Butler v. State
Butler v. State
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was charged in several cases with various offenses. Defendant entered a plea of guilty to one count of dealing in stolen property,
Defendant appeals from his judgments and sentences and raises two sentencing issues, only one of which possesses merit. On defendant’s sentencing guidelines scoresheet, the trial court scored as primary offenses the dealing in stolen property offense, a second degree felony, and one of the grand theft offenses, a third degree felony. The scoresheet reflected a recommended range of years incarceration, and a permitted range of 2
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(3) defines “primary offense” as that offense at conviction which, when scored on the guideline scoresheet, recommends the most severe sanction. Rule
The state contends that the error in the instant case is harmless. The state argues that if the two burglary of a dwelling offenses were scored as the primary offenses, defendant would have fallen into the same recommended range. This contention is incorrect. It is clear that the state is scoring the burglary of a dwelling offenses under the same category six scoresheet form used by the trial court. However, as we observed, that scoresheet is to be used only for thefts, forgeries, and other related offenses. When a burglary offense is scored as the primary offense at conviction, a category five scoresheet form must be used. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.988(e). If a category five scoresheet form is prepared with the two burglaries of a dwelling scored as the primary offenses, defendant would fall into the 2
Accordingly, we reverse the defendant’s sentence and remand this cause to the trial court for preparation of a corrected guidelines scoresheet and for resentencing. However, because the trial court did not realize that it was imposing a departure sentence, on remand the trial court is permitted to consider whether departure is appropriate and, if so, to set forth valid, contemporaneous written reasons for departure. State v. Betancourt, 552 So.2d 1107 (Fla. 1989).
Judgments AFFIRMED; sentence REVERSED and cause REMANDED.
. § 812.019(1), Fla.Stat. (1989).
. § 812.014(1), (2)(c), Fla.Stat. (1989).
. § 812.014(1), (2)(d), Fla.Stat. (1989).
. § 810.02(3), Fla.Stat. (1989).
. § 810.02(3), Fla.Stat. (1989).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.