STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
MEYAWN WILLIAMS, APPELLEE
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.
A trial court's oral pronouncement of reasons for a downward departure sentence controls over any written statement, and written reasons alone cannot support a departure.
The State appealed a downward departure sentence imposed after the Appellee pled no contest to charges. The Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet recomm…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
In the case before us the State is appealing the imposition of a downward departure sentence that was imposed after Appellee pled no contest to charges in several cases. We reverse.
Appellee’s Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet recommended a lowest permissible sentence of 74.7 months’ imprisonment, but the trial court sentenced Ap-pellee to concurrent terms of 60 months’ imprisonment. “Pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.703(d)(30)(A), the court must orally announce the reasons for departure and accompany the oral pronouncement with a written statement, outlining those reasons.” State v. White, 842 So. 2d 257 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003).
At the sentencing hearing, the trial court failed to announce the reasons for the departure sentence. In response to Appellee’s motion to correct a sentencing error, the trial court did file written reasons to support the sentence. However, written reasons alone cannot support a departure sentence. It is a longstanding principle that a court’s oral pronouncement controls over any written sentencing document. Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265, 1268 (Fla.2003). Additionally, trial courts are not permitted to go behind the oral pronouncement to correct sentencing mistakes. Cf. id. (reversing the defendant’s habitual violent felony offender sentence because the trial court failed to pronounce such a sentence even though it was reflected in the written judgment and sentence); State v. Williams, 712 So. 2d 762 (Fla.1998) (holding that special conditions of probation must be orally pronounced at sentencing in order to be included in the written probation order).
Because the trial court failed to provide oral reasons for the departure, it was error for the trial court to impose a downward departure sentence. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing.
REVERSED and REMANDED for re-sentencing.
ERVIN and BOOTH, JJ., and SMITH, LARRY G., Senior Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Douglas v. State, 140 So. 3d 691 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)…indicates that the trial court orally imposed a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment for this offense, but no probation. It is a longstanding principle that a court’s oral pronouncement controls over any written sentencing document. State v. Williams, 870 So. 2d 207 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (citing Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265, 1268 (Fla.2003)). The appellant does not need to be present for the correction of this clerical error. See Knight v. State, 114 So. 3d 1067 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013). AFFIRMED but REMANDED to…
-
Byrd v. State, 182 So. 3d 889 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)…has attached a copy of the sentencing hearing transcript in the underlying case, which indicates the trial court convicted him of misdemeanor petit theft, but not robbery. The oral pronouncement prevails over the written judgment. State v. Williams, 870 So. 2d 207 (Fla. 1st-DCA 2004). The state concedes that the postconviction court has not conclusively refuted this claim. We therefore reverse and' remand for theiower court to either attach the portion of the record that conclusively refutes the claim, or t…
-
Carter v. State (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)
Authorities Cited
- Columbus Rickey Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 2003)
- State v. Chuck Junior Williams, 712 So. 2d 762 (Fla. 1998)
- M.L. v. State, 842 So. 2d 257 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)