Summary
reversing the defendant's sentence in an Anders appeal because the circuit court increased the original sentence a day after it was imposed
Summary of this case from Poole v. StateOpinion
Case No. 1D02-2449.
Opinion filed May 29, 2003. Rehearing Denied June 11, 2003.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County. Frank L. Bell, Judge.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and P. Douglas Brinkmeyer, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Charlie Crist, Attorney General, and James W. Rogers, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
This appeal is brought pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Our independent review of the record revealed no reversible errors up to the point that the appellant's probation was revoked and a prison sentence imposed. However, at sentencing, the trial court orally sentenced the appellant to three years' imprisonment. The next day, the trial court announced that it had made a mistake when it imposed only three years, and stated that it had intended to impose five years. Despite the appellant's contemporaneous objection on double jeopardy grounds, the appellant's sentence was increased.
Although we affirm the revocation of probation, we reverse the new sentence because a judge may not increase a legal sentence once the sentence has begun to be served. See Ashley v. State, 28 Fla. L. Weekly S18 (Fla. January 9, 2003). We remand with instructions to the trial court to reinstate the original, orally-pronounced sentence.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
BOOTH, VAN NORTWICK, and HAWKES, JJ., CONCUR.