DEONTRA R. FRENCH
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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.
Deontra French appeals his manslaughter conviction and ten-year sentence for killing a man at Florida State Hospital. After his appointed counsel filed an initial brief raising only a procedural complaint about a missing written competency order, the appellate court required an Anders brief and independently discovered a sentencing error involving improperly imposed costs. The trial court corrected the sentence, and upon review, the court affirmed the conviction.
The court affirmed French's conviction and the corrected sentence. The sentencing error regarding unpronounced costs has been remedied through the trial court's modification of the sentence, and no other arguable bases for reversal exist in the record.
[1] Costs imposed as part of a criminal sentence must be specifically pronounced at the sentencing hearing; costs not so pronounced are subject to reversal even where the und…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFrench was convicted of manslaughter for beating a man to death at Florida State Hospital and sentenced to ten years in prison. The trial court orally…
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 Appellate Review Of Record cases and more on FLexlaw
June 4, 2018 PER CURIAM.
Deontra French beat a man to death at the Florida State Hospital. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years. This is his appeal.
French’s appointed counsel originally filed an initial brief raising just one issue: that the trial court failed to enter a written order on competency. The same brief acknowledged that the trial court orally ruled French competent to proceed, and the brief did not challenge the correctness of that ruling. The brief did not seek a reversal; it asked only that we require the trial court to put its unchallenged oral ruling into writing.
Because the initial brief sought no relief that would have benefitted French, this court entered an order directing counsel to file an amended initial brief that complied with the obligations outlined in In re Anders Briefs, 581 So. 2d 149, 151 (Fla. 1991). Counsel did so, asserting in the new brief that after a comprehensive review of the record, counsel was unable to make a good faith argument for reversal. We then conducted our own full review, see State v. Causey, 503 So. 2d 321, 323 (Fla. 1987) (“[P]ursuant to Anders, in order to assure indigents fair and meaningful appellate review, the appellate court must examine the record to the extent necessary to discover any errors apparent on the face of the record.”), which led to the discovery of an error regarding costs imposed at sentencing, see Nix v. State, 84 So. 3d 424, 425-26 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (reversing fines imposed pursuant to sections 775.083 and 938.04 because the fines were not specifically pronounced at the sentencing hearing).
Having identified a sentencing error, we entered an order striking the Anders brief and directing counsel to file a rule 3.800 motion to correct the sentence in the lower court. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.140(g)(2)(B). Counsel did so, and the trial court modified the sentence by removing the costs at issue.
The case is now back before us. After completing our review, which turned up no other arguable bases for reversal, we affirm.
AFFIRMED. KELSEY, WINOKUR, and WINSOR, JJ., concur. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________ Melissa J. Ford, Assistant Regional Conflict Counsel, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Julian E. Markham, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. Causey, 503 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 1987)
- In re App. Court Response to Anders Briefs, 581 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 1991)
- NIX v. State, 84 So. 3d 424 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)