CLIMMIE TARLBERT, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Climmie Tarlbert appeals the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence based on unconstitutional sentencing guidelines. The court reverses and remands, holding that Tarlbert's crimes fall within the window period for challenging the guidelines under Heggs v. State, but the State retains the option to retry him on original charges or resentence him under the prior guidelines.
Tarlbert has sufficiently alleged that his crimes fall within the Heggs window period (October 1, 1995 to May 24, 1997) and that application of the 1995 guidelines resulted in a departure sentence compared to the 1994 guidelines, thus meeting Heggs's two-prong test for relief. However, because Tarlbert's original sentence resulted from a plea agreement, the State retains the option on remand to either proceed to trial on the original charges or agree to resentence Tarlbert under the 1994 guidelines.
[1] A defendant seeking collateral relief based on the unconstitutional application of sentencing guidelines may do so if the crime falls within the window period and the app…
[2] The window period for challenging sentencing guidelines under Heggs v. …
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“Pursuant to Heggs, a defendant seeking collateral relief may do so if he can allege that the crime for which a sentence was received falls within the window period and that the application of the unconstitutional statute resulted in the imposition of a departure sentence.”
Establishes the two-prong test for illegal sentence relief under Heggs v. State
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTarlbert was charged in October 1996 with robbery, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to aggr…
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SAWAYA, J.
Climmie Tarlbert appeals the order denying his rule 3.800(a) motion to correct an illegal sentence. We reverse and remand for further proceedings in light of the supreme court’s ruling in Trapp v. State, 760 So. 2d 924 (Fla.2000), the benefit of which the trial court lacked when ruling on Tarl-bert’s motion.
Tarlbert was charged with the October 1996 offenses of robbery, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault. Based on a negotiated plea agreement, Tarlbert was sentenced to a 65-month term of incarceration pursuant to the 1996 sentencing guidelines in exchange for a guilty plea to the crime of aggravated assault with a firearm. Tarlbert filed a rule 3.800(a) motion alleging that this sentence is illegal based on Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000). Pursuant to Heggs, a defendant seeking collateral relief may do so if he can allege that the crime for which a sentence was received falls within the window period and that the application of the unconstitutional statute resulted in the imposition of a departure sentence. At the time the trial court denied Tarlbert’s motion, the closing date of the window period had not been defined by the supreme court. We now know, pursuant to Trapp, that the window period for challenging the sentencing guidelines opened on October 1, 1995, and closed on May 24, 1997. Trapp, 760 So. 2d at 928. Tarlbert’s offenses, committed in October 1996, fall squarely within the window period.
Not only has Tarlbert sufficiently alleged that his crimes were committed within the window period, Tarlbert also asserted that the sentence he received under the 1995 guidelines could not have been imposed under the 1994 guidelines absent an upward departure. Specifically, he alleged that if he had been sentenced under the 1994 guidelines, he would have been sentenced to a maximum of 48.25 months. To support these allegations, he provided copies of both the 1994 and 1995 scoresheets. Therefore, Tarlbert has met Heggs’s two-prong test.
Although Tarlbert is clearly entitled to seek relief under Heggs, Tarlbert is not entitled to automatic resentencing under the 1994 guidelines because his original sentence was the result of a plea agreement. The State apparently dropped and or reduced the additional charges against Tarlbert in exchange for his plea to aggravated assault.1 Where a defendant is entitled to relief under Heggs, but his original sentence was the result of a plea agreement, the state has the option on remand of proceeding to trial on the original charges or electing to have the defendant resentenced under the 1994 sentencing guidelines.
Accordingly, the order appealed is reversed. The case is remanded with the direction that the State be given the option of proceeding to trial on all of the original charges or agreeing to have the sentence vacated and Tarlbert resentenced under the 1994 sentencing guidelines.
REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions.
THOMPSON, C.J., and PETERSON, J., concur. . Although the record does not contain a transcript of the plea dialogue or a copy of a written plea, the State agrees in its response that Tarlbert was sentenced pursuant to the 1995 guidelines. Moreover, the 1995 guideline scoresheet, which has been placed in the record, supports the assertion by both Tarl-bert and the State that a 1995 guideline sentence was contemplated by the plea.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Wallen v. State, 877 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…ate, 862 So. 2d 28 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (holding where illegal sentence was imposed pursuant to plea bargain, state must be given option of-either agreeing to re-sentencing to legal sentence or proceed to trial on original charges); Tarlhert v. State, 766 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000) (holding where defendant received illegal sentence under unconstitutional guidelines pursuant to a plea bargain, state has option of proceeding to trial or agreeing to have legal sentence imposed); Clay v. State, 750 So. 2d 153 (…
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Hall v. State, 789 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…the effective guideline had appellant not negotiated his plea. Once the 1995 guideline was held unconstitutional so that the 1994 guideline would have been the one to consider, appellant asked to be resentenced under Heggs. In Tarlbert v. State, 766 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000), we granted relief in a similar case remanding to the trial court to determine whether the negotiated sentence was entered based on the 1995 guideline or was independent of it. If the agreed sentence was based on the 1995 guideli…
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Cernak v. State, 998 So. 2d 1214 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)…he State shall also be allowed to withdraw from the plea agreement if the resentencing court intends to honor Mr. Cernak’s understanding that he should receive for the three cases the “same sentence” as the first case. See [*1217] Tarlbert v. State, 766 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000) (holding that the defendant was entitled to seek collateral relief from an illegal sentence under Heggs, but because the original sentence was the result of a plea bargain, the State had the option on remand of proceeding to tria…
Authorities Cited
- Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000)
- Xzavier Trapp v. State, 760 So. 2d 924 (Fla. 2000)