LAVELLE DONTAVIOUS CUNNINGHAM
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The appellate court reversed a lower court's denial of a motion to correct sentencing error. The appellant argued that the written judgment imposed duplicative costs and fees that conflicted with the oral pronouncement. The state confessed error, and the appellate court agreed, ordering the duplicative assessments to be stricken.
Yes, the written judgment improperly imposed duplicative costs and fees. The appellate court held that the trial court erred in denying the motion to correct sentencing error because the written judgment conflicted with the oral pronouncement and included duplicative assessments.
[1] A written sentencing order that conflicts with the oral pronouncement of sentence controls, and the oral pronouncement must be followed.
[2] Costs and fees imposed in a written sentencing judgment that are duplicative of previously imposed and outstanding costs and fees must be stricken.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“Where a trial court's written sentencing order conflicts with the oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement controls.”
Establishes the principle that the oral pronouncement of sentence is controlling over a conflicting written order.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe appellant pleaded guilty to violating community control and agreed to specific costs and fees. The trial court orally imposed these amounts. Howev…
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PER CURIAM.
The only issue raised on appeal is appellant's challenge to the denial of his motion to correct sentencing error. Appellant claims costs and fees imposed in the written final judgment are duplicative and conflict with the trial court's oral pronouncement. The state concedes error, and we agree. As such, we reverse and remand for the trial court to strike the duplicative assessments.
Pursuant to a plea for violation of community control, appellant agreed to assessments of $100 for cost of prosecution, a $100 public defender fee, and a $50 public defender application fee. The trial court orally imposed these amounts at sentencing. However, the written final judgment imposed duplicative costs and fees, including two assessments for cost of prosecution in the amounts of $200 and $100, two $100 assessments for public defender fee, and two $50 assessments for public defender application fee. The trial court denied appellant's motion to correct sentencing error, finding that the costs and fees were not duplicative but rather included previous costs and fees from the original sentencing that were still outstanding.
We agree with the state's confession of error and find that the duplicative costs and fees must be stricken. In denying the motion to correct sentencing error, the trial court found that the written judgment incorporated previous costs and fees from the original sentencing order that were still outstanding. However, the court in Chivese v. State, 295 So. 3d 324 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020), rejected this argument. In Chivese, the trial court entered two separate costs judgments: the first when probation was originally imposed and the second when probation was revoked. Id. at 326. In the second cost judgment, the trial court included the amount from the original cost judgment. Id. The Fifth District found that the original cost of prosecution and public defender fees had to be stricken because they were “duplicative of charges imposed in the initial cost judgment entered in the case, which remains outstanding.” Id. Like in Chivese, here the inclusion of previously imposed fees and costs was improper. Additionally, the trial court's written judgment, which imposed duplicative assessments, conflicted with its oral pronouncement, which did not impose duplicative assessments. “Where a trial court's written sentencing order conflicts with the oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement controls.” Santiago v. State, 133 So. 3d 1159, 1167 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).
Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the trial court to strike the $200 cost of prosecution, one of the $100 public defender fees, and one of the $50 public defender application fees. Appellant need not be present for this correction. See Stephenson v. State, 368 So. 3d 5, 6 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023).
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
LEVINE, CONNER and KLINGENSMITH, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Lavelle Dontavious Cunningham v. State (Fla. 4th DCA 2026)
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Stancil v. State, 331 So. 3d 264 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021)
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Elliott Anderson v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2024)
Authorities Cited
- Santiago v. State, 133 So. 3d 1159 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)
- Lavelle Dontavious Cunningham v. State (Fla. 4th DCA 2026)
- Stephenson v. State (Fla. 4th DCA 2023)