Florida District Courts of Appeal, 1990

Berry v. State

Berry v. State
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided April 17, 1990 · Baskin, Ferguson, Gersten
561 So. 2d 330; 1990 Fla. App. LEXIS 2577; 1990 WL 45506 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Berry v. State

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

Where a defendant was in a position of familial authority and by virtue of that authority a special trust existed which he breached, a valid reason for a guideline departure sentence existed. Gopaul v. State, 536 So.2d 296 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). In our view the same rule applies notwithstanding that the rape victim is the defendant’s emancipated teen-aged daughter. It was the familial relationship which brought the girl, along with her infant child, back to her father’s home for a visit where she was forced to submit to her father’s advances under the threat of violence.

Affirmed.

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