Ficklin v. State
Ficklin v. State
Opinion of the Court
The state charged the. appellant with sexual battery pursuant to section 794.011, Florida Statutes (1993), and the jury found him guilty as charged. As grounds for reversal, the appellant contends that the trial court erred 1) by granting the state’s motion in
By motion, the appellant sought a downward departure sentence based on one or more of the following grounds, inter alia: 1) the appellant’s age (24 years) and lack of a prior criminal record at the time of sentencing; 2) the strong support for rehabilitation demonstrated by the appellant’s relatives and friends; and 3) the appellant’s election to testify and evidence of his strong motivation for self-rehabilitation. Generally, a trial court should impose a guidelines sentence, and the legislature has provided that a sentencing court may depart “only when circumstances or factors reasonably justify the aggravation or mitigation of the sentence.” § 921.001(4)(a)(6), Fla.Stat. (Supp. 1994). At the sentencing hearing, the defense offered several purported “clear and convincing” mitigating reasons to support a departure sentence. Before sentencing the appellant to 65 months, which is at the bottom of the permitted guidelines range, the trial court stated on the record, “I think what we have here is a situation where the Legislature has effectively stripped the Court of any authority to impose a sentence less than what this guideline sentence is... .But for the sentencing guidelines, the Court would likely impose a lesser sentence than is provided for in the guidelines.”
The state argues that because the lower tribunal imposed a lawful guidelines sentence, affirmance is proper. Because the sentencing transcript is unclear as to whether the trial court fully appreciated its discretion to impose a departure sentence, we believe the better procedure is to vacate the sentence and remand for the trial court to reconsider the matter. We note that the appellant has cited several decisions that, upon an adequate factual basis and findings, may support a downward departure. See, e.g., State v. Frinks, 555 So.2d 916 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (although age, standing alone, is not a justification for downward departure, remaining factors such as lack of prior criminal record, showing of support by relatives and friends for defendant’s rehabilitation, and history and diagnosis of psychiatric disorder revealing good prospect for treatment and recovery constituted legally sufficient grounds); State v. Forbes, 536 So.2d 356, 357 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (in cocaine sale and possession case, no abuse of discretion in downward departure where defendant showed motivation to be rehabilitated and sentence would allow him to participate in on-site drug rehabilitation program); State v. Rice, 464 So.2d 684, 686 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)
AFFIRMING the conviction, VACATING the sentence, and remanding for reconsideration in light of this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.