Kelsey v. State
Kelsey v. State
Opinion of the Court
The appellant challenges the denial of his motion to correct illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). For the reasons discussed below, we reverse and remand for the trial court to give the appellant an opportunity to file his claims in a facially sufficient rule 3.850 motion.
In July of 2009, the trial court revoked the appellant’s probation and sentenced him to concurrent terms totaling twenty years’ imprisonment. This Court affirmed in June of 2010. In January of this year the appellant filed the instant motion to correct illegal sentence asserting that his scoresheet was improper. The trial court denied relief because the motion was filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a), and the sentence could have been imposed absent any error on the scoresheet. See Brooks v. State, 969 So.2d 238 (Fla. 2007) (under “could-have-been-imposed” test, if sentence could have been imposed absent scoresheet error, defendant is not entitled to relief). However, if treated as a motion filed pursuant to rule 3.850, it appears that the appellant would be entitled to relief because the “would-have-been-imposed” test, rather than the “could-have-been imposed” test, would apply.
REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
. The trial court concluded that if raised in a rule 3.850 motion, the claim would require the appellant to be resentenced.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.