Allen v. State
Allen v. State
Opinion of the Court
Brandall Kendric Allen appeals his convictions and sentences for burglary of a dwelling and grand theft, challenging the burglary instruction, the scope of questioning during voir dire, comments by the prosecutor during closing argument, the denial of a motion for mistrial, and his sentencing scoresheet. Allen fails to demonstrate any reversible error with respect to the convictions. We find merit, however, in the argument directed to the score-sheet and write to address the sentencing issue.
The scoresheet error raised by Allen concerns the scoring of out of state convictions. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.704(d)(14) provides that, in calculating the points to be assessed for a defendant’s prior record, an out of state conviction is to be scored “at the severity level at which the analogous or parallel Florida crime is located.” Determining which Florida crime is analogous to the out of state conviction requires a comparison of the elements of the crimes. See, e.g., Gonsalves v. State, 830 So.2d 265, 267 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). The burden of proof on this issue lies with the State. Id.
Here, the “prior record” section of Allen’s scoresheet included four convictions for dealing in stolen property, listed as second degree felonies and level five offenses and contributing 14.4 points to
Affirmed in part, Reversed in part, and Remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.