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Tolbert v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Aug 20, 1997
698 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997)

Summary

holding trial court must comply with procedures in imposing discretionary costs pursuant to section 939.01

Summary of this case from Moultrie v. State

Opinion

Case No. 96-00209

Opinion filed August 20, 1997. Rehearing Denied September 18, 1997.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Bob Anderson Mitcham, Judge.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Tosha Cohen, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Ronald Napolitano, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.


In this appeal, the defendant, Patrick Tolbert, raises two challenges to the sentences imposed for his three convictions of battery on a law enforcement officer. We find no merit to his claim that certain prior convictions should not have been scored on his sentencing guidelines scoresheet because they were based on allegedly involuntary pleas. Challenges to the voluntariness of a plea must be made by the timely filing of a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.

The defendant also asserts that two discretionary costs must be stricken because, even though the written sentence includes the proper statutory citations, the costs were not orally announced. However, the defendant agreed to pay court costs as part of his written plea agreement and, therefore, waived any objection to the imposition of discretionary costs without oral announcement. See Rodriguez v. State, 684 So.2d 864, 865 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Spence v. State, 667 So.2d 430, 431 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996).

Although not addressed by the parties, our review of the record reveals that the defendant was ordered to pay $110 for "prosecution/investigative" costs pursuant to section 939.01, Florida Statutes (1995). The State made no request for such costs, nor was there any documentation offered to support the assessment. The defendant's agreement to pay statutory costs does not alleviate the trial court's obligation to impose these costs in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 939.01. A trial court has no authority to impose prosecution and investigative costs absent a request and documentation. To do so constitutes an illegal sentence. See Bisson v. State, 22 Fla. L. Weekly D1649 (Fla. 5th DCA July 3, 1997); Mickler v. State, 682 So.2d 607, 609 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Reyes v. State, 655 So.2d 111, 119 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) (en banc).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment and sentence and strike the prosecution and investigative costs. These costs may be reimposed upon remand provided the requirements of section 939.01 are met. See Mickler, 682 So.2d at 609-610.

DANAHY, A.C.J., and SCHOONOVER and FULMER, JJ., Concur.


Summaries of

Tolbert v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Aug 20, 1997
698 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997)

holding trial court must comply with procedures in imposing discretionary costs pursuant to section 939.01

Summary of this case from Moultrie v. State

holding trial court must comply with procedures in imposing discretionary costs pursuant to section 939.01, Florida Statutes, notwithstanding plea agreement purporting to waive objections to costs

Summary of this case from Patterson v. State
Case details for

Tolbert v. State

Case Details

Full title:PATRICK TOLBERT, APPELLANT, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District

Date published: Aug 20, 1997

Citations

698 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997)

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