TONNY PRESIDENT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Tonny President appeals a trial court order denying post-conviction sentencing relief, challenging a sentence based on erroneously calculated sentencing guidelines. The appellate court previously remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing or clear record evidence, but the trial court again summarily denied relief, prompting reversal.
The court reversed and remanded for either an evidentiary hearing or resentencing, holding that even with the record before it, the trial court could not conclusively demonstrate that the appellant would have received the same sentence using a corrected scoresheet.
[1] A trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing or attach record portions conclusively establishing a defendant's ineligibility for relief when considering a post-convi…
[2] A trial court may not summarily deny relief on a post-conviction sentencing challenge without conducting an evidentiary hearing or attaching record evidence that conclusi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Graham should not be interpreted as holding that whenever a maximum sentence is imposed after an erroneous scoresheet is filed, this establishes that the sentencing court would have imposed the same sentence with a corrected scoresheet.”
Establishes the key legal principle that a maximum sentence alone does not conclusively prove the sentencing judge would impose the same sentence with corrected guidelines.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePresident was convicted of robbery with a firearm and sentenced to life in prison. The sentencing scoresheet erroneously included sixty-nine points fo…
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Tonny President appeals a trial court order entered after remand, pursuant to President v. State, 981 So.2d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). In that case, we directed the trial court to either conduct an evidentiary hearing or attach portions of the record conclusively establishing that appellant was not entitled to relief in a post-conviction sentencing challenge. In his post-conviction challenge appellant claimed that the trial court had erroneously imposed sixty-nine points for convictions which were later reversed and remanded for new trial, and ultimately nolle prossed, and that the trial court would not have imposed the same sentence if the scoresheet were corrected. See State v. Anderson, 905 So.2d 111 (Fla.2005).
On remand, the trial court did not conduct an evidentiary hearing, but rather summarily denied relief once again. The trial judge acknowledged that he was not the judge who had actually sentenced appellant almost seven years earlier, but noted that there was no rule barring him from concluding that the same sentence would have been imposed with a corrected score-sheet. The judge then pointed to the record, which showed that the sentencing judge imposed the maximum penalty of life in prison immediately after the verdict finding appellant guilty of robbery with a firearm. He concluded that this demonstrated that the judge would have imposed the same sentence even with a correct scoresheet, citing by contrast Graham v. State, 920 So.2d 1262 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006).
In Graham, following the defendant’s conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to sell, the trial court sentenced the defendant to 59.925 months in prison, the lowest permissible prison sentence, although the maximum sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to sell, a second degree felony, is fifteen years in prison. We concluded that the record did not conclusively show that the same sentence would have been imposed under a correctly calculated scoresheet. The panel noted that the trial court had imposed the lowest permissible sentence calculated under the Criminal Punishment Code and that it was “not inclined to sentence Graham to the statutory maximum, and as a result, we cannot conclude that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence using a corrected scoresheet.” Id. at 1264. Graham should not be interpreted as holding that whenever a maximum sentence is im*891posed after an erroneous scoresheet is filed, this establishes that the sentencing court would have imposed the same sentence with a corrected scoresheet.
Here, the trial judge ruled that the sentencing judge’s decision to order President’s life sentence to run consecutively to any other sentences he was then serving, and the fact that the sentencing judge made no mention or reference to the guidelines or the scoresheet at sentencing, provided further support for concluding that the sentencing judge would have imposed the same sentence even with a corrected scoresheet. However, the trial judge in this case did not attach any portions of the sentencing transcript to support his ruling, as they were not included in the state’s response attached to the judge’s order. However, even with those attachments, the record would not conclusively demonstrate that appellant would have received the same sentence using a corrected scoresheet.
Because we have already allowed the trial court an opportunity to attach portions of the record to refute appellant’s claim, we reverse and remand for either an evidentiary hearing or resentencing.
Reversed and Remanded with directions.
TAYLOR, HAZOURI and GERBER, JJ., concur.
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Tonny President v. State, 196 So. 3d 532 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)…le 3)850 motion for postconviction relief based on a scorésheet error, and we reversed the denial of that motion and remanded for an evidentiary hearing or resentencing. See President v. State, 981 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); President v. State, 82 So. 3d 889 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). In January [*534] 2012, President was resentenced with a corrected seoresheet to twenty years in prison with a ten-year minimum mandatory sentence. In this amended rule 3.800(a) motion, President claimed that, upon resentencing…
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Tonny President v. State, 197 So. 3d 1151 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)…3.850 motion for postconviction relief based on a score-sheet error, and we reversed the denial of that motion and remanded for an eviden-tiary hearing or resentencing. See President v. State, 981 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); President v. State, 82 So. 3d 889 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). In January 2012, President was resentenced with a corrected scoresheet to twenty years in prison with a ten-year minimum mandatory sentence. After resentencing,- President filed another rule 3.850 motion, alleging that re-sente…
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Owens v. Sec'y, Dep't of Corr. (Hernando County) (M.D. Fla. 2025)…Filed 04/10/25 Page 15 of 22 PageID 548 intent to sell a controlled substance. (Doc. 7-1, Ex. 10, at 2-3). Without the HFO designation, the statutory maximum for each possession count would have been fifteen years' imprisonment. President v. State, 82 So. 3d 889, 890 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). While his direct appeal was pending, Mr. Owens filed a motion to correct sentencing error, arguing that he was improperly sentenced as an HFO on the three possession counts. (Doc. 7-1, Ex. 10). The court granted the motion,…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Anderson, 905 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2005)
- Tonny President v. State, 981 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)
- Cal Graham v. State, 920 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)