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State v. Conte

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District
Feb 10, 1995
650 So. 2d 192 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995)

Summary

reversing 10-year sentence which trial court suspended conditioned upon defendant's successful completion of two years community control, followed by five years probation

Summary of this case from State v. Davis

Opinion

No. 94-1303.

February 10, 1995.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Orange County, John H, Adams, Sr., J.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Ann M. Childs, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellant.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and S.C. Van Voorhees, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellee.


This is an appeal from a downward departure sentence.

Appellee was convicted of robbery with a firearm. This is a first degree felony punishable by life imprisonment. Based upon the sentencing guidelines scoresheet, appellee faced a recommended range of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years imprisonment and the judge was permitted to sentence within a range of 2 1/2 to 5 1/2 years imprisonment.

The judge sentenced appellee to ten years imprisonment, an unauthorized upward departure, from which appellee waived the right to appeal, and "suspended" that sentence on the condition that she spend two years in community control, followed by five years probation. The latter sentence is a downward departure.

The state appeals the downward departure because the reasons given are not legally adequate. While we agree we are not convinced that the reasons given are substantial enough to warrant the departure, see Corum v. State, 484 So.2d 102 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), we are more impressed with the fact that this innovative sentence is violative of Poore v. State, 531 So.2d 161 (Fla. 1988). Poore held

. . . a judge has five basic sentencing alternatives in Florida: (1) a period of confinement; (2) a "true split sentence" consisting of a total period of confinement with a portion of the confinement period suspended and the defendant placed on probation for that suspended portion; (3) a "probationary split sentence" consisting of a period of confinement, none of which is suspended, followed by a period of probation; (4) a Villery sentence, consisting of period of probation preceded by a period of confinement imposed as a special condition; and (5) straight probation.
Id. at 164. The sentence here, as was the sentence in State v. Manning, 605 So.2d 508 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992), must be vacated because it is not an alternative permitted by Poore.

SENTENCE VACATED; REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.

COBB and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

State v. Conte

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District
Feb 10, 1995
650 So. 2d 192 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995)

reversing 10-year sentence which trial court suspended conditioned upon defendant's successful completion of two years community control, followed by five years probation

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

State v. Conte

Case Details

Full title:STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT, v. TERRI ANN CONTE, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District

Date published: Feb 10, 1995

Citations

650 So. 2d 192 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995)

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