Similarly, in White v. State, 271 So. 3d 1023, 1026 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019), we held that the defendant was entitled to resentencing where the trial court’s error in failing to consider a mandatory PSI “was preserved in [the d…
  • Mitchum v. State, 292 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974)
    …in the record of the present case to reflect that the appellant is anything but a first offender. Therefore, a presen-tence report should have been conducted. This Court had occasion to consider a similar situation in Harden v. State, Fla.App.1974, 290 So. 2d 551. There we said: “The State urges that appellant’s counsel had an opportunity to request a presen-tence investigation and an opportunity to object to the sentencing without the court having first ordered a presentence investigation and that having f…

Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw