BRANDI JENKINS
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.
A trial court has discretion to impose a sentence less than the full suspended sentence upon revocation of community control, and the court's knowing exercise of that discretion by choosing to impose the full sentence is not reversible error.
[1] Upon revocation of community control or probation, a suspended sentence acts as a cap on sentencing authority, and the trial court retains discretion to impose any senten…
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 intelligence“a suspended sentence merely acts as a cap on the sentencing court, and it is not required to impose the suspended sentence in the event of a violation of community control or probation”
Court explaining the nature of suspended sentences and sentencing discretion upon violation
Jenkins received a five-year suspended prison sentence for burglary of a conveyance and a consecutive two-year suspended sentence for felony petit the…
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 Specific Instances Of Conduct cases and more on FLexlaw
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FIFTH DISTRICT
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED
BRANDI JENKINS,
Appellant,
v. Case No. 5D18-2706
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
________________________________/
Opinion filed May 31, 2019
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Citrus County, Richard A. Howard, Judge.
James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Kevin R. Holtz, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lori N. Hagan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM.
Following a nonjury trial, the defendant, Brandi Jenkins, was found by the court to have willfully and materially violated the terms of her community control. Jenkins had previously received a five-year prison sentence for burglary of a conveyance and a consecutive two-year prison sentence for felony petit theft, with both sentences
2 suspended conditioned upon Jenkins successfully completing her community control. The trial court revoked Jenkins’s community control and sentenced her to serve the full suspended sentence.
Jenkins’s sole argument on appeal is that the trial court failed to understand that it had the discretion not to impose the entire suspended sentence once it revoked her community control. Jenkins is correct that a suspended sentence merely acts as a cap on the sentencing court, and it is not required to impose the suspended sentence in the event of a violation of community control or probation. See Harvey v. State, 156 So. 3d 583, 585 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015). The court retains the discretion and authority to impose any sentence that it could otherwise have imposed. Id.
Subsequently to filing her notice of appeal, Jenkins filed a motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2), asserting that the trial court had committed an error in sentencing by failing to recognize its discretion to impose a sentence that was less than the aggregate seven-year suspended sentence. In timely denying the motion, the court acknowledged Jenkins’s argument and its discretion in sentencing, but it nevertheless declined to reconsider and modify the sentence. Thus, because it appears that the trial court was aware of its authority and discretion to have imposed less than the full suspended sentence, but simply declined to do so, we affirm the order revoking community control and the resulting judgment and sentence.
AFFIRMED.
LAMBERT, EISNAUGLE and HARRIS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Harvey v. State, 156 So. 3d 583 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)
- Amiri T. Lundy v. State, 156 So. 3d 583 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)