Harmless Error Analysis In Sentencing

99 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Scurry v. State
  489 So. 2d 25· Fla.· 1986-06-05 ·cited 221×
  Willie Scurry Jr. challenged his 30-year sentence for second-degree murder, arguing that the trial court improperly relied on invalid reasons to depart from sentencing guidelines. The Florida Supreme Court held that all thirteen reasons given by the trial court were either legall
• State v. Carney
  476 So. 2d 165· Fla.· 1985-08-29 ·cited 119×
  When a departure sentence is based on both permissible and impermissible reasons, it should be reversed and remanded for resentencing unless the state proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the impermissible reasons did not affect the departure.
• Burch v. State
  462 So. 2d 548· Fla. 1st DCA· 1985-01-11 ·cited 80×
  George Burch appeals his sentencing departure from Florida's sentencing guidelines, which imposed two concurrent five-year prison terms instead of the recommended community control or 12-30 months incarceration. The court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing, findin
• Capehart v. State
  583 So. 2d 1009· Fla.· 1991-06-13 ·cited 74×
  Gregory Capehart was convicted of burglary and first-degree murder in the 1988 killing of Marlene Reeves in Dade City, Florida. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and death sentence but vacated the burglary sentence for resentencing under sentencing guidelines.
• United States v. Lane
  738 F.2d 863· 7th Cir.· 1984-07-05 ·cited 55×
  A sentence must be set aside if the defendant shows that false information was part of the basis for the sentence and the sentencing court relied on that misinformation.
• United States v. Urbanek
  930 F.2d 1512· 10th Cir.· 1991-04-23 ·cited 54×
  The court held that the defendant's false statements to IRS investigators, which did not impede the investigation and were recanted, did not constitute obstruction of justice under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1.
• Johnson v. State
  371 So. 2d 556· Fla. 2d DCA· 1979-05-30 ·cited 41×
  Lewis Edward Johnson, Jr., a 17-year-old transferred to adult criminal court, was convicted of sexual battery and sentenced to adult sanctions. The appellate court affirmed the conviction but vacated the sentence because the trial court failed to comply with newly amended statuto
• Scurry v. State
  472 So. 2d 779· Fla. 1st DCA· 1985-06-27 ·cited 30×
  Willie Scurry appeals his 30-year sentence for second-degree murder, which departed from the 12-17 year guideline range. The court affirmed the departure, finding that while some of the trial judge's reasons were impermissible, the valid reasons constituted clear and convincing e
• United States v. Yerks
  918 F.2d 1371· 8th Cir.· 1990-11-21 ·cited 28×
  The court affirmed the conviction and sentence, holding that the district court did not err in admitting other crimes evidence, denying a motion for acquittal, or applying the Sentencing Guidelines.
• Anderson v. State
  865 So. 2d 640· Fla. 2d DCA· 2004-02-13 ·cited 24×
  Jerry Anderson appealed the summary denial of his Rule 3.850 motion challenging his sentencing on a probation violation. The Second District reversed regarding a scoresheet error claim, holding that Anderson was entitled to resentencing unless the record conclusively demonstrated
• Santana v. State
  507 So. 2d 680· Fla. 2d DCA· 1987-05-13 ·cited 24×
  The court held that while one of the four reasons for departure was invalid, the remaining three valid reasons were sufficient to support the sentence, and the state met its burden to show the departure would have occurred regardless.
• Cooper v. State
  902 So. 2d 945· Fla. 4th DCA· 2005-06-08 ·cited 20×
  This case reviews an appeal concerning an improperly calculated sentencing scoresheet. The appellate court affirmed the sentence for one charge but reversed and remanded for resentencing on others due to the scoresheet error.
• Singleton v. State
  620 So. 2d 1038· Fla. 2d DCA· 1993-06-04 ·cited 18×
  Edward Singleton appealed his sentencing for sexual battery and lewd acts on children, challenging the trial court's assignment of victim injury points under Florida's sentencing guidelines. The court reversed and remanded for resentencing because the victims did not suffer actua
• United States v. Lambert
  984 F.2d 658· 5th Cir.· 1993-02-16 ·cited 18×
  A district court must consider each successive criminal history category when departing upward from the guidelines sentence, even for defendants in high criminal history categories, and must provide adequate reasons for the departure.
• Johnson v. State
  583 So. 2d 386· Fla. 1st DCA· 1991-07-23 ·cited 18×
  William Johnson appealed his five-and-one-half-year sentence for armed robbery, challenging the trial court's failure to require corroborating evidence when he disputed a prior grand larceny conviction used in calculating his sentencing guidelines scoresheet. The First District C
• United States v. Ferrera
  746 F.2d 908· 1st Cir.· 1984-09-28 ·cited 18×
  The court held that the evidence was sufficient for conviction, and most of the defendant's challenges to the conviction and restitution order were without merit, except for the $18,000 loan which was not sufficiently proven to be caused by the offense.
• von Carter v. State
  478 So. 2d 1071· Fla.· 1985-11-27 ·cited 16×
  The Florida Supreme Court remanded a sentencing case to the district court for reconsideration under the standard established in State v. Young, which requires reversal and resentencing when a departure sentence relies on both permissible and impermissible reasons unless the stat
• Cruz v. State
  884 So. 2d 105· Fla. 4th DCA· 2004-06-16 ·cited 14×
  A resentencing hearing is necessary when a scoresheet error is corrected, even if the original sentence would be legal under the corrected scoresheet.
• Major Thornton v. State
  683 So. 2d 515· Fla. 2d DCA· 1996-06-12 ·cited 14×
  Major Thornton appealed the denial of his Rule 3.800(a) motion for resentencing after pleading no contest to two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injury or death. The court affirmed the trial court's decision to make his sentences concurrent but reversed in part be
• Terrell v. State
  668 So. 2d 656· Fla. 2d DCA· 1996-02-21 ·cited 14×
  Michael Terrell appealed the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, challenging sentencing scoresheet calculations that he claimed resulted in a sentence that was not actually a downward departure as the trial court believed. The court reversed and remanded, finding
• Carter v. State
  705 So. 2d 582· Fla. 2d DCA· 1997-07-18 ·cited 13×
  A sentencing scoresheet error is not harmless if the record does not conclusively demonstrate the trial court would have imposed the same sentence with a corrected scoresheet.
• Robinson v. State
  530 So. 2d 1085· Fla. 4th DCA· 1988-09-14 ·cited 12×
  The court held that a trial court may depart from sentencing guidelines on resentencing if at least one valid reason for departure was previously articulated and not invalidated, even if other reasons were invalid or not initially stated in writing.
• Bellamy v. State
  712 So. 2d 409· Fla. 2d DCA· 1998-04-24 ·cited 11×
  Eddie Bellamy appealed his conviction for delivery of cocaine and habitual felony offender sentencing. The appellate court affirmed the conviction but reversed the habitual offender sentence due to insufficient proof of the requisite temporal connection between the current and pr
• Landa Williams v. State
  556 So. 2d 799· Fla. 4th DCA· 1990-02-14 ·cited 11×
  The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed Landa Williams's convictions on all counts but found error in the sentencing phase. The court vacated the sentence on Count VI (attempted lewd and lascivious assault) and remanded for resentencing because the combined incarceration and
• Mohn v. State
  723 So. 2d 873· Fla. 2d DCA· 1998-12-09 ·cited 10×
  David Mohn appealed his sentencing for felon in possession of a firearm, challenging the trial court's inclusion of 18 additional points for firearm possession on his guidelines scoresheet. The Florida Supreme Court's decision in White v. State resolved the issue in Mohn's favor,
• Deparvine v. State
  603 So. 2d 679· Fla. 1st DCA· 1992-08-18 ·cited 10×
  William Deparvine appealed his grand theft sentence after being convicted by jury. The court found that the sentencing guidelines scoresheet contained a calculation error that reduced the recommended sentencing range by two cells, requiring vacation of the sentence and remand for
• Davis v. State
  332 So. 3d 970· Fla.· 2021-12-02 ·cited 9×
  A trial court does not violate a defendant's due process or Fifth Amendment rights by considering the defendant's failure to take responsibility when the defendant voluntarily allocutes at sentencing. The statutory maximum sentence in a noncapital case is a legal sentence by virt
• Blair v. State
  201 So. 3d 800· Fla. 4th DCA· 2016-10-05 ·cited 8×
  Glenn Blair appealed his probation revocation sentence, challenging the trial court's assessment of 160 points for sexual penetration on his sentencing guidelines scoresheet. The Fourth District Court of Appeal held that because Blair pled no contest to charges alleging the alter
• Donohue v. State
  979 So. 2d 1058· Fla. 4th DCA· 2008-03-26 ·cited 8×
  The court held that while the trial court erred in enhancing the sentence without a jury finding or admission, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt due to clear and uncontested evidence of the victim's vulnerability.
• United States v. Hall
  977 F.2d 861· 4th Cir.· 1992-09-29 ·cited 8×
  The court held that disparity in sentences imposed on coconspirators is not a valid basis for departure, nor can it be considered in determining the extent of a departure for substantial assistance. The court also held that a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon, committed
• United States v. Johnson
  961 F.2d 1188· 5th Cir.· 1992-05-20 ·cited 8×
  The court held that even if the calculation of criminal history points was erroneous, the error was harmless because it did not affect the sentencing range or the sentence imposed.
• United States v. Williams
  919 F.2d 1451· 10th Cir.· 1990-11-26 ·cited 8×
  A guilty plea is voluntary if the defendant understands the court is not bound by sentencing recommendations, even if attorneys provide an estimated range. Sentencing guideline calculations are reviewed for error, but harmless errors do not warrant reversal.
• Armontrout v. State
  503 So. 2d 984· Fla. 5th DCA· 1987-03-12 ·cited 8×
  Roger Armontrout appeals his conviction for grand theft in the second degree and his sentence. The appellate court affirmed the conviction but reversed the sentence and remanded for resentencing due to errors in the sentencing scoresheet that were not properly adjudicated by the
• Evrard v. State
  502 So. 2d 3· Fla. 4th DCA· 1986-07-09 ·cited 8×
  Karen Evrard appealed her sentencing departure from Florida's guidelines. The trial court imposed a 30-month prison sentence based on three factors: an uncounseled prior conviction, a stale prior conviction, and the defendant's alleged dishonesty to Department of Corrections offi
• Dombrowski v. Mingo
  543 F.3d 1270· 11th Cir.· 2008-10-03 ·cited 6×
  Paul Dombrowski sought federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging a Florida sentencing court's failure to advise him of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before soliciting his admission to prior convictions for habitual offender enhancement. The
• Quinn v. State
  692 So. 2d 988· Fla. 5th DCA· 1997-05-02 ·cited 6×
  Robert Quinn appeals his convictions and sentences in two criminal cases from 1995 and 1996. The appellate court affirmed his convictions and the 1996 sentence but vacated the 1995 sentence because the trial court imposed a 36-month sentence that exceeded the maximum 21.25-month
• United States v. Estrada
  965 F.2d 651· 8th Cir.· 1992-06-01 ·cited 6×
  The court held that even if a sentencing court relies on impermissible factors for an upward departure, the sentence may be affirmed if the court would have imposed the same sentence based on permissible factors and the sentence is reasonable.
• United States v. Said Arefi
  847 F.2d 1003· 2d Cir.· 1988-05-02 ·cited 6×
  The court held that while some technical violations of Fed.R.Crim.P. 32 occurred, a specific misstatement in the presentence report implying involvement in multiple drug transactions was prejudicial and may have influenced the sentence, requiring vacation and remand for resentenc
• Pierce v. State
  281 So. 3d 569· Fla. 5th DCA· 2019-10-11 ·cited 5×
  When a defendant seeks resentencing after a conviction is vacated, the defendant is entitled to resentencing using a recalculated scoresheet, and the 'could have imposed' harmless error standard from Brooks v. State does not apply.
• Kenson Louima v. State
  175 So. 3d 893· Fla. 4th DCA· 2015-09-09 ·cited 5×
  The court held that compelling a defendant to testify at a sentencing hearing violates the Fifth Amendment, and this error was not harmless when the trial court relied on that testimony to impose a Prison Releasee Reoffender sentence.
• Voss v. State
  808 So. 2d 282· Fla. 2d DCA· 2002-03-01 ·cited 5×
  The court held that scoring errors on a defendant's scoresheet cannot be presumed harmless if they place the defendant in a different sentencing cell.
• Knowles v. State
  791 So. 2d 534· Fla. 4th DCA· 2001-07-25 ·cited 5×
  Billy Knowles appealed the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief regarding sentencing guideline scoresheet errors. The court reversed and remanded, holding that the trial court must either prove the scoresheet errors did not affect his sentence or re-sentence him using
• Puzio v. State
  320 So. 3d 684· Fla.· 2021-06-24 ·cited 4×
  A harmful Alleyne error in juvenile sentencing under section 775.082(1)(b)1 requires de novo resentencing pursuant to section 775.082(1)(b)2, not a ministerial correction of the sentence. Resentencing is a new proceeding requiring the full panoply of due process considerations, a
• Quarterman v. State
  670 So. 2d 1169· Fla. 3d DCA· 1996-04-03 ·cited 4×
  Andre Quarterman was sentenced to seventeen years as a habitual felony offender after pleading guilty to burglary under duress of a furlough condition. The appellate court reversed and remanded because the record lacked required findings of fact regarding prior convictions and pr
• United States v. Young
  981 F.2d 180· 5th Cir.· 1992-12-28 ·cited 4×
  The court held that a misapplication of the Sentencing Guidelines, specifically the requirement for a good cause showing for the nondisclosure of confidential informant identities, constituted plain error requiring remand for resentencing.
• Thompson v. State
  265 So. 3d 700· Fla. 4th DCA· 2019-02-27 ·cited 3×
  Although a defendant's designation as a VFOSC is imposed as a matter of law when he violates probation by committing a qualifying offense, the trial court must make written findings considering the statutory factors in section 948.06(8)(e) to determine whether the defendant poses
• Henion v. State
  247 So. 3d 537· Fla. 4th DCA· 2018-05-16 ·cited 3×
  Robert Roy Henion challenged his sentence on the ground that the sentencing scoresheet was improperly calculated, including an additional assault charge that increased the score from 38.10 to 38.30 points. Although the court agreed the scoresheet contained an error, it affirmed t
• United States v. Breshawn Hamilton
  66 F.4th 1267· 11th Cir.· 2023-05-02 ·cited 2×
  The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's sentence, holding that any error in applying a sentencing enhancement was harmless and that the district court adequately explained its sentence, including the term of supervised release.
• Zeno v. State
  330 So. 3d 1048· Fla. 2d DCA· 2021-12-17 ·cited 2×
  The appellate court reversed a lower court's denial of a motion to correct a sentencing scoresheet error. The court found that the scoresheet calculation for one count was incorrect and resulted in an illegal sentence, requiring resentencing on that specific count.
• Richards v. State
  76 So. 3d 29· Fla. 5th DCA· 2011-12-02 ·cited 2×
  John Richards appealed his sentencing on a probation violation, arguing the trial court used an incorrect sentencing guidelines scoresheet. The Florida District Court of Appeal found merit in Richards' argument, vacated his sentence, and remanded for resentencing with a corrected